Comments Thread For: Hearn: I'll Pay Wilder $5M to Fight Anyone He Wants Next in N.Y.

[Superbee]

Jennifer will refuse Hearn 5M offer and go with her guys for 2M... Alabama logic....

[Scipio2009]

Hearn made that move, because Wilder's $50M offer cut Sky Sports out of the deal. I believe Wilder's Team wanted to leverage the UK TV Rights. Didn't you hear Hearn saying, Joshua had Commercial Interests and Legally Binding Contracts with Broadcasters (with Sky being one). So Hearn returned the favour. He is very slick

Lol.

Why would Team Wilder cut Sky Sports out of the deal when they're on the hook for $50m and Sky Box Office is clearly the avenue to draw the most money out of the UK for a 2am fight?

There's no need to lie.

Team Wilder, after laying out all of that money, would be bent on finding a way to get that back. Showtime PPV will carry the event, and MGM Resorts will host the fight but everything else, as with every other fight negotiation would come down to money.

Corona does a ton of business in boxing, but if Eddie Hearn/Joshua bring a center ring sponsor who bids more than Corona is willing to match, they'd get center ring. If MGM Resorts doesn't care who the ticketing goes through and AJ really does have that deal with StubHub, the ticket agencies (Ticketmaster, AXS, Seat Geak, etc) will bid on hosting the tickets, AJ/Hearn will see what StubHub is offering, and if StubHub isn't the high bidder, AJ could cover the difference out of his $50m against 50%.

And you do that with everything (Wilder has a few committment, but nothing to really affect the money); German/French TV, event sponsors, etc.

Rather than the handshake $50m against 50%, Anthony Joshua ends up with $40m-$45m against 50% with all of his outside commitments kept in the deal. Not that hard

[Scipio2009]

That does not makes sense. Yes you are correct with the distribution bit. Showtime can only get involved once the US TV Rights are up for sale, as they do not have a legally binding contract with either Joshua or Wilder.

However given Joshua-Wilder is taking place in the UK, and at a different time zome, (it would be lunchtime in some states in the US ). I doubt they would pay over $5M. Showtime do not have a unlimited boxing budget.

That money was founded by Al Haymon.

You don't need to have an unlimited budget if you've got a longterm plan.

The payoff for Showtime is Wilder-Joshua from T-Mobile Arena on Showtime PPV; if everything breaks right, Showtime ends up with a PPV series and two PPV attractions to carry things for the next 5-7 years.

Assuming that the first fight is a good, action-packed bout, hitting 1m+ homes isn't tough. Fight does 1 million, with Showtime keeping the HD fee and their 7%, and you're talking about an easy $10m less the production costs of the PPV (promo videos, All Access, press tour, press conferences/weigh-in, etc).

Wilder ends up winning the series of great fights and stands as undisputed heavyweight champion, and Showtime likely clears $7m-$10m per PPV for however long Wilder stays champion, with Anthony Joshua bringing another $5m when he comes and fights on PPV.

You have to remember that this is the same company that fronted Floyd $250m to sign with them for 30 months/6 fights (Floyd basically needed 6m PPV buys to cover). Not only did they cover that (folks will quibble, but the take through the Berto fight was easily over 7m PPVs), but they've been able to use the money from folks picking up Showtime to watch Floyd and the residual income from Floyd's fights (hd fee plus their 7%) to fully finance one of the most aggressive expansions in top-flight boxing content in years. Showtime was putting on quality quadrupleheaders for ****'s sake.

All it takes is a plan

[Scipio2009]

So? While 3 or 3 million is a lot of money to someone like me, it really is nothing compared to what Joshua will earn fighting anyone, anywhere; but none of this has anything to do with it. Ultimately, I couldn't care less who shows it as long as it happens. If Joshua wants to fight at home, thats where he will fight. He is the main draw here and calls the shots.
When I grew up all of the big fights took place in the US, it was almost like the spiritual home of championship boxing... but that is no longer the case. The UK and Matchroom are in the ascendancy, which I sense, forms the basis of all your spite... Look, whether you like it or not, Joshua will decide what happens and Wilder will have no choice but to agree, that is if he wants it, which I think is the problem.

