How the Kovalev deal to fight on ESPN was made

[Stinger1]

The money.

Kovalev vs Alvarez II not getting picked up by DAZN said to me maybe Hearn is bsing about the money he gots in his hands right now cuz how else does he not outbid ESPN for that fight?

Or Kathy is delusional about how much time Kov has left in this game & its better to take short money for more people seeing him with ESPN then more money for less people seeing him with DAZN. And that could be a reality cuz Kathy don't know her assh#le from a hole in the ground in this business despite making some moves any B+ troll on Boxing Scene could do with Kovalev on their roster.

Maybe Eddie is being smart and letting everyone shoot their load? I'm sure there's nothing in the DAZN deal that says he has to blow the full $125m a year. If it is truly an 8 year deal then he can afford to be patient and make the right deals for Matchroom and DAZN. When all the Haymon fighters realise the Fox deal won't do anything for them and I think we'll see a lot of them move to DAZN.

[Eff Pandas]

Sure, but Duva still obviously believes Kovalev can win the rematch. We have no idea how much money was offered, but more potential for Kovalev if he wins the rematch on ESPN opposed to DAZN.

Winning the rematch or not Kovalev is about done. There is not gonna be some 3 year title run from here out that is gonna be positively impacted by x more people seeing this fight on ESPN over DAZN. This would seem like purely a money decision cuz if you don't already know Kovalev his career is likely to be over at the highest level of the game before you do get to know him.

It might be a harsh take on a career, but its not like we've not all seen this thousands of times already & a manager & promoter should be on top of it more than us fans are.

Also, we can put an end on ESPN only having $30 million for their 30 cards they have to put on. Like I said, more likely double that.

Yea I think its a super safe bet there is more than $30M on this ESPN deal (I thought I heard there was double that, but idr for sure). Or as mentioned maybe Hearn doesn't have as much as he's saying. Clearly there is more competition here then you'd think based on Hearn having $125M a year while being 0-2 vs Bob thus far.

[Superbee]

This only proves that The HBO exclusive clause brought by Duva in the the Stevenson/Kovalev drama was just BS... Now that she's not the A side she will do anyone offering a Lolly Pop...

[Randall Cunning]

Doubt that has anything to do with the states. But he doesn't have the amount of fighters to fill dates for his current DAZN deal, no way he would be able to pull 16 more dates. This has to be something else. Possibly something in Germany or country like that?

Germanys a dead zone, aint **** there. Russia's a goldmine though, and that area of countries. If he got something working there, suspect with Ryanbinsky. 8 cards in Russia. He could clean up on amatuers turning over. People like Arum have to bring these guys to have all their fights in the US. Hearn got a Russia thing going, said they can stay at home, couple of fights in Russia, couple in US, couple in UK, built them in 3 markets. He'll have a monopoly on it all.

[KTFOKING]

Germanys a dead zone, aint **** there. Russia's a goldmine though, and that area of countries. If he got something working there, suspect with Ryanbinsky. 8 cards in Russia. He could clean up on amatuers turning over. People like Arum have to bring these guys to have all their fights in the US. Hearn got a Russia thing going, said they can stay at home, couple of fights in Russia, couple in US, couple in UK, built them in 3 markets. He'll have a monopoly on it all.

I'm guessing this is some sort of expansion with DAZN where they are trying to crack other countries. Do they currently have DAZN?

[Eff Pandas]

Maybe Eddie is being smart and letting everyone shoot their load? I'm sure there's nothing in the DAZN deal that says he has to blow the full $125m a year. If it is truly an 8 year deal then he can afford to be patient and make the right deals for Matchroom and DAZN.

He's losing purse bids doe lol. I mean maybe its just a bad luck thing or misjudgment thing out of the gate, but its been surprising to me Hearn is taking so many L's with his whole US run. I expect some growing pains, but I'm not sure he's had a W yet outside of the deal with DAZN itself.

And I mean $125M a year is A LOT OF F#CKING MONEY. He can be a lil loose with it & still not be using half of it. HBO has had $30M-ish, give or take & mostly take recently I think, for the last 5 or so years & while its not the old HBO its not THAT bad a product cuz $30M is still A LOT OF F#CKING MONEY too.

