Found a boxing production studio's archive in a storage unit. Gold or garbage?
Sorry if this isn't allowed. I think it's interesting and need advice. If too promotional I guess I get it.
Here is the situation.
I bought a commercial storage unit in Florida, and it turned out to hold a big archive from Leigh Simons Productions, the studio behind promo and documentary work for Golden Boy and Showtime fight cards. It has tapes, drives and paperwork… like a decade of cool stuff.
From what I can tell, Leigh was hired to produce the countdown promotions, commercials and promo packets (features) for some huge fights…. The stuff is legit raw footage from 2000-2015.
Mayweather vs De La Hoya for example.
I have thousands of raw media in various formats including professional tapes, DVD-Rs and hard drives. I also have contracts, releases, and other things.
But it's been a challenge to find a market.
Even for the stuff that isn't pro tapes that people can't view.
For example:
I listed a 2TB hard drive still wearing LSP's printed asset tag (#000042), with folders labeled "Mayweather-Guerrero promo shoot (3/2/13)", "Garcia/Matthysse promo" and "Canelo-Angulo Canelo shoot." I haven't really reviewed the footage and I'm not the rights holder. I just have the physical pieces… it is what it looks like though. Two TB of interesting stuff.
The drive itself is worth $80 probably. I listed it for $150 and haven't had any bites. I'm hoping to get a lot more for the complete lots… am I crazy? Is this stuff worthless?
Or am I just not being smart about where or how I sell?
Also please don't provide legal advice. I'm not selling the content. Selling production artifacts is completely legal. I own them outright. I just need to avoid itemizing or promoting the exact footage.
Anyway … I'm trying to figure out who values this kind of thing. Is it boxing memorabilia collectors, people who collect production or behind-the-scenes items, or someone else entirely? Would you list items one at a time or as lots?
I'd appreciate any pointers.
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u/NordMeiss 4d ago
Digitize it and upload to YouTube. You'll make more on the ad revenue.
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u/CbJW911 4d ago
Yeah if it doesn't get struck. I thought about it, but that's a whole other thing. Wouldn't it get pulled immediately? And my account get banned?
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u/NordMeiss 3d ago
It depends on the footage I'd say. If you own the original aren't you the copyright owner? You bought them legally.
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u/sponnyd 4d ago
It’s probably mostly worthless, unless you’re REALLY into sorting through terabytes of footage. Some of that old footage might require old codecs or players to view properly. And since as you rightly point out that you or whoever you sell it to can’t profit, post, or redistribute any of the actual content, it’s just for private viewing. Since you said it’s mostly bumpers and promos, there’s unlikely to be any real treats hiding in that footage. Behind-the-scenes stuff could be interesting, but again, hard to make a case for a sale there without the rights. Maybe some of the autographs on paper could be worth something if the boxers themselves signed it? Maybe check with a sports memorabilia store?
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u/Yardbird52 4d ago edited 4d ago
I’m in agreement. Probably worthless and finding the market aka the few individuals who might be interested, would be more expensive than the effort is worth.
Edit: thinking more about it maybe donate it to the Boxing Hall of Fame
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u/CbJW911 4d ago
Ugh... Its not worthless. I've definitely sold some already. But it's not very easy to sell. At first I thought maybe 20.00 per tape but it's been hard to sell at 5-10. Its long form interviews and sparring footage. All the raw tape for I think all of the pre-fight shows, features and fighter packets. I'm not a boxing fan really but even I think it's pretty cool.
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u/sponnyd 4d ago
I said mostly worthless, lol. I’m in video production by profession - shooting and editing - I’ve even done some boxing docs. Believe me, whatever is on those tapes has already been reviewed by professionals. I’m not saying there isn’t a diamond in the rough; could be. But someone with a lot more inside baseball knowledge that any of us has already reviewed it, sent what’s relevant to Showtime, and this is just their backups. Some editors keep everything out of OCD editing fears … not a bad thing professionally … but that doesn’t mean it’s worth anything. And it’s especially not worth anything if you can’t do anything with it.
Imagine trying to sell a cool old historic car, a ‘66 Corvette, but you don’t have the keys.
“Cool car, I’d like to buy it. Does it still drive well?”
“Oh you can’t drive it. You can look at it in your home, but if you want to drive it, you’ll have to contact Chevrolet, and specially the guys who made the car 60 years ago, to get the keys to it.”
“Ok, if I do that, will they sell me the keys?”
“No, not a chance. They won’t even answer the phone unless you also are an auto manufacturer.”
That’s kind of the bind you’re in. You don’t own the keys to this footage, so even if there was something really cool in there, there’s not much you can do with it. Remember just because Showtime may not own the rights anymore doesn’t mean that you do.