Joshua has reached a ceiling, and it's basically at $45m-$50m for the biggest fights. Tyson Fury may be able to help drum up something extra, but even that won't break 2m homes in the UK.

Folks can argue what they want but that doesn't change the fact that Eddie Hearn got a concrete offer that was to pay only his fighter more money than he could ever imagine generating as his downside guarantee for a blockbuster fight in Las Vegas.

Anthony Joshua has the opportunity to conquer the world; on skill/ability, Wilder and Joshua are 1A/1B without anyone else really all that close, tbh. If Anthony Joshua wants to stay in the UK and tick through $30m purses for the rest of his career, good on him.

If he truly wants to be a billion dollar fighter, he's going to have to see Wilder in Las Vegas, whether he'd like to or not

[Manlikefemi]

You don't need to have an unlimited budget if you've got a longterm plan.

The payoff for Showtime is Wilder-Joshua from T-Mobile Arena on Showtime PPV; if everything breaks right, Showtime ends up with a PPV series and two PPV attractions to carry things for the next 5-7 years.

Assuming that the first fight is a good, action-packed bout, hitting 1m+ homes isn't tough. Fight does 1 million, with Showtime keeping the HD fee and their 7%, and you're talking about an easy $10m less the production costs of the PPV (promo videos, All Access, press tour, press conferences/weigh-in, etc).

Wilder ends up winning the series of great fights and stands as undisputed heavyweight champion, and Showtime likely clears $7m-$10m per PPV for however long Wilder stays champion, with Anthony Joshua bringing another $5m when he comes and fights on PPV.

You have to remember that this is the same company that fronted Floyd $250m to sign with them for 30 months/6 fights (Floyd basically needed 6m PPV buys to cover). Not only did they cover that (folks will quibble, but the take through the Berto fight was easily over 7m PPVs), but they've been able to use the money from folks picking up Showtime to watch Floyd and the residual income from Floyd's fights (hd fee plus their 7%) to fully finance one of the most aggressive expansions in top-flight boxing content in years. Showtime was putting on quality quadrupleheaders for ****'s sake.

All it takes is a plan

The flaw to all of this is the belief that Joshua-Wilder will do 1M ? Even Mayweather couldn't get past 1M for some of his fights under the SHO Contract and you think Wilder will ?

This fight does the same as Ward-Kovalev/Golovkin fights around 200-350K. There might not even be a fight in the US- did you see the contracts Hearn offered, if Joshua wins, no rematch. If Joshua loses, immediate rematch. Then Showtime will have to go up against DAZN for the US TV Rights, it's highly unlikely they will make a profit.

The Second Fight will lose the glitz and glamour compared to the first fight aswell. The undefeated status, we would have already seen them fight etc

Also your hope relies on Wilder winning. If he dosent and Joshua wins ? Hearn ain't talking AJ back to SHO, when he's got DAZN...

Showtime did do well with the Mayweather deal, but the main one was Mayweather-Pacquaio which they had to share with HBO, which must've meant they lost that usual % they take of Floyd Fights. Mayweather-Canelo and Mayweather-Mcgregor are the two where SHO got a good profit

[Manlikefemi]

Lol.

Why would Team Wilder cut Sky Sports out of the deal when they're on the hook for $50m and Sky Box Office is clearly the avenue to draw the most money out of the UK for a 2am fight?

There's no need to lie.

Team Wilder, after laying out all of that money, would be bent on finding a way to get that back. Showtime PPV will carry the event, and MGM Resorts will host the fight but everything else, as with every other fight negotiation would come down to money.

Corona does a ton of business in boxing, but if Eddie Hearn/Joshua bring a center ring sponsor who bids more than Corona is willing to match, they'd get center ring. If MGM Resorts doesn't care who the ticketing goes through and AJ really does have that deal with StubHub, the ticket agencies (Ticketmaster, AXS, Seat Geak, etc) will bid on hosting the tickets, AJ/Hearn will see what StubHub is offering, and if StubHub isn't the high bidder, AJ could cover the difference out of his $50m against 50%.

