In
the weeks after Ken Hershman left his post as the head of Showtime Sports, there
were many names mentioned to replace him. This job is one of the most important
and influential in boxing, given the position includes the responsibility of
green-lighting the fights you see on this network. Hershman, who moved across
the street to HBO, did an admirable job of making more with less as he battled “The
Network of Champions” and its much larger purse strings. Whoever took this
responsibility had the daunting task of filling some pretty big shoes.
So
just who would be that guy? Again, lots of names were thrown around the
grapevine and, well...
“Mine
was not one of them,” admitted Stephen Espinoza, a couple of weeks ago from his
offices in New York, with a laugh.
Now
the Executive Vice President and General Manager of Showtime Sports, he
explains, “There's one guy you have to blame for this, Jack Tiernan from CAA
Sports. Jack is a former INC guy. He is the one who called me one day after
Ken's departure had been announced and said, ‘Hey, would you ever consider taking
the Showtime Sports position?’ and as much work as I had done in boxing and as
aware as I was about the position, it really hadn't entered my mind because,
again, by training, I'm a lawyer and I figured I'd always stay a lawyer.”
Espinoza
describes Tiernan as a “personal and professional friend.”
“When
[Tiernan] asked me that question, I hesitated for a moment and I couldn't come
up with a good reason why not. I said, ‘Sure, I'll take the meeting.’ [Tiernan]
said, ‘Well, let me see if I can get you a meeting.’ Literally from that
conversation to when I signed a contract, it was ten days.”
Espinoza,
a graduate of Stanford, got his law degree at UCLA (so yes, he's a PAC 12 guy
through and through) and comes to Showtime after years at the law firm of
Ziffren Brittenham, where one of his main clients was Golden Boy Promotions.
When Espinoza was appointed this position, the expected questions regarding
favoritism came up quickly. Would Golden Boy have a favored status at this
network?
“I
understand the fear. I can assure people that's not going to be the case,” said
Espinoza, addressing these concerns.”Ultimately, the only thing that's really
going to be convincing is my performance. It's only been about six or seven
weeks and I've only got the first quarter programmed. But if you look at what
we have in the weeks ahead, our three big shows that we have are with four
different promoters. There's a co-promotion there.
This
interview took place just a few weeks ago, days before Andre Berto injured his
left arm therefore postponing Showtime's initial card of 2012 (which should’ve
come off this past weekend at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas) to June 30th.
Espinoza says, “We've got Golden Boy, [Lou] DiBella [Entertainment], the first
one (Ortiz-Berto II). The second one is Goossen [Tutor]-DKP (this upcoming
Saturday night where Paul Williams takes on Nobu Ishida and Tavoris Cloud faces
Gabriel Campillo) and the third one is Top Rank (March 10th in
Puerto Rico between Orlando Salido and Juan Manuel Lopez) and then if you look
at our “ShoBox”s, I don't think there's been a repeat there either. So
ultimately, if nothing else, my own-self interest is to be fair. I want to
succeed in this job. I didn't pick up and move my life from Los Angeles to New
York on three weeks’ notice to not succeed.
“And
favoring, giving preferential treatment to Golden Boy because I like Richard
Schaefer or I'm comfortable working with their staff isn't a recipe for
success. So ultimately, the proof is in the pudding. I think if you ask around,
I think the early returns should say that I've been relatively fair. In some
ways, the door is more open here then it has been in the past. That's already
clear but ultimately, I'd just say, be patient and I'll be the first one to
pick up the phone if people are going to call and criticize me about those
types of decisions whether I'm in favor of Golden Boy.”
The
bottom line is very simple; like any other high-profile job, Espinoza will be
judged on his performance.
Unlike
the past, where he worked in boxing rather anonymously on behalf of
high-profile clients (such as Mike Tyson and Oscar De La Hoya), he will now be
scrutinized- which he has no problems with. “Quite honestly, I'm one of ‘those
guys,’” he said, referring to fans, observers and media members who follow the
game of boxing with passion. “I may not have the luxury of the same amount of
time that you and [ESPN’s] Dan Rafael and [The
Ring’s] Doug Fischer and all the guys who commit 23 hours a day to do it.
