Andre Ward's path to PPV stardom ... ?

Preface this discussion with the fact that Andre Ward's first fight on HBO did 1.3m viewers for Ward-Dawson and 1.2m viewers for Ward-Rodriguez (a bygone era for HBO, but there's still a base to work from). The path, though, seems to be pretty straightforward: -3/26, against Sullivan Barrera, on HBO -6/18, against TBA, on HBOPPV -Nov 2016, vs. Sergey Kovalev, on HBOPPV -Mar 2017, vs Adonis Stevenson, on PPV (with Ward's HBO done at that point, fight is free to go to whatever channel that puts up the money) By that point, with four belts around his waist, and the hype behind delivering three PPV shows, Andre Ward (depending on how the shows do) is in position to call some major Lol. And Kovalev is no more than a rung on the ladder to super-stardom for the great Andre Ward! Ward is going to get Krushed.

Since when is stardom something that Ward is trying to achieve? He's well aware of what he could do to generate interest and sell more fights. He's just opposed to playing that character. He said he's fought with promoters about that for years. Nobody shuns higher income but there's some people that put their principles first and Andre is one of those few. That choice is his burden to bear.

Barrera in March (HBO), Brand in August (HBO), and the Kovalev fight coming in November (HBOPPV). Ward-Stevenson is still in the cards for 2017 (though pushed likely pushed back with Stevenson-Alvarez still needing to be dealt with) ... and there's the coming Creed 2, the most obvious main story being Adonis Johnson-Creed vs Danny "Stuntman" Wheeler (in a "battle of Los Angeles", likely climaxed at Staples Center in the film). The amount of press-related exposure that Ward can expect for that media tour is ridiculous.

To me the kova-Ward PPV will do like 250-300k....and thats a good number

I see Ward as similar to B-Hop. He'll be a top level fighter as long as he wants to be, but he's going to be a tv fighter, not a major PPV fighter. Like others have pointed out, there is nothing wrong with that. I don't see a fight with Kovalev as being such a huge fight that he's going to bust into a new lever of fame. And there's really no one else for him to fight, at least right away. Unless he leaves Roc Nation, he's not fighting Stevenson or any Haymon fighter.

I don't see how Kovalev is the path to PPV. Kovalev can't sell, he has to go to other fighters hometown to fight. Ward doesn't fight outside Oakland so he hasn't built a nationwide fan base. I think it's the best fight of the year, even better than Canelo-GGG but I don't think it'll sell well on PPV because neither fighter has a big following. But this is the PPV fans should buy instead of Canelo-Khan and Cotto-TBA and Crawford-Postol. These are the #1 & #2 P4P fighters imo. That's a fair assumption.... Kovalev has not been a huge draw and Ward can't draw outside of Oakland. (Mostly because he's reluctant to fight outside of Oakland when he does fight.) But to be fair to Kovalev, he had to go on the road to secure fights... Pascal likely wouldn't fight Sergey outside of Canada.... But beating Pascal twice and the exposure he got from the Hopkins fight makes him more viable.... Ward vs Kovalev is a pound for pound fight... People will want to see it.... My earlier post mentioned that After Ward vs Kovalev the rematch would be Bank... That's only if the first tussle was exciting and perhaps a close decision... You have to consider that the Rematch could be PPV gold if the first fight was exciting....

A whole lot of IF'S .... Wards path to PPV stardom is simple, just Win .... Barrera is obviously a must, it should be a decent scrap... But after that will make or break Andre Ward... I think he needs to beat Kovalev (Enormous if !) outside of Oakland.... If he can beat Kovalev in Vagas or New York it would easily outshine anything he can do in Oakland... That would make him the darling of the boxing world... Giving Kovalev a immediate rematch would bust the bank wide open for him... Winning that rematch (Another Enormous If) would cement his PPV status, it would be assured... After that he would need to coax Adonis Stevenson (If Adonis is still a champion? ) into a winner take all the belts in the division match... So winning solves everything for him... But losing to Kovalev, in exciting fashion, would help is Pay-per-view status also... If there's a rematch that's equally exciting, Ward would be just fine, win or lose..

