Comments Thread For: Hearn Confirms Five-Year DAZN Deal For UK Shows, Ends Long Run With Sky Sports

[TMLT87]

I think this is a mixed bag. If its at a decent price point its good for the fans. I'm not so sure its good for the boxers though, in terms of getting domestic exposure.

[KTFOKING]

I'm guessing he will take a lot of his American fighters and put them on cards in the UK? Good news for Brits fans as the type of fights they have gotten out there the last few years for the most part has been mediocre as hell.

Sky is apparently just going to be working with everyone? Any up and coming promoter out there that could get some of his fighters on Sky?

[KTFOKING]

Only 16 shows a year seems like a low number to me, are they downscaling the amount of cards they will put on in the UK? I guess that would go along with Hearn talking about Brits ending up on more US cards now and probably means there will be a significant focus on putting on more international cards. Very curious and interested to see just where this goes and how it takes shape, as well as if Sky will stay in boxing and the route they choose, if they do

16 cards is more than enough. How many more do you need? Not like the talent level of the UK fighters is all that great at the present moment. This doesn't count AJ's next fight nor Whyte's fight so that will be two more cards for Matchroom.

[asgarth]

Only 16 shows a year seems like a low number to me, are they downscaling the amount of cards they will put on in the UK? I guess that would go along with Hearn talking about Brits ending up on more US cards now and probably means there will be a significant focus on putting on more international cards. Very curious and interested to see just where this goes and how it takes shape, as well as if Sky will stay in boxing and the route they choose, if they do

the number sounded low to me too. But I checked how many shows he did in 2019, he had 15 UK shows and another one if you count the Monte Carlo card because those usually mostly feature british fighters.

[GBP4LIFE]

Who cares.. UK Boxing is trash..

[asgarth]

I'm guessing he will take a lot of his American fighters and put them on cards in the UK? Good news for Brits fans as the type of fights they have gotten out there the last few years for the most part has been mediocre as hell.

Sky is apparently just going to be working with everyone? Any up and coming promoter out there that could get some of his fighters on Sky?

MTK will probably swoop in. They have the biggest stable next to Matchroom and Warren and have grown a lot in recent years.

[EnglishOxide]

This is big news. This is REALLY big news TBH. Its a long time and boxing doesn't seem to be slowing down. I would have thought Sky would have fought harder to retain rights to PPVs. Really not sure whats going on here. Is Sky not willing to pay? Do they not see Matchroom as worth it? Will they attempt to forge a relationship with another stable????

It sounds like DAZN are willing to pay a lot more per show than Sky are. Their priorities clearly only lie with other sports and PPV model.

Eddie clearly wants to increase the quality of his cards which is obviously good for us as fans.

[KTFOKING]

MTK will probably swoop in. They have the biggest stable next to Matchroom and Warren and have grown a lot in recent years.

So how does that work since MTK is involved with a lot of Warren's fighters? Would they leave BT for Sky?

[Kezzer]

This is big news. This is REALLY big news TBH. Its a long time and boxing doesn't seem to be slowing down. I would have thought Sky would have fought harder to retain rights to PPVs. Really not sure whats going on here. Is Sky not willing to pay? Do they not see Matchroom as worth it? Will they attempt to forge a relationship with another stable??

I'm also torn on DAZN, tbh I think this move should have been the one they did first (though I am assuming that contractual obligations meant they shouldn't) but, at the same time, what will be the pricing strategy? £10 a month? Less??? I also can't imagine this being all that wonderful for UK based Matchroom fighters who likely wont get access to gate revenue and PPV bonus backends. But then I don't know if that was ever a thing here. I dunno, boxing purses seem way more secretive in the UK. There is nothing like the Nevada Athletic commission to verify minimum earnings.

This also seems rife for exploitation and moves one step closer to the UFC style model Hearn has always envisioned. I'm sorry but Hearn seems to have way greater power within DAZN than someone like Warren or Arum have among BT Sport and ESPN respectively. Will this end up exasperating the problem the Ali Act tried to fix???

breaking the uk first was always going to be a challenge, doing the way they did they also were able to form a partnership with sky and share shows which was mutually beneficial. Now they have formed the relationship with matchroom the decision to move away from sky has been made, this was probably not viable previously.

In regards to ppv , let’s wait and see. We will truly find out when Joshua fights next where is lands, I expect the deal with dazn includes at least his first fight as they will want him to draw subscribers. At what point will dazn increase subscription prices though - I imagine if Joshua fights soon they may do it after his first fight..

[Kezzer]

Only 16 shows a year seems like a low number to me, are they downscaling the amount of cards they will put on in the UK? I guess that would go along with Hearn talking about Brits ending up on more US cards now and probably means there will be a significant focus on putting on more international cards. Very curious and interested to see just where this goes and how it takes shape, as well as if Sky will stay in boxing and the route they choose, if they do

16 is about the same as Eddie does for sky today. However you will also get the non uk fights so you will end up with at least two a month and I can imagine it gets closer to one every week.