Tag Archives: Michael Woods

FIGHTNIGHT LIVE APPROACHING 1.5 MILLION VIEWS FOLLOWING SUCCESSFUL INAUGURAL CAMPAIGN

Fan-friendly, interactive series looks to continue momentum in year two.
FIGHTNIGHT LIVE Founder Mark Fratto joins Michael Woods on this week’s Talk Box Podcast, powered by Everlast: 

NEW YORK (May 24, 2018) – Recently celebrating its first anniversary and now approaching 1.5 million views for the series, Facebook FIGHTNIGHT LIVE next turns the corner to year two, looking to build upon its meteoric rise after a highly successful inaugural campaign.

 

 

 

The fan-friendly series that – among other aspects – prides itself on the real-time conversations held between fight commentators and the viewing audience has showcased more than 300 fighters during 17 live event broadcasts in its first 12 months. In doing so, the interactive platform has generated the loyal interest of fight fans from across the United States and around the globe, including significant audiences in Mexico, the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe, and even fans in South America, Asia and Australia.

 

 

 

“We are extremely proud of what FIGHTNIGHT LIVE has accomplished since May 2017. We’ve had 17 shows originating from New York, Boston, Atlantic City, Philadelphia, New England, Phoenix and America’s Heartland, where many different promotions gained an incredible amount of exposure via this exciting, truly social platform. To be able to have several events where more than 150,000 people have tuned in only scratches the surface on the market interest for these events, and we are ready to take FIGHTNIGHT LIVE to the next level in year two,” said Mark Fratto, Principal and Director of Business Development, Linacre Media.

 

 

 

“Beyond the numbers, we’re really pleased with the way the shows have been presented and produced,” Fratto continued. “We’ve been able to showcase more than 300 up-and-coming fighters to fight fans all over the world, and help them expand their bases. And we’ve been able to invite our viewers to be part of the action by fostering real-time interaction between our broadcasters and viewers on the fight activity, the decisions and the knockouts; it’s the next-best thing to having a ringside seat.”

 

 

 

Now at more than 1.4 million views for the series, FIGHTNIGHT LIVE has continued to deliver impressive numbers throughout its rookie season, which has already included seven live shows in the first five months of 2018:

 

 

 

  • Over the first 11 months of programming, the numbers on the 17-show FIGHTNIGHT LIVE series have showed promise and potential for the new platform with an average of83,714 fight fans tuning in per event and more than 1.4 million fans served.

 

  • The Sept. 9 “Real Deal Promotions: Empire State” from Resorts World Casino (225,000), the August CES “Super Saturday” from Foxwoods (203,000), the Sept. CES “Twin River Twinbill” from Lincoln, R.I. (157,000) and the March 17 Murphy’s “St.

 

 

  • Patrick’s Day Clash” (150,001) all logged 150,000 or more views, and collectively the 17-show series has seen a total of more than 30,000 total hours of Facebook video consumed by 1,423,132 users across all devices.

 

  • In addition to the raw viewership numbers, the fully-interactive, fan-friendly productions have seen more than 173,000 collective live post engagements(more than 10,200 per show), including more than 116,000 “likes” or “loves,” almost 30,000 comments and nearly 10,000 shares.

 

  • FIGHTNIGHT LIVE broadcasts are viewed by 76 percent men, 24 percent women. The top demographic is comprised of males ages 25-34, which encompasses approximately 30.0 percent of the audience, on average.

 

  • The Sept. 9 “Real Deal Promotions: Empire State” set a new bar with 224,658 viewsand the Sept. 15-16 DiBella-CES doubleheader carried the series to three-quarters-of-a-million views in just over four months. TheFeb. 10 Hard-Hitting Promotions “Philly Fight Night” show stands out individually with 3,421 live hours of content viewed, while the Sept. 15 DiBella card saw more than 40,000 viewer interactions including almost 39,000 “likes” or “loves” and the March 17 Murphy’s “St. Patrick’s Day Clash” set a new high-water mark for shares with 2,182.

 

  • The FIGHTNIGHT LIVE page on Facebook has more than 80,000 fans and more than 83,000 followers.And Facebook itself has taken notice – the world’s No. 1 social network recently profiled FIGHTNIGHT LIVE on its “Success Stories” media blog, noting the series’ use of industry best practices for production and interactivity: https://www.facebook.com/facebookmedia/success-stories/fightnight

 

 

Created and produced by Linacre Media out of New York City, the FIGHTNIGHT LIVE series features professional announcers, multiple camera angles, television graphics, replays and behind-the-scenes access and interviews. The streamed shows are available globally wherever Facebook is available. The initiative not only enables fans from around the world to tune in, but also gives up-and-coming fighters a global platform to showcase their abilities, gives promoters an accessible “broadcast” solution and gives sponsors the ability to reach a mass audience via branded content.

