How is this good for American boxing?

[GhostofDempsey]

Meh, can’t be any worse for boxing than a Spence vs Collazo fight.

[Diego Rodriguez]

Meh, can’t be any worse for boxing than a Spence vs Collazo fight.

I thought that was fake news. Because if it isn’t dear God.

[NC Uppercut]

Conversation I had yesterday at the barbershop

Me: You watching the Andrade fight tonight?

Barber: Yea I wanted to check him out. It's on ESPN right?

Me: Naw he's fighting on a new app

Barber: On the ESPN app?

Me: No. A new app called DAZN

Barber: Yea I heard of that. Imma have to check it out n

The barber knows who Andrade is. He knows ESPN broadcast fights now. He knows about ESPN plus & DAZN. He's not a casual fan but he's not as hardcore as we are. He follows the sport but needed direction me where to watch the fight. IDK if he watched or not. But I know if it was on ESPN he'd watch it because of ease of access.

An American boxer won a major world title and probably only 20k people saw it. Explain to me how this is good for American boxing.

The only thing you gotta hope for is continued growth and audience

[Diego Rodriguez]

Right now? Really? Or has boxing been splinters for a long ass time? Cuz I've been a fan forever & boxing has been splintered that whole time. There is nothing new going on with boxing in this regard so idk that its even worth mentioning.

I’ll say something that I think had changed. Among sports fans in the US how many boxers do you think have any name recognition? And exclude Pac and Mayweather (retired and no longer super relevant).

When I’m talking about sports fans I’m talking about those people who may watch one sport or two but know the names of other key athletes in other sports. And occasionally they may watch them.

Boxing virtually has none in the US. Canelo is the closest and as you can see he isn’t even close to Floyd or Pac in name recognition. When you consider boxing is a one on one sport vs. team sports that looks even worse for the future.

Good to great fights on a consistent basis that are as easily accessible as possible to the greatest number of people is what boxing needs. But top fighters are looking at their health and financial well being. That means less fights and big pay days. It can work well for them but it is crap for growing the sport. I don’t begrudge them at all but as a fan it sucks.

It is kind of like the one and done rule for college basketball. Works for the kids but it doesn’t make the college game more attractive.

[ShoulderRoll]

I will miss most of the big fights being on showtime or HBO but I have to change with the times to continue to watch as much of my beloved boxing as I can. At least on DAZN I can watch their biggest fights live instead of having to wait a week.

I'm one of those hardcore fans who isn't planning on paying two separate monthly fees for two separate apps just to watch a few fights I like here and there.

The only way I would jump in is if an app had control over a majority of the entire sport with their roster. Then it would be worth it.

And maybe that's where we are headed eventually. So we'll see.

[Eff Pandas]

I’ll say something that I think had changed. Among sports fans in the US how many boxers do you think have any name recognition? And exclude Pac and Mayweather (retired and no longer super relevant).

Only Canelo probably. The legit biggest US born boxer is probably a multiway tie between Wilder, Bud, Spence & Broner & none of those guys are close to Canelo's mainstream appeal.

But top fighters are looking at their health and financial well being. That means less fights and big pay days. It can work well for them but it is crap for growing the sport. I don’t begrudge them at all but as a fan it sucks.

It is kind of like the one and done rule for college basketball. Works for the kids but it doesn’t make the college game more attractive.

I don't disagree with any of this outright, but the best guys aren't fighting THAT much less.

I'd argue the guys who are fighting less are the guys who are just under the best guys. And I'd argue its cuz they can make more money then ever. I mean Danny Garcia & Shawn Porter aren't taking down as many 7 digit paydays in any past era I don't feel like. Thus it gives the best guys less chance to fight better opponents cuz so much sh^t has to line up to make a fight in the first place. But overall point taken all the same.

[Motorcity Cobra]

I don't expect established leagues like NFL/NHL/NBA/MLB to switch to apps suddenly. But if this is the new wave then why ain't niche leagues like MLS doing this? Why they looking for traditional broadcast rights deals?

[Motorcity Cobra]

It's the times we live in though. Today there is an app for everything. Netflix, Hulu, HBO app, Amazon prime, Sling etc.
Don't think the apps are a problem, the problem in my opinion is the inactivity of fighters.
Unless your name is Canelo or Mayweather you really should be fighting 3-4 times a year.
We also need a weekly boxing show, at about the same time every week.

Ya'll keep using the best case scenario and aren't looking at reality. Ya'll are living in a bubble. I was at a local fight last night, full of real boxing fans, most people I talked to knew nothing about DAZN. Ya'll don't realize this here, boxing forum, is the most hardcore of hardcores. This is a bubble.

[Motorcity Cobra]

When Crawford vs. Postol got 50k on PPV we all agreed it was bad for Crawford's career. We just had an American fighter win a world title in one of the glory divisions and he probably got half of what Crawford's PPV was. Explain to me how this is a good thing please.

[MasterPlan]

Ya'll keep using the best case scenario and aren't looking at reality. Ya'll are living in a bubble. I was at a local fight last night, full of real boxing fans, most people I talked to knew nothing about DAZN. Ya'll don't realize this here, boxing forum, is the most hardcore of hardcores. This is a bubble.

You get it. Canelo record breaking deal just the money was mentioned.
Most news outlets mentioned DAZN as an afterthought if it was mentioned at all.

People keep bringing up it's only $9.99. That's nice. The price is not the problem tho. Now you gotta get people to commit to it. And that's not just casuals it's hardcore boxing fans.