Columnist Dean Juipe: Cable viewers denied fight as scheduled

Dean Juipe

Tuesday, April 23, 2002 | 9:55 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

Picture three guys standing in a line or a circle and let the inquisition begin.

"He did it," says the first man, pointing toward the second.

"No, he did it," says the second man, pointing toward the third.

"No, no, he did it," says the third, pointing toward the first.

Those were roughly the reactions I got Monday when asking why last Saturday's Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Jose Luis Castillo fight at the MGM Grand Garden was blacked out in Las Vegas.

Blackouts aren't atypical in sports, as NFL fans are all too aware. And, particularly in years past, fights have been blacked out here when ticket sales and the live gate were lagging.

But Mayweather vs. Castillo was scheduled to be telecast on a same-night delayed basis here, and when it wasn't there were a number of unhappy and disappointed Cox cable subscribers.

HBO had the broadcasting rights to the fight and had it listed in the local TV books with a 10 p.m. starting time. But, as you may know, the fight was not broadcast here until 9 a.m. Sunday; an unscheduled movie took the fight's place Saturday night.

The bottom line is that it's just another reason to switch from cable to satellite, as the latter's subscribers saw the fight live.

Inquiries directed to HBO, the MGM and Top Rank (which promoted the fight) failed to resolve this precise question: Who ordered the blackout?

"That's a very good question," said HBO publicist Kevin Flaherty from the firm's New York office. "Las Vegas is the only place where we run into this. I think it has to do with the host casino's influence."

But MGM spokesman Scott Ghertner was equally baffled.

"I don't think we had any involvement (in the decision)," he said. "I'd say it must have been HBO or the promoter."

But promoter Bob Arum was as surprised as anyone.

"I'm flabbergasted," he said. "I thought the fight was on, so I'm shocked to learn that it wasn't. It was supposed to be on delayed, that night."

All three of the men came across as honestly perplexed and earnestly taken aback, which only added to the intrigue. Yet someone, somewhere pulled the plug on the telecast.

If you're wondering who had the greatest incentive to black out the fight, you have to ask yourself why any of the entities would do it without first forewarning the general public. Blackouts exist, in part, as a threat to potential ticket buyers that they had better purchase a seat or -- in the event they don't and the live gate fails to reach a specific quota -- they will be running the risk of not seeing the attraction on TV.

Conceptually, a blackout is totally reliant on potential fans being aware of the blackout threat. But there was no such threat last week from any of the pertinent parties and the old "subject to blackout" disclaimer never materialized.

The fight drew a live crowd of better than 6,000 in an arena scaled back to seat 8,000. In that respect, ticket sales were adequate.

But at least a few more fans would have attended if they had known a blackout was in store. And, in the aftermath, a few more now have the incentive to go out and price a satellite system.