And you do that with everything (Wilder has a few committment, but nothing to really affect the money); German/French TV, event sponsors, etc.

Rather than the handshake $50m against 50%, Anthony Joshua ends up with $40m-$45m against 50% with all of his outside commitments kept in the deal. Not that hard

Your last paragraph- That was the problem- They wouldn't have kept AJ's Commitments they would have sold the Foreign rights to the highest bidder, which goes against Contracts AJ Has with Broadcasters.

Secondly, Matchroom wouldn't have controlled the event, so that is why they didn't take it.

[MDPopescu]

Jennifer will refuse Hearn 5M offer and go with her guys for 2M... Alabama logic....

... it isn't that simple: Hearn badly wants to launch DAZN in the U.S., and he tries to somehow lure Wilder into this...

[Scipio2009]

Your last paragraph- That was the problem- They wouldn't have kept AJ's Commitments they would have sold the Foreign rights to the highest bidder, which goes against Contracts AJ Has with Broadcasters.

Secondly, Matchroom wouldn't have controlled the event, so that is why they didn't take it.

Saul Alvarez and Miguel Cotto had a fight, where the split was agreed to between the two camps. When things came down to securing a venue, it was down to New York and Las Vegas. New York was the highest bidder, but Saul Alvarez didn't want to fight in New York.

How was that remedied? The two camps split the New York bid along the lines of their points agree, and Cotto got what he would've gotten in New York out of the offer from Las Vegas. Alvarez got much less of the live event money, but he also didn't have to fight Cotto in New York. Not that difficult.

Highest bidder on whatever is being negotiated, the split on the handshake was 50/50, therefore 50% on the high bidder becomes Wilder's share of the bid from Hearn's preffered partner. Hearn puts the fight where his commitments call for, but it costs them some of the guarantee.

[Scipio2009]

The flaw to all of this is the belief that Joshua-Wilder will do 1M ? Even Mayweather couldn't get past 1M for some of his fights under the SHO Contract and you think Wilder will ?

This fight does the same as Ward-Kovalev/Golovkin fights around 200-350K. There might not even be a fight in the US- did you see the contracts Hearn offered, if Joshua wins, no rematch. If Joshua loses, immediate rematch. Then Showtime will have to go up against DAZN for the US TV Rights, it's highly unlikely they will make a profit.

The Second Fight will lose the glitz and glamour compared to the first fight aswell. The undefeated status, we would have already seen them fight etc

Also your hope relies on Wilder winning. If he dosent and Joshua wins ? Hearn ain't talking AJ back to SHO, when he's got DAZN...

Showtime did do well with the Mayweather deal, but the main one was Mayweather-Pacquaio which they had to share with HBO, which must've meant they lost that usual % they take of Floyd Fights. Mayweather-Canelo and Mayweather-Mcgregor are the two where SHO got a good profit

Showtime had 6 fights to basically generate $500m in PPV revenue; the Guerrero fight brought in $60m, the Alvarez fight brought in $150m, the Maidana fights brought in about $120m, the Berto fight brought in $30m. Add that to the HD fee for those five fights, and you've already gotten about $410m of the $500m with a fight to go. Showtime's share of the Pacquiao fight plus their share of the HD fee gets the sixth fight in the deal to generate $250m, easily covering the obligation by at least $150m in PPV revenue (something like $75m after the outside parties are paid, but Showtime not only covered the debt, they also made a nice $115m for themselves, less the costs of producing everything for those 6 events).

Eddie Hearn spent months in the public sphere talking about how Anthony Joshua wasn't part of the DAZN deal. If you want to call him a liar, say so.

Lastly, I'll take that bet if you're laying it out there; an undisputed heavyweight championship fight between two English-speaking, big-punching heavyweights, regardless of the result if it was an exciting fight the first time, that the US audience will get to see in primetime, will do less than 400k PPV buys.

$100 says you're wrong

[Kezzer]

Wilder should just take this and fight breazeale. He can’t moan at Joshua not taking 50 and going to America if he won’t take his biggest payday to fight in his own country! Hearn would actually start promoting him so he could hardly be worse off