When all the Haymon fighters realise the Fox deal won't do anything for them and I think we'll see a lot of them move to DAZN.

I doubt it. I think even if this Fox deal fails these dudes will follow Haymon back to Showtime or wherever. The loyalty with this crew is impressive. Only like 3 or so guys have left Haymon since his run in this game which is insane & unheard of. Even the guys who do non-PBC deals keep him as their manager/advisor. No one who knows him says a bad thing about him. Most of these cats with him & making more money out of the ring then any other team in the game. Haymon's on some other sh^t that most other boxing players aren't even close to.

Hearn is the best promoter in the game in my eyes, but I don't think he's close to cracking the US market or has an idea how to do so with the tools he has access to yet. And there's no guaranteeing he does. He was likely groomed from birth to takeover his dads job & he took to UK boxing & knows it in & out. I don't think he's paid nearly as much to US boxing. And I'm not even sure there is a code to be cracked with US boxing. I don't think US boxing has nearly the fan loyalty as UK boxing does & its purely about casual fans & the biggest fights here with promotion at the highest level like Hearn is trying to be at.

Idk doe. Clearly there is a lot of moving parts, money & changes going on right now so maybe things in US boxing look massively different in a decade.

[Eff Pandas]

Germanys a dead zone, aint **** there. Russia's a goldmine though, and that area of countries. If he got something working there, suspect with Ryanbinsky. 8 cards in Russia. He could clean up on amatuers turning over. People like Arum have to bring these guys to have all their fights in the US. Hearn got a Russia thing going, said they can stay at home, couple of fights in Russia, couple in US, couple in UK, built them in 3 markets. He'll have a monopoly on it all.

Russia would be a good move for someone for sure. That seems like a market thats dying for some big player to takeover.

So much talent is coming out of that region these days it would be so much smarter to keep them at home vs making them come to the US or other countries to make that almost impossible uphill climb of becoming the force they could be on their own home turf.

[Stinger1]

He's losing purse bids doe lol. I mean maybe its just a bad luck thing or misjudgment thing out of the gate, but its been surprising to me Hearn is taking so many L's with his whole US run. I expect some growing pains, but I'm not sure he's had a W yet outside of the deal with DAZN itself.

And I mean $125M a year is A LOT OF F#CKING MONEY. He can be a lil loose with it & still not be using half of it. HBO has had $30M-ish, give or take & mostly take recently I think, for the last 5 or so years & while its not the old HBO its not THAT bad a product cuz $30M is still A LOT OF F#CKING MONEY too.



I doubt it. I think even if this Fox deal fails these dudes will follow Haymon back to Showtime or wherever. The loyalty with this crew is impressive. Only like 3 or so guys have left Haymon since his run in this game which is insane & unheard of. Even the guys who do non-PBC deals keep him as their manager/advisor. No one who knows him says a bad thing about him. Most of these cats with him & making more money out of the ring then any other team in the game. Haymon's on some other sh^t that most other boxing players aren't even close to.

Hearn is the best promoter in the game in my eyes, but I don't think he's close to cracking the US market or has an idea how to do so with the tools he has access to yet. And there's no guaranteeing he does. He was likely groomed from birth to takeover his dads job & he took to UK boxing & knows it in & out. I don't think he's paid nearly as much to US boxing. And I'm not even sure there is a code to be cracked with US boxing. I don't think US boxing has nearly the fan loyalty as UK boxing does & its purely about casual fans & the biggest fights here with promotion at the highest level like Hearn is trying to be at.

Idk doe. Clearly there is a lot of moving parts, money & changes going on right now so maybe things in US boxing look massively different in a decade.

The Fox deal was for 22 shows with a budget of $60m, 10 of those marquee fight nights. So even if the budget is $4m for the marquee fight nights, they're not going to be able to compete with what Hearn can offer on his smaller shows when he's splitting $125m over 16 shows.

[Randall Cunning]

I'm guessing this is some sort of expansion with DAZN where they are trying to crack other countries. Do they currently have DAZN?

Nah, not in Russia.

[KTFOKING]

Nah, not in Russia.

There you go, that's one possibility.