PPV Prices in the USA ($60-100) vs. UK ($15-25)

[Redd Foxx]

I think it's because folks in the UK just won't pay. I have a business that sells premium products worldwide and my UK customers are cheap, real cheap. I totally respect that because I'm the same way but my real point is that it's totally unsurprising to me that UK PPVs are cheap but people in the US are so willing to pay $60 plus. It's ridiculous how Americans are so willing to pay $120/month for a phone bill, same for cable, $600 every year for a new phone, etc, etc. Americans are trained at a young age to be consumers and their identity is tied to their possessions. I know, I'm one of them.

[Richard P]

It's the money that sky make overal that they can afford to do PPV at a lower price as the money is more constant over the year (I have a friend who works for Sky Sports)

In a nutshell, the commercials for sky are big revenue making, more blue chip corporate brands as opposed to America. (I'm not talking Super Bowl halftime, I'm talking Friday lunchtime, when audiences are low, general everyday adverts) We have all seen US cable commercials 'I'm a shouty man selling liquidated bankrupt stock', very amateur, very low rent? UK commercials are corporate, polished and expensive (car manufacturers, banks, McDonald's, Pepsi etc) so the revenue that Sky make is huge

Ontop of this, the U.K. Is still a relative newbie in PPV, the US having been doing it for 30 odd years and I remember cable TV being a thing in the 80s, where as here, cable TV has only really taken off since mid to late 90s

[Richard P]

Plus we are cheap, food, gas (petrol) housing are all expensive

The US is a wealthier country, you have more disposable income (an average UK house is approx £260k that's $300k ish and the square footage would fit in most Americans front room)

You are talking £65 ($80) to fill the tank on your Honda Civic, I went to the states 2 months ago and it cost me about £25 to fill it up

[Scipio2009]

The audiences are different

Does anyone know the real reason for this price gouging? Besides the typical "Yanks are fat morons" excuse of course.

Boxing is a much more popular sport in the UK than it is in America. Both countries are very developed, yet the US typically gets charged 3-4 times the amount the UK does to watch an HD PPV.

Why?

This boom period in the UK has helped a ton but, for the last 30 years or so, boxing in the US has been carried by TV, while boxing in the UK has been driven by the live gate.

Ignoring Sky Sports and Barclays Center for a moment, that's been how the markets have set themselves up, with few exceptions; UK promoters build fighters up in their own towns, moving to bigger and bigger buildings, while US promoters build fighters up on TV, moving to bigger and bigger broadcasts.

My take anyway.

[soul_survivor]

The PPV is only going to survive throughout the UK and the US because of ****** Irish fans (I met 5000 of them at Wembley lol) and the ****** wanabes who think they owe Mayweather something. The purses, the reach and the overall impact is nowhere near Pac v May.

[1hourRun]

The fights on UK PPV are usually shit and there's lots of them.

Eubank v Abraham was PPV FFS.

he

he

he

he

...what a bunch of dumb asses.

[rocky_balboa23]

the only reason is that IQ of UK boxing fans is higher than the fans in US. Most Americans are casuals and only want some soap opera/ WWE type of thing while brits know that this fight is just a circus.

[iamboxing]

You can watch every fight ever broadcast on HBO and Showtime in full HD and 4K for free on Qwango. They also stream every live boxing fight in 4K, and better quality than Sky without adverts.

[Kaspa9t9]

Plus we are cheap, food, gas (petrol) housing are all expensive

The US is a wealthier country, you have more disposable income (an average UK house is approx £260k that's $300k ish and the square footage would fit in most Americans front room)

You are talking £65 ($80) to fill the tank on your Honda Civic, I went to the states 2 months ago and it cost me about £25 to fill it up

For real bruh, you hit the nail on the head. Living expenses are so high in the UK (especially in London) that we don't have disposable income to just splash out on whatever. I live in London, have a fairly decent wage, but pretty every penny is tied to an expense.

[TheBigLug]

For real bruh, you hit the nail on the head. Living expenses are so high in the UK (especially in London) that we don't have disposable income to just splash out on whatever. I live in London, have a fairly decent wage, but pretty every penny is tied to an expense.

Yep.

I've spent time living in New York and London and living in similar quality flats, living a similar lifestyle and i had way more disposable income in New York than in London. I know both are expensive cities anyway but here in the UK is definitely a higher living cost.

When you consider the average Sky subscriber is probably your average family, then a lot don't have enough disposable income to drop £70 on a fight. When you factor in how expensive the UK is when you think about all the bills a family has such as maintaining a house, car, the extortionate electricity and gas bills, water rates, council tax. They're all pretty expensive compared to other places.

The average wage here in the UK is barely enough to cover living expenses for many people. Even worse in London, a good wage in London still never seems quite enough.

Eddie Hearn said less than £20 is Sky's price point, and those are the reasons why. They're not being kind or generous giving you it cheaper, it's because they know their price point and audience. If they could charge more and still get the buys, they would do it.