But I've been on the fighter’s side of my career and I take very seriously the
decisions that I make, given that they have such a big impact on a fighter’s
career and life. Not to be melodramatic but all of my decisions have repercussions.
When I had to reschedule the December 31st show [where Cloud was to
have headlined against Zsolt Erdei], I was very cognizant of the fact that it
had repercussions in when I did need to reschedule those events. I made it very
clear that I would put those fights back on the network very quickly. I don't
know if whether the promoters and fighters, at the time, completely believed me
but ultimately, [Dan] Goossen's fight, [Rico] Ramos-[Guillermo] Rigondeaux was
about three weeks later and we got Tavoris Cloud on six weeks later. So that's
probably the most difficult part that I take the most seriously. I realize how
significantly these decisions impact the guys who are actually giving blood,
sweat and tears towards all this stuff.”
When
going from representing the interests of a promoter to now a network, has the
perspective of the 42-year-old Espinoza been altered in any way?
“Slightly,”
he answered, “I'll tell you; the bigger switch in perspective- it actually
requires a great separation from being a fan because, quite honestly, on the
promoter’s side to a certain extent, but on the viewer side and the fan side, there's
one overriding factor which is- how good of a fight is this going to be? How
entertaining a fight is this going to be? Really, from the fan perspective and
certainly from the promoter perspective, there's an additional variable in the
calculus from the network side which is: Is this going to be attractive
programming for my viewers? And I phrase it that way because it's not all about
ratings because we are a subscription network but ‘Is this attractive
programming for my ratings?’ And I put as a sub-category of that question,
given that everyone operates with budgetary limitations and, given my budgetary
parameters- what is the most efficient, productive use of my resources?”
One
of the issues is that while there may be an infinite amount of bouts the public
yearns for, there are a finite amount of dates and financial means.
“Because
quite honestly, there's a number of fights I'd like to see as a fan that far
exceeds what I can program on the network and I would say that probably goes
for virtually any executive who's really truly a fan of boxing. So when there's
not an approved opponent or a pass on a fight, it very well could be a fight
that, as a fan, you think is very attractive. But the additional variables such
as, ‘Is it a cost-effective use of my resources? And is this going to be a good
choice, given what the preferences and desires of my viewers are?’ That's a
very different perspective that I really didn't take into account very much
before.”
Espinoza
should have a very simple standard: Will my audience enjoy this? And is this
something as a boxing fan that I would want to see myself? It helps that
Espinoza is a fan of the sport, not just someone who happens to tolerate it or
uses his position to pad their expense accounts on the road, like other network
executives. Talking to him, you can sense the excitement and anticipation he
has for this gig. But this job, for as easy as it sounds (I mean, you get to
make prizefights with a multimillion-dollar budget. How much better can it get
for a boxing fan, right?), has some complications. Hey, anyone can play fantasy
league football. It's a whole ‘nother ballgame to be a real general manager of
an NFL team and deal with not-so-little issues like the salary cap and
impending free agency. The reality is that Espinoza will not make Diego Corrales-Jose
Luis Castillo or Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez every time out but his goal is
to maintain a certain standard and consistency for Showtime's boxing franchise.
At
times, it will mean overpaying for a bout. Other times, it means taking a
stinker to get a fight you covet down the road. Sometimes it will require discipline
in not squandering the budget in chasing a fight or playing hardball. With all
that, it means trying to placate competing entities and trying to play
peacekeeper.
It's
not as easy as it looks.
“It's
difficult for me as a boxing fan,” said Espinoza, “and the challenge is
separating me as a fan from me, the television executive. But the underlying
dynamic of sort of programming the network is something that's been part of my
career since I got out of law school. Because ultimately, a large part of my
job was in television development and finance and distribution where
particularly, on the ad-supported network side, it's a daily conversation
literally.”
