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April 6, 2023

Top Rank Leans into Hometown Strategy as it Weens Off Casino Event Model

C/O: Top Rank

Shakur Stevenson is headlining ESPN’s boxing card Saturday night (April 8, 10p EST). The undefeated former two division champion is fighting at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey for the third time since July 2019.

That is not a coincidence. Stevenson was born and raised in ‘Brick City’ and Top Rank has long been staging fights in fighters’ hometowns.

“It’s always been our go-to on a development level,” Todd duBoef (president, Top Rank Boxing) said. “If you’re not popular at home, you’re never going to be popular on the road. You want to keep building [the local fan base] up and feeding that audience.”

However, the boxing promotion is increasingly amplifying that approach as it weens itself off the profitable, but stale, casino model and works to turn its stable of promising young American fighters into global attractions.

Bob Arum and Top Rank have been showcasing fighters in their hometowns for decades.

“Danny Romero and Johnny Tapia were humongously popular in Albuquerque,” duBoef said. “Michael Carbajal was [a draw] in Phoenix [and] we did great numbers with Donald Curry in Dallas-Fort Worth in the 80s.”

But between the late '80s and 2010s promoters, Top Rank included, increasingly began holding events in casino environments.

“The casinos came into play largely with the legalization of [gaming] in Atlantic City [in the late 1970s],” duBoef said. “When that happened, you started seeing events in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, back and forth.”

Then came the rise of the Indian casinos.

“You had this expansion of casinos across America that were popping up,” duBoef said. “They [all] wanted [television] exposure and tentpole events that would bring people to their properties.”

So, they went after fights and offered promoters large guarantees for the right to host them.

It seemed like an easy decision to take the money at the time. But it came at a price.

Fights frequently took place in front of less than enthusiastic crowds, which hurt the TV product.

And promoters were not developing stars, at least not to their potential.

“It pulled the product away from the [hardcore] fan because they weren’t able to touch it and feel it as much,” duBoef said.

The longtime boxing executive explained that hometown fights are necessary to stoke fandom.

“You have to keep the lights on to keep fans aware and engaged with the athletes,” duBoef said. “If the Rangers never played in New York, would there be Rangers fans?”

Hosting a fight in fighter’s hometown can be helpful in selling tickets too.

“There’s an embedded fan base where somebody was developed and where they were brought up, and it is easier for [those individuals] to go to the local arena to attend a fight [than it would be elsewhere],” duBoef said.

And because local fans know the fighter, the promoter can take a more targeted approach to marketing the event.

DuBoef called gate receipts a “very important part” of fight business economics. How big depends on the PPV sales and/or the media rights pact associated with the event.

The best/most well-known fighters can sell seats in neutral locations like Las Vegas, New York or Los Angeles.

The upcoming (April 22) Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis-‘King’ Ryan Garcia fight will take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, while next month's Devin Haney and Vasily Lomachenko matchup will be at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Stevenson fought Oscar Valdez in Las Vegas last April.

But even for those fighters, it makes sense to regularly fight in front of emotionally invested hometown crowds. “You can be a global star, but don’t forget about your local [fan] base,” duBoef said.

Top Rank took Tyson Fury back to London last year after a four-year absence. His April fight against Dillian Whyte drew 94,000 fans, a European record for a boxing match. Another 60,000 fans showed up for a December '22 matchup against Derek Chisora at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

In addition to Fury, Top Rank has several other fighters that have proven to be hometown draws enabling the promotion to lean into the strategy.

That list includes Jose Ramirez, a popular attraction in Fresno, California, and Stevenson, who duBoef said “has become a real attraction in Newark.”

This weekend’s event is expected to attract “a legit 11,000 or 12,000 people, which for boxing is pretty good,” duBoef said.

The ongoing “arena evolution” has also been a factor in Top Rank increasing the number of hometown events it books.

“These arenas are not just brick and mortar [facilities] anymore,” duBoef said. “They have suite offerings, sponsorship offerings. They are able to market [the fight card] to their own fan base. You have arenas that are now like companies [and it makes it easier to put on events].”

This weekend's host, the Prudential Center, recognizes promoters have multiple venues to choose from in the Northeast. So, it provides an expansive offering designed to help ensure events at the building are a success.

"True event partnership from the venue side includes marketing support to increase ticketing sales and brand awareness, shoulder programming events to connect the athletes with the local community, cross promoting the athletes at packed New Jersey Devils games or other suitable events, production management to ensure a smooth load-in/out, ancillary facilities for media-driven events, and so much more,” Dylan Wanagiel (VP, sports properties & special events, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment) said.

That does not mean every one Top Rank’s ~30 cards/year is going to be in a headliner’s hometown though.

The promotion has fighters from all over the globe. It’s not feasible to regularly host events in some of their native homelands.

Lomachenko, for example, is from Ukraine. Even before the war it wasn’t an ideal location for a U.S. based promotion to stage a fight card.

And Top Rank still does its share of casino shows too.

Just last weekend it was at the Hard Rock in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The promotion will look to place a local fighter or two on a card like that to help it sell tickets.

The co-headliner on Saturday night is Jared Anderson, a top heavyweight prospect. Top Rank is scheduled to make a stop in his hometown of Toledo, Ohio, in July.

“We’ve got buy-in from the mayor and council people, and just knowing how the media has covered Jared, we have every expectation that we’re going to sell out the [8,000 seat] Huntington Center there,” duBoef said.

And opening the TV portion of Saturday night’s event is former Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn Davis. The Norfolk, Virginia native represents the ‘Seven Cities’ (Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach).

While Top Rank has not yet visited southeastern Virginia, it will if he keeps winning.

“They really haven’t had a superstar, homegrown, box office draw since Pernell Whitaker,” duBoef said. “That’s another guy who if he fulfills his potential will be selling out arenas there.”