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HBO, Showtime Get Restraining Order Against Mayweather-Pacquiao Streamers

By Nick Tylwalk

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There’s a fight being broadcast this weekend. No big deal, just this little donnybrook called Mayweather-Pacquiao. HBO has some skin in the game for this one, co-producing the (expensive) pay-per-view broadcast along with Showtime, which is usually the network’s arch-rival. Not only have they been forced to cooperate on the event, they’ve teamed up to seek legal help against several websites looking to stream the boxing match for free.

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According to Deadline, they got exactly what they were looking for last night. A federal judge granted a temporary restraining order sought by HBO and Showtime against two sites, boxinghd.net and sportship.org, that were advertising free streams of the boxing match, which will take place Saturday night. The order went into effect as soon as it was issued and lasts for about a week, which should discourage other sites from trying the same thing — at least so blatantly.

Naturally, not all of the reaction on the internet has been favorable on this development, because the pay-per-view is being priced at an unprecedented level: $100 for the HD broadcast and just under $90 for standard def.

(Side note: would anyone really not just pay the extra $10 for HD once you’ve already shelled out that much?)

But it’s also very easy to understand why HBO and Showtime would take this kind of action to protect their rights. Mayweather-Pacquiao is unquestionably the biggest fight of the 21st century, and is generating an extraordinary amount of interest from the general public even with both fighters past their primes. It could take years, maybe decades, for the sport to produce a similar match-up, and the stakeholders are going to do everything in their power to ensure they make every possible dollar from it.

I’ll be attending a group viewing, where the price per person will be low. My advice to others interested in watching would be to do the same.

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