What Showtime Sees in Sports

New Chief Espinoza Looks to Build Up Division With Star Power, Top Franchises

By R. Thomas Umstead -- Multichannel News, 2/13/2012 12:01:00 AM

Showtime Sports’ brand new executive vice president and general manger, Stephen Espinoza, takes over a division that for years has been known for its championship boxing events, but has recently expanded into the mixed-martial-arts ring with its Strikeforce franchise. It has also struck content partnerships with such major players as the National Football League, Major League Baseball and NASCAR. The former attorney for Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions spoke with Multichannel News programming editor R. Thomas Umstead about the network’s sports strategy, which includes potential marketing and content tie-ins with sister network CBS Sports Network, as well as possible co-production opportunities with Showtime’s scripted series division.

Stephen Espinoza: It’s a really exciting time to be at Showtime. The network as a whole is an incredible brand — the scripted side has had unparalleled success over the last few years. The decision, as a whole, was easy for me, because the network is on such an upward trajectory.

I look at the sports programming and there’s such a sol id foundation and a very broad base here. There are areas that I’d like to tweak and polish up, but it really offers an attractive and compelling variety of unique programming.

The flagship has been boxing for 25 years here, but to look at this and to have representation across what we think of as prized franchises — the NFL, NASCAR, baseball, mixed martial arts and boxing — is unparalleled with the exception of ESPN. And it’s not just representation in each category or franchise, but unique, compelling content in each category for a premium network that’s not primarily in the sports business.

MCN: What is it about Showtime’s sports franchises that you feel makes them unique compared with what else is on the sports dial?

SE: Inside the NFL is an institution, and people know about the quality analysis that goes on there. Inside NASCAR provides uncensored access to the inside wire between the car and driver. It symbolically represents what we would like to provide to our subscribers, which is that insider’s view.

With our docudramas, whether it’s The Franchise or Fight Camp 360, we take great pains to give viewers an authentic, inside view that isn’t provided elsewhere. With Game of Honor, what that documentary does well is blend enough of the storylines so that the hardcore sports fan, the casual sports fan and the non-sports fan are all equally entertained. That’s difficult, but when it’s done well, it’s sort of magic.

MCN: How much of an emphasis will you place on boxing and how competitive will Showtime be with rivals such as HBO for rights to marquee boxing matches?

SE: We’ll be absolutely, 100% competitive. We will certainly get our fair share of the biggest fights going forward. MCN: Showtime jumped back into the pay-per-view business in an aggressive way last year. Is that a strategy you’ll look to pursue further? SE: Getting back into the payper- view business isn’t the goal but a by-product. We’re going to be in the business of top-tier fi ghts and top-tier talent. If you’re in the business with, let’s face it, the two top fighters in the game today, [Floyd] Mayweather and [Manny] Pacquiao, then by virtue of being in business with them, you’re in the pay-per-view business. Th e goal is to provide the most compelling programming and athletes, so pursuing Mayweather or Pacquaio, if successful, puts us back in business. Our No. 1 priority is getting compelling programming for our subscribers. The payper- view [events] come by necessity as part of getting A-level talent.

MCN: Do you expect to take full advantage of the resources with CBS to help promote your big events?

SE: We certainly do. It’s an important aspect of what we do because it’s smart business and it’s important from a competitive standpoint as well. One element that’s changed since last year is the continual emergence of CBS Sports Network. Even if I wasn’t motivated from a promotional standpoint, they would be calling me up to see what we could give them.

So we have essentially two affi liated platforms — one of our own in Showtime Extreme and then our sister company in CBS Sports Network — that are very valuable to us from a promotional standpoint in terms of expanding our programming. Part of the challenge is making nonsubscribers aware of your programming, so that’s an important piece of the strategy.

MCN: Are you looking at any other genres in the sport arena?

SE: Th e great thing with [Showtime Entertainment president] David Nevins, who’s on the scripted programming side, and our president, Matt Blank, is that they’re both huge sports fans. They’re always interested in what I’m doing and vice versa. David Nevins and I collaborate on the documentaries, which is another area in which we will be expanding. I’ve gone to him with a couple of scripted opportunities to see what looks good to him. One came in through a sports personality, one was inspired by an athlete’s experience. It wouldn’t surprise me if something along those lines came out of this relationship.

MCN: Will The Franchise return for this upcoming baseball season?

SE: We certainly hope so. It’s one of our more successful, if not our most successful, projects in a while. One of the really interesting pieces of it is that the demographic we attracted with that show is far, far younger than you would expect for Major League Baseball [content]. When you look at the demographics across our network, the age and the makeup of our audience was roughly what we get for an MMA show — roughly a third of the audience is under 35 — so we’re absolutely interested in bringing it back.

MCN: Would you pursue the current World Series champs, the St. Louis Cardinals, or revisit the Giants?

SE: It would most likely be a different team. We’ve had discussions with a number of different franchises. There are a lot of moving pieces and a lot of approvals to get, so we hope to have something soon.