Comments Thread For: The Beltline: Boxing is bigger than it has ever been in the UK, sources say

[Boxing 112]

It’s as niche as it’s ever been. Boxing is dead over here. I’ll kill the argument with one example. The Chris Eubank vs Nigel Benn rematch had close to 17m viewers, that’s nearly double ITV’s largest audience last year which was 8.6m for United vs Liverpool in the FA Cup. Now let’s look at the rematch between the two son’s which is referenced in the article, will it even have 5% of the viewership the fight between their dads did? The first fight did 600k buys per reports. Boxing is way smaller here than it could and should be and a lot of the blame falls on Warren and Hearn for prioritising monetisation over growth by limiting the audience. They’ve s*cked money out the sport for decades and it’s essentially left a wasteland, with no major broadcasters and very few future stars.

Why the f*** is s*cked censored?

You cannot compare viewership for Eubank Benn vs their dads. Eubank Benn is PPV on an app. Their dads ITV fight was free to air to 90 percent of households (who held a tv license) there were also way less channels back then. Now there are 100s + subscriptions like netflix, dazn etc there was also no such thing as illegal streaming a regular persons household would not have access to the internet back then

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

Boxing 112

Of course you can. That’s literally my point. The reach of boxing is now minimal in this country. Eubank-Benn was a nationally televised mainstream attraction that a large percentage of the population were watching. The kids are fighting on an app that a decimal of the population are watching.

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

You're not wrong but I think you're decontextualising and being somewhat reductive. Boxing's shift onto subscription platforms didn't happen in a vacuum, almost all sports have made that transition. Boxing may have reached a bigger audience in the 90s but the top fighters are making better money now. Do these fighters particularly care about abstractions such as the 'size' of the sport when they're making good money? I very much doubt it.

Given the sneering reaction on this forum to Ben Shalom's deal with BBC it would appear many fans don't care about the size of the sport here either. They're locked into some brand loyalty/wealth worshipping cult and want to see others fail.

Is the money really that good on these streaming apps? I’m not gonna pretend I’m privy to the figures but I would confidently predict fighters were making a hell of a lot more on HBO than they are on say DAZN unless it’s a Saudi backed event.

The broadcasters left boxing not the other way round too. There’s clearly a lack of appetite for boxing on TV now and it’s sad to see. Boxing has a clear lack of stars and mainstream attractions and it’s due to a lack of visibility. The reach of boxing has decreased steadily since the 80’s and it’s due to greed. We’ve actively limited our own audience whether it be PPV, streaming etc.

If you put Man United vs Liverpool on Sky Box Office it would generate extraordinary numbers, but football has always understood that retaining the audience is more important and that’s why it’s the most commercially successful sport in the world. It’s somewhat like comparing apples to oranges admittedly but boxing has really shot itself in the foot by continually reducing it’s audience year upon year.

[dan_cov]

I don't think boxing is in a great place over here at all.
All the big stars of recent times; AJ, Fury, Taylor etc have lost all the hype and are on the verge or retirement.

I used to hear lots of casuals talking about boxing and chat to them, have a little debate, never anymore.
Eubank vs Benn probably did and will do great numbers for all the wrong reasons.

Not sure we have any talent coming up either. Ball is probably popular in Liverpool and I think he could draw numbers for a little fella as he is exciting, Moses could become a star but I can't think of anyone else really.
No good British rivalries like Groves vs DeGale or Froch.

It doesn't have the platforms it did either; ITV, channel 5 etc was a great way of introducing up and comers to a wider audience.
Now everything is PPV and silly Apps which a lot of the older generation don't use

[MulaKO]

No matter what is going on boxing is way bigger in the UK than it is in the usa. At least in the UK all of your top fighters are household names. In the USA the only active fighter that I can think of that is a household name is canelo. Even guys like Crawford Spence Deontay Wilder Devin Haney and many others no one knows. That's a fact. When I was growing up everyone knew De La Hoya Trinidad Vargas Lennox Lewis Tyson Mayweather Etc

UK : 70 million
USA : 340 million

Just Sayin’

[TMLT87]

Boxing 112

Of course you can. That’s literally my point. The reach of boxing is now minimal in this country. Eubank-Benn was a nationally televised mainstream attraction that a large percentage of the population were watching. The kids are fighting on an app that a decimal of the population are watching.

Television across the board is nowhere near what it was in 1993 though. Eastenders used to average like 20 million viewers back then, now the top rated British shows get like a quarter of that. The internet changed everything. I cant even remember the last time TV was the predominant way of consuming media for me, its gotta be 15+ years.

I dont disagree with your overall point though, being on ITV or the BBC is definitely better than being on PPV.

[Coverdale]

Is the money really that good on these streaming apps? I’m not gonna pretend I’m privy to the figures but I would confidently predict fighters were making a hell of a lot more on HBO than they are on say DAZN unless it’s a Saudi backed event.

The broadcasters left boxing not the other way round too. There’s clearly a lack of appetite for boxing on TV now and it’s sad to see. Boxing has a clear lack of stars and mainstream attractions and it’s due to a lack of visibility. The reach of boxing has decreased steadily since the 80’s and it’s due to greed. We’ve actively limited our own audience whether it be PPV, streaming etc.

If you put Man United vs Liverpool on Sky Box Office it would generate extraordinary numbers, but football has always understood that retaining the audience is more important and that’s why it’s the most commercially successful sport in the world. It’s somewhat like comparing apples to oranges admittedly but boxing has really shot itself in the foot by continually reducing it’s audience year upon year.

Football writer John Nicholson published some interesting statistics about football viewing figures and Sky Sports subscriptions a few years back: viewership has reduced there too. The top clubs have managed to become extremely wealthy through corporate sponsorship at the expense of almost everyone else in the football pyramid.

[SteveM]

I think its cooling off after arguably all time peaking during the AJ and Fury boom period.

Obviously this. Virtually everything is cyclical. Not even the universe expands forever.

We have been extremely blessed the last ten years with heavyweights.
From memory, from 1960 to 1985 - 25 years - we had Cooper, Bugner and Dunne.
Then came two stars - Bruno and Lewis.

But recently - Chisora, AJ, Fury, Whyte, Dubois and Joyce - a relative golden era.

And now, possibly, Itauma.

In general, the history of British boxing is one of contenders and title challengers and not Champions.

A fair comparison is not with Japan or Mexico , twice our population or USA - 5 times our population but France and Italy - we are doing well compared to those countries.

[SteveM]

Worsell sleeping on Itauma as a hot prospect?
Not very well informed is he.

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

Television across the board is nowhere near what it was in 1993 though. Eastenders used to average like 20 million viewers back then, now the top rated British shows get like a quarter of that. The internet changed everything. I cant even remember the last time TV was the predominant way of consuming media for me, its gotta be 15+ years.

I dont disagree with your overall point though, being on ITV or the BBC is definitely better than being on PPV.

I get there’s a general deflation across the board. Far more options now than 30 even 10 years ago. However, boxing has almost self-destructed it’s own viewership. Canelo-Crawford is a prime example of the reach the sport could have, but instead of 40m it could conceivably only have >1m viewers on PPV under a more traditional promotional structure. I just think it’s so short-sighted, it’s always take the money now, eventually the well will run dry and I think we saw that in the post Mayweather era. The over-saturation of PPV’s led to some horrible numbers for boxing.