Stephen Espinoza, the long-time head of Showtime Sports, is still considering the possibility of his continued involvement in boxing. The seismic shift comes as part of Paramount Global’s decision, Showtime’s parent company, to terminate the entire sports department. This decision has sparked questions about Espinoza’s future in the boxing world, adding an air of uncertainty to his esteemed career.

Despite the corporate decision to end Showtime’s nearly four-decade relationship with the sport, he continues his involvement. Recently, he spoke more about his role in the PBC-Amazon Prime Video PPV deal. Additionally, he also discussed their efforts to build a team for exploring new ways to stream the sport.

Stephen Espinoza is helping Amazon out

Not long ago, Stephen Espinoza talked, in an interview with Thaboxingvoice, about how he’s helping the PBC and Amazon Prime in building a team for their upcoming PPV and non-PPV events. Since they would need people to handle social media, marketing, and promotion side of things. So, Espinoza is using his experience as well as the connection to find the right people for the right job.

After the interview, a fan sharing a clip from the interview stated that these statements are pointing to how Amazon doesn’t work like the network, and the fan also speculated that maybe they’re not covering the cost of the event. The fan wrote, “The network produces the show when they put their money up. Espinoza saying this proves that Amazon is not giving them any money to produce the events!” Espinoza, therefore, decided to address the misinformation and claims made by the fan.

Taking to X, Espinoza wrote, “Couldn’t be more wrong, as usual. More and more platforms – especially but not exclusively streaming platforms – have decided they do not want to hire personnel and create a production infrastructure (e.g., MLS on Apple TV). Doesn’t mean cost of production isn’t covered.”

So the Showtime President has assured everybody that Amazon is putting in the money for the development. However, it’ll be interesting to see how this deal unfolds in the future.

The deal between PBC and Amazon Prime

In a groundbreaking move, Amazon’s Prime Video has teamed up with Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) for a multiyear rights agreement, bringing top-notch pay-per-view boxing events to U.S. viewers. The first event is set for March 2024 and will be available to all, regardless of Prime membership. So, Prime Video is looking to secure the distribution rights for PBC’s PPV events.

At the same time, they’ll also gain exclusive streaming rights for a PBC Championship Boxing event series, showcasing thrilling matchups. Going beyond broadcasts, Prime Video also plans to create original content, including behind-the-scenes docu-series, live weigh-ins, and on-demand access to past events and highlights. Marie Donoghue, VP, of U.S. sports content and partnerships for Amazon, said, “We are thrilled to join with Premier Boxing Champions to bring the best boxers in the world to Prime Video, and to give more fans than ever the chance to experience these must-see events.”

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So, they’re quite serious about their involvement in the sweet science. Now, it remains to be seen how well they execute their plans and their deal in the coming future. What are your thoughts about this? Tell us in the comments section.

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