 

 

 

More FIGHTNIGHT LIVE Spring and Summer 2018 dates will be officially announced in the coming weeks.

 

 

 

FIGHTNIGHT LIVE is available online at:
https://www.facebook.com/FaceFIGHTNIGHTLIVE/

 

 

 

Follow all the action via social media at FaceFIGHTNIGHTLIVE on Facebook, @FaceFIGHTNIGHTLIVE on Instagram and @FIGHTNIGHTLIVE_ on Twitter, or by using the hashtag #FIGHTNIGHTLIVE. For the latest Linacre Media events and broadcast schedule, follow @LinacreMedia across all social platforms or use the tags #LinacreMediaEvents or #LinacreMediaOnTV.

FIGHTNIGHT LIVE SERIES OPENS FACEBOOK WEEKEND TRIPLEHEADER WITH CES LIVE FROM RHODE ISLAND ON FRIDAY, FEB. 23

Ten month-old fan-friendly fight series averages 88,952 views per show, recently eclipsed 1,000,000 view milestone.
NEW YORK (Feb. 16, 2018) – Beginning next Friday, Facebook FIGHTNIGHT LIVE serves up tripleheader action inside the squared circle. To open the weekend, the fan-friendly boxing and MMA streaming service partners once again with renowned promoter Jimmy Burchfield Sr. for a red-hot CES Boxing card to start the boxing year in New England. Fans from across the globe can catch all the action beginning at 8 p.m. ET live from Twin River Casino in Rhode Island on any device wherever Facebook is available.
“This is an exciting main event between two deserving championship contenders and there’s no better partner than FIGHTNIGHT LIVE to provide fight fans all around the globe a front-row seat to the action. Ray Oliveira Jr. has paid his dues though the years while other fighters in New England have had the opportunity to see their name in lights. Now he gets his shot to headline for the first time in his career while competing for his first championship,” said Burchfield, Sr.
Recently hitting the 1,000,000 views mark, Friday’s show rings the opening bell on FIGHTNIGHT LIVE’s Feb. 23-24 back-to-back-to-back Friday and Saturday shows spanning from the casinos of New England to the Boardwalk of Atlantic City.
“At this point, CES and FIGHTNIGHT LIVE are family,” said Mark Fratto, Principal of Linacre Media. “We know each other, we love working on shows with the Burchfield and CES Family and have relationships with the promoters and fighters that extend long past the bell. These are great people and great athletes and we’re excited as always to give them a platform to showcase their talent and tell their stories. What a great way to open a jam-packed weekend of Facebook fights.”
CES Boxing kicks off the 2018 Twin River Casino Fight Series on Friday, Feb. 23, with Fall River, Mass., junior middleweight Ray Oliveira Jr. (9-1, 1 KO) headlining for the first time in his career and vying for the World Boxing Union (WBU) Super Welterweight Canadian-American-Mexican (CAM) Championship in an eight-round showdown against New Haven, Conn., veteran Edwin Soto (11-2-2, 4 KOs), plus a six-round heavyweight co-feature between Sicilian Juiseppe Cusumano (13-1, 11 KOs) and battle-tested Pittsburgh, Pa., native Fred Latham (9-1-2, 5 KOs).
Over the first nine-plus months of programming, the numbers on the 12-show FIGHTNIGHT LIVE series have showed promise and potential for the new platform with an average of close to 90,000 fight fans tuning in per event and more than one-million fans served.
The Sept. 9 “Real Deal Promotions: Empire State” from Resorts World Casino (225,000), the August CES “Super Saturday” from Foxwoods (203,000), the Sept. CES “Twin River Twinbill” from Lincoln, R.I. (157,000) all topped 150,000 views, and collectively the 12-show series saw a total of more than 21,000 total hours of Facebook video consumed by 1,067,435-plus users across all devices.
In addition to the raw viewership numbers, the fully-interactive, fan-friendly productions have seen more than 142,000 collective live post engagements (nearly 12,000 per show), including almost 97,000 “likes” or “loves,” more than 22,000 comments and almost 6,000 shares.
FIGHTNIGHT LIVE broadcasts are viewed by 76 percent men, 24 percent women. The top demographic is comprised of males ages 25-34, which encompasses approximately 30.0 percent of the audience, on average.
The Sept. 9 “Real Deal Promotions: Empire State” set a new bar with 224,658 views and the Sept. 15-16 DiBella-CES doubleheader carried the series to three-quarters-of-a-million views in just over four months. The Feb. 10 Hard-Hitting Promotions “Philly Fight Night” show stands out individually with 3,421 live hours of content viewed, while the Sept. 15 DiBella card saw more than 40,000 viewer interactions including almost 39,000 “likes” or “loves.”
The FIGHTNIGHT LIVE page on Facebook has more than 80,000 fans and more than 82,000 followers. And Facebook itself has taken notice – the world’s No. 1 social network recently profiled FIGHTNIGHT LIVE on its “Success Stories” media blog, noting the series’ use of industry best practices for production and interactivity:
            Facebook FIGHTNIGHT LIVE has been delivered to fans absolutely free since its May 2017 launch courtesy of series corporate partners like Elite Heat WaterMontauk Iced Tea (montaukbev.com), Mr. Custom Made(mrcustommade.com) and BallWash (ballwash.com).
On Friday night, Feb. 23, live from live from Twin River Casino in Lincoln, R.I., fans can expect a high-impact, multi-camera streaming experience complete with graphics, animations, replays, interviews and an announce team anchored by blow-by-blow announcer Michael Woods of the TalkBox Podcast, NYFights.com and The Ring and analyst Xavier Porter of BrooklynFights.com and Notorious Boxing. To provide spectators with a fully-interactive ringside experience, commentators will ask and respond to questions from the Facebook audience throughout the broadcast.
Created and produced by Linacre Media out of New York City, the FIGHTNIGHT LIVE series features professional announcers, multiple camera angles, television graphics, replays and behind-the-scenes access and interviews. The streamed shows are available globally wherever Facebook is available. The initiative not only enables fans from around the world to tune in, but also gives up-and-coming fighters a global platform to showcase their abilities, gives promoters an accessible “broadcast” solution and gives sponsors the ability to reach a mass audience via branded content.
More FIGHTNIGHT LIVE Winter/Spring 2018 dates will be officially announced in the coming weeks.
FIGHTNIGHT LIVE is available online at: https://www.facebook.com/FaceFIGHTNIGHTLIVE/
Follow all the action via social media at FaceFIGHTNIGHTLIVE on Facebook, @FaceFIGHTNIGHTLIVE on Instagram and@FIGHTNIGHTLIVE_ on Twitter, or by using the hashtag #FIGHTNIGHTLIVE. For the latest Linacre Media events and broadcast schedule, follow@LinacreMedia across all social platforms or use the tags #LinacreMediaEvents or #LinacreMediaOnTV.

