HBO, fearing a government crackdown, knocked out an in-ring boxing series sponsorship that featured an online betting site.
The sponsor, Sportsbook.com, had appeared on HBO in previous boxing matches sponsorships, but had this year's deal - which would have featured its logo on the ring floor and on its turnbuckles - pushed to less prominent locations.
Sportsbook had signed the deals with Banner Promotions and Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions and thought it was ready to go until HBO got wind of it.
The ads were to appear during the Ricky Hatton-Luis Collazo fight in Boston last week, as well as in the Marco Antonio Barrera-Rocky Juarez fight in Los Angeles scheduled for last night, according to Alex Czajkowski, the site's marketing director.
But HBO threatened both promoters with withholding its licensing fee - believed to be about $250,000 - if they didn't remove the logo from areas visible during the telecast.
Czajkowski said HBO simply wants to avoid attracting unwanted attention from government regulators by killing the sponsorship, which can range in cost from $50,000 to upwards of $300,000.
Without acknowledging Sportsbook.com specifically, an HBO Sports spokesman said, "We are satisfied that the fight promoters have dealt with our concerns."
source : NY Post
