Is PPV killing the sport?

[Guest]

Discuss...

[Bombardier]

Bad PPVs are killing the sport.

You know, I actually don't mind paying out $50 to cut out commercials and other bull****. Seeing as people are willing to spend that much a month on packages for other pro sports, I don't see it as being too much of a problem if the events are good, and lately they've been ****.

[Martin (Top Knowledge)]

We're more lucky in the UK coz' the fights that are PPV in the states are free to us... And even the big ones like Hatton vs Maussa which is PPV for us... ARE STILL PPV for you guys in the states.

I do feel sorry for you guys... I hope the trend doesn't come across to the UK!

[Guest]

We're more lucky in the UK coz' the fights that are PPV in the states are free to us... And even the big ones like Hatton vs Maussa which is PPV for us... ARE STILL PPV for you guys in the states.

I do feel sorry for you guys... I hope the trend doesn't come across to the UK!

An addition to the UK scene though is that the vast majority of fights are shown on satellite channels, which are only available to... how many do you reckon, Martin? 10% of the populace at the most?

So in effect 70% of fights in the UK are PPV, and that's only just dropped since a terrestial channel recently picked up boxing.

[boxstarr]

id say it makes it harder to view fights, as people like me have absolutely no access to PPV

this makes it difficult to see the sport and also makes it difficult for the sport to gain new fans

this will ultimately adversely affect boxing and will hit the greedy promoters' pockets hard

[Martin (Top Knowledge)]

Nah, not 10% - It's skysports, so you've got about 5 million ntl customers, 3 million sky customers, 2 million telewest customers... ???

But more people have access to those tv's than just the customers... I reckon 40-50% of the country can view channels other than terestrial channels.

But it's worth mentioning that in order to get access to these "sports" channels we have to pay £20 ($30) per month.

[Bombardier]

Nah, not 10% - It's skysports, so you've got about 5 million ntl customers, 3 million sky customers, 2 million telewest customers... ???

But more people have access to those tv's than just the customers... I reckon 40-50% of the country can view channels other than terestrial channels.

But it's worth mentioning that in order to get access to these "sports" channels we have to pay £20 ($30) per month.

Damn, that's pretty steep. Still, I'm sure most bars/pubs have these channels on a fight time if you don't want to pay.

Here you're hard pressed to find a place willing to shell out for a PPV. I know of two places in town here. One of them is just down the street from me now, the other was just down the street from the last place I lived. Coincidence? Discuss...

[Guest]

You're right, Martin, I'm talking out me cack ole... I was forgetting that the 70mil of UK residents would include families, so if 10 million homes (as you estimate) have SKY, that's potentially around half the country can see it.

But certainly in terms of viewing figures boxing on SKY only gets about, what? A million?

[Hitman932]

Boxers need to learn to accept lesser purses. nobody should have ever gotten the kind of money that de la hoya, tyson, lewis did. now everybody needs 5 million to wake up in the morning.

i also think that PPV would be much more successful if they made the **** cost $30 instead of $50. i bet they could double sales and make more money. 50 bucks just seems like a lot to most people, whereas 4 or 5 guys can throw 30 bucks together and order the fight....

maybe im wrong, im sure we'll never know.

[Martin (Top Knowledge)]

Depending on the fight...

If it was Lennox Lewis vs Mike Tyson, or Ricky Hatton vs Mayweather, then the PPV sales in the UK would be over a million.

But if it's just on skysports, Winky Wright vs Felix Trinidad... I'd doubt the viewing figures would be much higher than 20,000 at 4:00a.m.