MONEY: It rules the world and all sports included! Boxing more significantly than most.

The biggest factor was, is and will stay is MONEY. It rules the world and sports are a part of the real world. A list of the largest sports contracts for players that include signing bonuses but exclude endorsements, buyouts and options shows that the New York Yankees tower over the competition. They have the #1 Alex Rodriguez ($275,000,000), #2 Derek Jeter ($189,000,000), #4 Mark Teixeira ($180,000,000), and #5 CC Sabathia ($161,000,000). That's why the NY Yankees are in contention for MLB's World Series Champs (They are also the U.S. all-time winningest pro team ever with 27 championships) every year. Paying those salaries, it appears they should win every year, but luck is a larger factor than appears (especially cause of injuries) to the public. Notre Dame's College Football home games have all been televised on NBC since 1991. Now before cable sport packages and satellite options this gave Notre Dame a huge edge when it came to recruiting (even prior to the NBC major contract) that they should have been in contention for the National Championship every year.