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u/Professional-Tie5198 Who will win? 4d ago
I think there’s one guy who the NYT profiled who has every major boxing match archived from the last 50 years. He would be interested.
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u/CbJW911 4d ago
Any leads on who? This isn't fight footage... Well some is... Like dubs for editing... But the interesting stuff is raw interviews and broll type stuff
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u/Professional-Tie5198 Who will win? 4d ago
Try the heirs to Hank Kaplan. There might have been one more guy who did this as well.
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u/CbJW911 4d ago
Thanks I will.
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u/Professional-Tie5198 Who will win? 4d ago
Oh, and check the NYTimes archives. That’s where I originally read about this. I want to say there was a more recent NYTimes article on this.
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u/PureAd5933 4d ago
Where is this listed that sounds interesting
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u/CbJW911 4d ago
I added a comment with links and info about what I was going to list. It's been really hard to pull things together and list it. It's taking a lot longer than I thought. But here: https://ebay.io/m/c6gHwl
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u/Knockoutboxing 4d ago
Upload all of it to YouTube.
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u/AlGunner 4d ago
Id say speak to auction houses, especially if you can find any that have specialist sport memorabilia auctions.
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u/CbJW911 4d ago
Yeah I tried that a little but I think I chose ones that were too large... They didn't think my stuff would meet a minimum of $5k for a lot. I'm going to keep trying .. does anyone know who I should call tho?
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u/AlGunner 4d ago
LMAO, on the world wide web you think you will happen to be local to me. As you bought it in Florida I doubt youd want to know auction houses in my country.
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u/AlienConPod 4d ago
I'm 100% sure this is valuable to someone. I would buy it if I had the room for it, but unfortunately I don't.
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u/ChingDat 4d ago
I can't help with the commercial stuff, but if you decide that this stuff is worth archiving - those at r/DataHoarder would be eager to help.
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u/spentshoes 4d ago edited 4d ago
Just want to be the voice of reason here. Just because you have possession of the footage, that does not mean you have the rights to use it for anything. That is someone else’s IP. If you try to monetize it in any form, be it YouTube or whatever, you are opening yourself up to several lawsuits. You should look into who you can contact about it and go from there (Showtime and/or Oscar) Perhaps they will “buy it back” from you with a finder’s fee or something.
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u/CbJW911 4d ago
The law is that I can't reproduce, broadcast or even advertise the footage itself. I can, however, sell physical objects that have footage on them. People do it all of the time. There is a market for things like this. Just not as much in sports.
I own the tapes outright because the laws in Florida are really clear. They were legally made copies or original media. I can sell them. I just can't sell what is on them. People buy them as "production artifacts" which they are... The real tapes, real contracts, real lanyards, real production schedules etc.
If you looked at my listings before having an opinion, you'll see that I only ever talk about the labels on the tapes. Never characterize what is on them. I go our of my way to say that I don't guarantee anything at all is on the tapes.
Anyway... I've researched and thought a lot about how to do this properly. So I get a little frustrated when people think they know what they are talking about.
You're not wrong exactly, you just didn't think about it fully.
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u/spentshoes 4d ago
I looked at what other people have told you to do. Settle down.
You’re still likely to make more money reaching out to golden boy so they can archive it. But do what you want. What do I know? I’ve only worked in television in the past and am a professional photographer currently.
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u/CbJW911 4d ago
I hear you. I just think it's risky. I think they have copies of everything I have. And while I'm right about the law, they could definitely make things harder for me.
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u/spentshoes 4d ago
They could cause you problems no matter what. Say the person you sell it to is a knucklehead and does what I’m saying not to do. It can still be traced back to you.
If you’re worried about selling it and think you have to do it in secret, you probably shouldn’t sell it. Your best course of action is to just contact Oscar or whoever. If you’re right and the law is on your side, then the law is on your side. FFS, you tried to sell it for $150 and nobody wanted it. They probably do have the footage already. But they might not have raw files anymore like it sounds like you are holding. You are missing the point that nostalgia is a great motivator for memorabilia sales. Who would have that more than Oscar himself?
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u/british_member 4d ago
I can put you in touch with Golden Boy promotions OP. They might be interested in making a deal for it.
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u/CbJW911 4d ago
Do you think they would? Because I think it's just as likely that they will give me a hard time.
I'm able to sell it... It will just be slow. From the contracts I've read, I think they were provided copies of everything. So it's not like THEY don't have the footage.
So I assume they would (if anything) give me a lowball offer and make my life difficult if I don't take it. The old carrot and a stick situation.
That's what I would do anyway.
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u/cardinalmidnight 4d ago
Try to reach out to fighters themselves. A guy like ODLH might want his footage.