Is ESPN Losing Their Biggest Draw By Losing Shakur Stevenson?

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Is ESPN losing their biggest draw by losing Shakur Stevenson?

This is almost an absurd question if you only went by social media chatter and the Shakur Stevenson coverage provided by ESPN, itself.

The all-sports network blasted the fighter Saturday night for having a fan-unfriendly style and even cut to Stevenson’s hometown Newark fans leaving the Prudential Center before the final round of his bout with Artem Harutyunyan– the last under contract with Top Rank/ESPN.

The narrative– pretty much everywhere– is that Shakur Stevenson is boring, an event-killer, and that he just can’t draw as a main stage player.

Well, “boring” is subjective, but the WBC lightweight champion’s numbers rate up there with any of the current US domestic draws, at least when it comes to non-PPV events (Stevenson has yet to headline a pay-per-view card).

Keith Idec, citing Nielsen television ratings info, is reporting that Saturday’s ESPN bout from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey was “the most-watched boxing main event ESPN aired in 2024” with an average audience of 1.18 million viewers and a peak audience of 1.254 million.

Looking back on Stevenson’s entire run as a main event ESPN fighter, the 27-year-old has consistently been the network’s highest overall ratings attraction and their only asset to consistently top 1 million viewers.

In 2021, Stevenson vs. Jamel Herring had an average audience of 1.233 million. In 2022, Stevenson vs. Oscar Valdez and Robson Conceicao drew audiences of 1.353 and 1,097, respectively.

Even in 2023, the one Stevenson main event year where he wasn’t the network’s top-rated attraction, his bout with Shuichiro Yoshino came barely behind the Jared Anderson-Charles Martin main event, 804K to 809K.

While it’s fair for critics to point at the entertainment level (or lack thereof) in Stevenson’s bouts, it’s also fair to note that, of all Top Rank/ESPN fighters, Stevenson is the one producing the highest reported ratings.

Chalk that up to whatever factor you like, but the numbers are the numbers. Even Teofimo Lopez, who has a big personality and (often) an electrifying ring style, could only muster an average ESPN viewership of 945K for a big, significant title fight with Josh Taylor last year. Meanwhile, Stevenson– coming off a widely-panned bout with Edwin De Los Santos that set records for lack of output– attracted a larger audience against a relatively unknown opponent.

This could be why Top Rank, who has a broadcast deal with ESPN through 2025, reportedly tried to re-sign Stevenson prior to his contract expiring after this last fight, to the tune of $15 million for 5 fights.

Stevenson, who has claimed that ESPN conspired against him with intentionally negative reporting and fake attendance numbers for Saturday’s show,  is now exploring free agency and has revealed that both Mayweather Promotions and Matchroom Boxing are options. The three-division world champ is also exploring the idea of fighting under his own Shakur Stevenson Promotions banner.

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Last Updated on 07/09/2024