IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/jospec/v26y2025i2p196-213.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Outcome Uncertainty and Viewer Demand for Basic Cable Boxing

Author

Listed:
  • David Butler
  • Robert Butler
  • Joel Maxcy
  • Simon Woodworth

Abstract

We examine the uncertainty of outcome hypothesis and consider direct demand for professional boxing using a new dataset for basic cable broadcasts. Our analysis covers 103 broadcasts in the United States from February 2017 to February 2021 for Premier Boxing Champions (FOX) and Top Rank Boxing (ESPN). Using a generalized linear model, we estimate a demand function for basic cable broadcasts and place specific emphasis on adopting alternative measures of outcome uncertainty. We find no evidence that increasing balance between boxers increases viewership figures on basic cable broadcasts. Consistent with pay-per-view boxing viewership, our results demonstrate that bout quality impacts demand for cable broadcasts. Furthermore, we find no evidence of a declining viewership trend, a finding relevant to the industry given the general decrease in viewership trends for main events and pay-per-view broadcasts. Fans continue to demonstrate a preference for the welterweight division.

Suggested Citation

  • David Butler & Robert Butler & Joel Maxcy & Simon Woodworth, 2025. "Outcome Uncertainty and Viewer Demand for Basic Cable Boxing," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 26(2), pages 196-213, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jospec:v:26:y:2025:i:2:p:196-213
    DOI: 10.1177/15270025231156052
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/15270025231156052
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/15270025231156052?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Keywords

    professional boxing; broadcasting demand; outcome uncertainty;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Z20 - Other Special Topics - - Sports Economics - - - General
    • Z21 - Other Special Topics - - Sports Economics - - - Industry Studies

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:jospec:v:26:y:2025:i:2:p:196-213. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.