How HBO and Showtime Learned to Fight Together in the Ring
A long personal history between top executives at HBO and Showtime helped cement the deal for the Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao fight
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On the night of Saturday, May 2, rival TV networks HBO and Showtime will temporarily suspend their corporate hostilities in order to work together for a higher cause—namely, reeling in a hefty payday. For a few, strategically collegiate hours, the typically antagonistic networks will co-produce what is expected to be the highest grossing pay-per-view event in the history of television: the title fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. At first blush, the prospect of HBO making TV with Showtime sounds a bit like Coke making soda with Pepsi, or the Hatfields apple-bobbing with the McCoys. How did it happen?
Call it the sweet science of network détente.