By Don Donatello
HBO is a publicly held company. What does that mean? It means anyone can buy a piece or share of HBO stock. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Warner Entertainment Company, L.P. A publicly held company is governed by the rules and regulations of the federal agency of the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC). It holds the primary responsibility for enforcing the federal securities laws and regulating the securities industry, stock and options exchanges, and electronic securities markets in the U.S.
The Securities Act of 1933 requires uniform disclosure of information about public securities offerings at the federal level. For more information about the SEC: Link
In short, under the rules and regulations of the SEC, HBO cannot engage in fraudulent announcement and manipulation of the performance of their business.
Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank Promotions are privately held company. These companies are not beholden to the rules and regulations of the SEC. While companies who sell ownership shares to the public cannot hype, inflate, and manufacture their performance numbers, it is different for privately owned companies.
When HBO performs well in their boxing PPV event, an HBO official will have announced their PPV takes through the biggest sporting news media, ESPN. Mark Taffet or former HBO employee Ross Greenburg are usually the two that will attach their name to a PPV performance release. The article is usually written by ESPN boxing writer Dan Rafael, not some internet boxing sites of blogs. Anything that these boxing sites or blogs release are secondary information that they have picked up from news outlets such as ESPN or Yahoo! Sports.
In the aftermath of the HBO PPV event of Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito which wold about 1.15 million, the following release of the numbers were attached to HBO Senior Vice President Mark Taffet in which he states, “We’re thrilled with the PPV performance.” Writer is Dan Rafael here is the link to his article: Manny Pacquiao generates another 1 million PPV buys
When the Floyd Mayweather vs. Juan Manuel Marquez HBO PPV event garnered 1 million in sales, HBO PPV chief Mark Taffet attached his name to an article about the fight and PPV numbers in an article written by ESPN boxing writer Dan Rafael. Article link: Floyd Mayweather Jr. – Juan Manuel Marquez generated 1 million pay-per-view buys
On the Mayweather vs. Oscar De La Hoya fight, “I’m particularly pleased that the fight reached 2.15 million buys on a weekend in which ‘Spider-Man 3’ established a new Hollywood box office record and the Kentucky Derby took place,” HBO PPV’s Mark Taffet said. Ross Greenburg gladly also chimed in with the good news, “De La Hoya vs. Mayweather was a record-setting event from the moment the fight was announced,” said Ross Greenburg, president of HBO Sports. Article link: De La Hoya ‘ecstatic’ that fight was richest ever
Being wary about bad financial performances, HBO does not officially attach its’ name to a bad performing PPV boxing events. There is no Dan Rafael article with Greenburg or Taffet about the PPV numbers of the Chad Dawson vs. Bernard Hopkins fight. The only news I found that is spread around is Kevin Iole’s tweet of around 40,000 PPV sold. Neither HBO or Golden Boy Promotions came up with an official release of the PPV numbers.
A PPV event that garnered 1.25 million for the Mayweather vs. Ortiz is a huge success. So why is there no official from HBO attaching his name to an official release of the PPV number? Dan Rafael has no interview with Mark Taffet or anyone from HBO to account and take credit for the 1.25 million. Instead, it is only Golden Boy Promotions and Mayweather Promotions who attached their name to the claimed 1.25 million. Article link: Floyd Mayweather-Victor Ortiz fight drives more than one million buys
Okay, folks, can anyone show me an article where an HBO official attached his name to the 1.25 million PPV sales claim that the Mayweather/Ortiz fight supposedly did? Yeah, I thought not.
When PPV numbers are held for around six weeks, it leaves it to suspicion of number crunching and manipulation. In May 5th of 2007, Oscar De La Hoya fought Mayweather for the WBC Light Middleweight title. Four days later, HBO officially released the PPV numbers on that fight. On September 17 of this year, Floyd Mayweather fought and beat Victor Ortiz on an HBO PPV event. The PPV sales were not released until the next month of October 28th. HBO did not make an official release. Golden Boy Promotions released the 1.25 million PPV sold, not HBO.
HBO DID NOT OFFICIALLY RELEASE 690K PPV SOLD OR 1.25 MILLION FOR THE MAYWEATHER/ORTIZ FIGHT.
Tim Starks of The Queensberry Rules had a good article on the veracity of PPV numbers. He actually called an HBO official to make an official statement on the PPV numbers. That person from HBO refused to make an official statement only to say, “these numbers are indeed accurate.” No name was given and attached to the HBO official who made the statement.
HBO’s Mark Taffet officially announced 2.15 million for the Oscar/Mayweather fight, the 1 million for the Marquez/Mayweather fight, and he also happily announced the 850K sold for the Hatton/Mayweather fight. Article link: Mayweather-Hatton pay-per-view a smashing success. So why is HBO not jumping up and down attaching their name to the 1.25 million for the Mayweather/Ortiz fight? Because HBO is a publicly held company. You do the math, folks! Even Stevie Wonder can connect the dots here.
Have you noticed that Mayweather is now warming up to a possible fight against Manny Pacquiao? HBO probably showed him the REAL PPV numbers in his fight against Ortiz.
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