Does Oscar De La Hoya Need Mixed Martial Arts?

by Luke Thomas on Apr 29, 2008 5:59 PM EDT in News

Bart Barry of CBS Sportsline (boxing) has an interesting article about the future of Golden Boy Productions. While 2008 will be a huge year for them with De La Hoya's fight Saturday, a rematch with Mayweather in September and a retirement in December, there are questions about how the company plans to make money after their one and only superstar stops competing. Notable quote:

But what about 2009? GBP's current blockbuster products are nearing obsolescence. Marco Antonio Barrera is retired. Bernard Hopkins should be. Shane Mosley is scheduled for a welterweight bronze-medal game with Zab Judah in May. And the De La Hoya line will be discontinued at year end.

Of the four blockbuster products that have made GBP great, earnings from De La Hoya will be the hardest to replace. Not only does he generate more sales than the other three products, but as president he essentially costs less. His salary has supplemented other revenue streams from the start, covering many of GBP's operating expenses.

For all its upside surprises in revenues and earnings growth, though, GBP has been wanting in new product development. It has diligently invested in research and development (R&D), but its product pipeline has yet to yield any blockbusters. Good as it has been at cultivating relationships with television networks and sponsors, to keep its product line full GBP has had to purchase other company's patents.

There's nothing newer in "new product development" than MMA these days. More importantly, while there's likely a complicated explanation for why GBP is getting into MMA, it's hard to divorce their motive from Oscar's inevitable retirement. And while the company has a brief history of being monetarily successful, one has to wonder how deep the investment in this new and changing venture really will be. If reaching out to MMA is more a matter of them trying to find a way to remain relevant (or even solvent), cast me a skeptic. Yes, they'll potentially need the success of the venture to help their bottomline, but if you're entering a business on grounds of desperation, you've already set yourself up for failure.

We shall see.

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Re: Does Oscar De La Hoya Need Mixed Martial Arts?

we see successful kickboxing/MMA combos in other areas of the world, would some blending of the two disciplines, a boxing/MMA show with both styles on display, draw any interest? seems like something that could either light up the world or fall flat on its face.

by garth on Apr 29, 2008 6:48 PM EDT 0 recs