PPV star, i don't see it. i feel he beats kov and the rest but with that style and not an over the top personality that's almost required in the absence of a great fighting style, ward just does good with PPV. but what do i know.

His layoff was a setback. I'd be shocked if he hits 1.2m like he used to. I'm expecting 900-1m with a relatively unknown opponent. It all depends on what kind of magic Jay Z can do. He needs to get young African Americans back into boxing. Can he get Ward that mainstream attention with his status in the world of entertainment? He needs to tap into a new group of fans because the Mexican and Euro fanbases that dominate boxing right now won't gravitate towards Ward. At age 32 it might be too late. Floyd was built up as a teenager right out of the Olympics. Jay z didn't even promote the cotto/canelo fight

Roy jones was never a big ppv star

It's difficult to sell PPV fights up there with no dance partners. None of those guys are A-sides really, like enough to carry a PPV. You're looking at B-sides all over the place. When two B-sides fight each other, you get disappointing numbers. Ward v Kovalev, Ward v Stevenson, Ward v DeGale are all good fights but not fights that the mass will pay $60 for. I still want to see them, I personally would pay to watch them, but not enough people would pay for them to call them a success. This.......

You gotta consider the TS was saying Fonfara vs Cleverly "likely" does 900k viewers, that he's written many essays how 40m flat was a fair offer to Pac etc. File this with those gems

Ward will never be a PPV star. Very very very few boxers are. He might appear in some PPVs but it won't be because he is a PPV star. Sergio Martinez had much more charisma and was more enjoyable to watch but was always B side in PPVs. People always point to Mayweather and seem to think black guys with a gold medal can become PPV stars but Mayweather was a carefully crafted persona who took a long while to create. Mayweather is an anomaly not a blueprint. Further more there's nothing wrong with not being a PPV draw. Ward can have a great legacy defining career and get paid a lot without people pointing to how many PPVs he sold.

Ward will NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER be a PPV star. He fucked that up already. He should of kept the momentum going after the Super Six.

forget ward. broner is the fighter of the decade and the next ppv star

His layoff was a setback. I'd be shocked if he hits 1.2m like he used to. I'm expecting 900-1m with a relatively unknown opponent. It all depends on what kind of magic Jay Z can do. He needs to get young African Americans back into boxing. Can he get Ward that mainstream attention with his status in the world of entertainment? He needs to tap into a new group of fans because the Mexican and Euro fanbases that dominate boxing right now won't gravitate towards Ward. At age 32 it might be too late. Floyd was built up as a teenager right out of the Olympics. Can't gravitate towards someone who doesn't fight. See Mikey Garcia. No Mexican gives a schit about him.

PPV Stardom? Lol He is in a great position to be on PPV with Krusher, but if he gets sparked in that fight I have a feeling he retires. If he wins I think he will need to look exciting and dynamic to warrant a second PPV showing. If he grinds a foul filled decision why would the public pay 70.00 to see that again? Roc Nation are idiots so anything is possible.

Can't see Ward ever being a PPV star sadly, his style isn't casual friendly, even some true fans of the support are turned off by his style.... and the state of the sport makes it even harder to become a star now. GGG, who was as hyped up as anyone, with a fan friendly style couldn't do it either, is back on regular HBO and is likely to stay there without a Canelo fight. Ward just has to settle for having a good legacy in the sport.... There were many talented boxers before him that never became PPV stars. He's still making good money as it is. We are not likely to see any Mayweathers or Pacs for a while. Golovkin is stuck on HBO because he's almost 34 years old, and has done nothing but beat on cans for his whole career (with the PPV paying audience seemingly picking up on the dearth of Golovkin's competition). Ward walks into such a situation with no such doubts about him. Beyond that, Ward stopped Chad Dawson, routed Rodriguez, stopped Paul Smith, and could likely stop Sullivan Barrera. With all of that footage available to HBO, and HBO still having the ability to put together a high-quality promo package, I wouldn't put the chances that far off. Add the likelihood that he picks off Kovalev's scalp, and Ward may end up being the final HBO attempt at making a PPV star (with Ward possibly moving on from HBO, if the money doesn't come correct).

whats odd is ward is largely the exact opposiste of floyd in personality but he "has no personality" you guys gotta pick one