TALKBOX podcast Tackles Tough Subjects

Everlast Worldwide, the world’s leading manufacturer, marketer and licensor of boxing, MMA and fitness equipment, is proud to  offer the second installment of TALKBOX, a boxing-themed podcast on the brand-new #TeamEverlast Podcast Network.
The boxing world and indeed all pockets of the globe experienced a massive loss last week, with the death of The Greatest, Muhammad Ali.
The legacy of the greatest sports entertainer the planet has and will ever know is examined by persons who were there by his side for the monumental battles, both inside and outside the ring, in pod No. 2.
Podcast host Michael Woods spends time with Ali’s “Rumble in the Jungle” partner George Foreman, who talks about how dearly he misses a man who become a treasured friend.
Woods also interviews sports journalist Jerry Izenberg, a confidante to the departed pugilist. The writer enters the Boxing Hall of Fame this weekend, and sheds light on what made Ali such a bright, shining light, a credit to humanity.
Finally, Woods and TALKBOX listeners hear from Gene Kilroy, Ali’s business advisor and right-hand man who shares a most poignant message to Ali, who he knows is in a better place, with other champions of days past.
The TALKBOX series seeks to be the prime, pound-for-pound podcast destination for all things boxing, including news, analysis, interviews and the proverbial much more.
In the first pod, Woods chatted with boxing super-fan Rosie Perez, the actress/activist who talked about the last time she was involved in a fist-fight, and who she likes to win the June 25 Keith Thurman-Shawn Porter fight.
Each episode is 60 minutes of championship quality material published bi-weekly on iTunes, Google play, Stitcher, and everlast.com.
“Mike is one of the most compelling personalities in all of sports – not just boxing,” said Chris Zoller, Director of Brand Marketing at Everlast. “His voice and credibility in the boxing world is second to none. We’re extremely excited to partner with him on TALKBOX and look forward to building something great.”
“I am as or more excited for this assignment than any I’ve taken on since I started covering boxing in the early 90s. And that’s largely because I’m so proud and pleased to be working with the people at Everlast,” said Woods, a Brooklyn resident who is publisher/editor of his own site, NYFIGHTS.com, and also contributes to the RING website. “The world is a better place for having boxing. We will not be shy about spreading that message on the show. I sincerely hope you will subscribe to TALKBOX and join us to ponder all boxing matters.”
Latest Episode will always be the featured content on  www.everlast.com/teameverlast
Subscribe:
(or open your podcast app and search “Talkbox”)
(or open your Google Play store and search “Talkbox”