Comments Thread For: “Fighting Words” – Free Fights, Pugilistic Piracy: Boxing, Broadcasts and Bootlegs

[wazaa.]

I do want to pay for fights but they don't show them here in The Netherlands.

[Equilibrium]

Boxing was not always a pay per view sport, before that big fights were shown on televisions. But these money grubbing bastards want to make the most money possible out of every fight and because of that boxing is less popular than it could be.

Now, i already see a couple of you replying. But, Money Mayweather has pay per view buys in the millions! Sure, but the people who bought that are boxing fans. Ask a random person on the street who is the heavyweight champion and he most likely won't know.

30 years ago boxing was a sport for the people, but in the 80's they introduced pay per view and nowadays it's pretty much normal for boxing fights to be on ppv.

Personally i say **** 'em, i'll use internet to download and stream fights for as long as i can. If it was 20$, i'd buy some of them, but 50$+ is a roberry.

They could just make deals with big television channels and make just as much money off publicity. But they would rather make boxing an exclusive sports and rob the people for fights that aren't worth the pricetag half the time.

[Sportin' Wood]

Niche offerings for a niche sport.

Whats wrong with trying to correct THIS particular problem?

[BritishBoxing92]

by David P. Greisman - It is the night of Antonio Margarito’s fight against Roberto Garcia. I find an online stream of what is otherwise being shown on pay-per-view for $40.

It is the day after U F C 101. I search on YouTube for video of A nderson Silva’s destruction of Forrest Gri ffin, which was the co-feature bout on a $45 pay-per-view.

It is three years after the pay-per-view rubber match between Antonio Tarver and Roy Jones Jr. I open a package and pull out a DVD I bought online that includes Nate Campbell’s technical knockout of Kid Diamond, a bout from that show’s undercard.

I should feel guilty. All of this is illegal. All of this is increasingly common.

This is the struggle seen in various entertainment industries: How do you make money when the technological evolution has not only made so much information available, but made it available for free? How do you keep from losing money when technology has made it easier for people to bootleg your product instead of buying it? [Click Here To Read More]

lol at the ha im using the internet sign...

[REMOVED SHARK 97]

I don't pay because I don't have a tv or provider in my bedroom anyhow, and my dads got the bootleg box so I can watch it on there anyway but I prefer paid for streams such as FlashSportStream where Ł4.99 can buy me a whole month of every sport.

[aldiansyah]

Maybe they should ask the RIAA for help since their own little struggle against piracy has been going so well.
The internet is here to stay, and with it free media; they can suck it up and deal with it, offering a more attractive alternative, or continue to whine bout how they can't overcharge people for a crap undercard thrown under every noteworthy fight. With decreased mainstream attention and more competition, boxing needs to evolve and change if it's to stay relevant... these days it feels much more like a business than a sport, so if getting hit where it hurts (the wallet) is what it takes to promote that sort of change, then I'm all for it... and if the tone of the posts in this thread are any indication, so is the majority of the boxing public.
One small note though, treating every person who watches a PPV on a free stream as a lost source of revenue is a complete fallacy, just because someone watches something for free doesn't mean they'd pay for it if they had no alternative.

[gingeralbino]

i buy about half the ppvs in the UK. Depends on who's fighting. They are usually a fair price (15 quid at most)

The HBO ppvs i have no option except to stream them if sky arent picking them up.

HBO, launch a boxing channel in the UK, or set up a deal with sky sports you'll get my money, if not, **** off.

[RULE]

i only would buy a ppv for fighters i like and its better just to get big fights on ppv cuz those links be dropping or get cut off so for big fight legit buying is better

i seem to never have that problem. the full fight is always there.

this internet isnt killing them as badly as they make out.

[AKATheMack]

I pay for damn near every PPV that has any significance, but fights that end up on PPV because they aren't good enough for cable I have trouble shelling out a lot of money for. I'm already spending 150+ on cable just so I can see every fight and end up paying for the Spanish package just so i can watch Boxeo. They really do need to figure out a different way because Id much rather drop 3.50 or so and catch an online stream for these smaller fights.

[S H A R K B O Y]

Only the big fights count. There's going to be a mutiny on here...lol.