What was Hearn's strategy for Matchroom USA/DAZN? Was it PBC fighters or bust?

[Motorcity Cobra]

Seems like his only strategy for Matchroom USA/DAZN was PBC fighters or bust. He came out throwing a lot of money around but the PBC fighters said the offers were lower than what they were being paid now. Except for the lower tier fighters like Jesse Vargas, Beterbiev, and such. Seems like he didn't do his due diligence and was being led by his bravado and arrogance.

DAZN also didn't do their due diligence. They should've hired a U.S. boxing consultant, like Lou DiBella, because Hearn sold them a dream he won't be able to deliver on. Especially when there were whispers of PBC about to sign a deal with FOX. And everybody knows how loyal Al's top fighters are to him. DiBella could've let them know the realities on the ground in the U.S. and how unlikely it was that Eddie would be able to sign any top U.S. fighters.

He's putting on some fights but nothing that moves the needle. With all that money they paid to Canelo, DAZN has nothing worth subscribing for after the Canelo fight in December until his next fight in May. Especially if the rumors of the WBSS having trouble are true.

[R_Walken]

Agree DAZN shouldn’t have went with Hearn Who’s a promoter first and while successful in the UK has no experience in the States to make a successful push into the US market

They should have hired a Espinoza / Dibella type who is able to work with multiple promoters and not rely on a what seems barren Matchroom US stable filled with fighters that have no fans or buzz

Hearns ignorance , thought that since he has a boatload of $ to throw around everyone not attached to a promoter would flock to him

I guess he didn’t figure that the high profile Haymon clients would rather enjoy their independence, make as much or more $ and now with the Fox / Showtime deal be exposed to the largest audience instead of taking equal or less $ , working for a promoter with a unproven track record in the States on a App that no ones heard about and right now seems no ones watching

So far what he’s done with DAZN has been sh.it and isn’t getting anyone interested in the App . Maybe he’ll be able to get some fighters with some buzz but right now it’s just comprised of a bunch of cast offs in fights no one cares about

Hearns failure up to this point is probably the reason why DAZN went above and beyond to get Canelo and get the WBSS ( even though I guess it might be shutting down ) both of which are able to attract fans of the sport better then what Hearns been able to do so far

[rolshans]

Strategy was to get the top fighters in the sport. DAZN (without Hearn) got the top fighter, and Hearn got the second top fighter. They tried to get the third top fighter in Pacquiao, and failed. Very likely they'll get the fourth top fighter in GGG.

Very impressed with the marketing.

By the way, I won't be surprised if they get NFL Sunday Ticket next year, which will unfortunately raise the price for all you non-football fans.

[Robbie Barrett]

Hearn is a successful promoter, why would they hire a failed promoter that is now just a front for Haymon instead?

[Scipio2009]

Seems like his only strategy for Matchroom USA/DAZN was PBC fighters or bust. He came out throwing a lot of money around but the PBC fighters said the offers were lower than what they were being paid now. Except for the lower tier fighters like Jesse Vargas, Beterbiev, and such. Seems like he didn't do his due diligence and was being led by his bravado and arrogance.

DAZN also didn't do their due diligence. They should've hired a U.S. boxing consultant, like Lou DiBella, because Hearn sold them a dream he won't be able to deliver on. Especially when there were whispers of PBC about to sign a deal with FOX. And everybody knows how loyal Al's top fighters are to him. DiBella could've let them know the realities on the ground in the U.S. and how unlikely it was that Eddie would be able to sign any top U.S. fighters.

He's putting on some fights but nothing that moves the needle. With all that money they paid to Canelo, DAZN has nothing worth subscribing for after the Canelo fight in December until his next fight in May. Especially if the rumors of the WBSS having trouble are true.

Pause for a moment.

With the Haymon-affiliated network of fighters with Showtime/CBS and PBC (Hindsight tells us that it's formally Showtime/CBS and FOX/FS1/BounceTV, to the tune of half a billion dollars guaranteed over the next 4 years), and Top Rank basically signing the whole company and its history over to ESPN in a 360 deal for an alleged $25m per year, with Canelo Alvarez being the shining star that HBO chose to build the rest of their boxing business around, where exactly was a virgin streaming platform supposed to go for a partner to break through? (Again, in hindsight and with the knowledge of the end of HBO, the best move would've likely been to build DAZN around Canelo Alvarez and Golden Boy, while also being a buyer of other interesting fights as they came forward).

With incomplete information, DAZN took a leap with Matchroom Sport; "Anthony Joshua is the biggest star in the world", "Eddie has more money in his market to dictate any fight he'd want", and a bunch of other stuff that Hearn sold him.

And, they hedged the bet; The total on the deal was an alleged billion dollars over the next 8 years, but only the first two years in such a deal was only right

[rickJen]

Why do you even assume it's the money that keeps PBC fighters from signing up with Hearn?
The Charlos haven't earned their first $1 mil under Haymon, for instance.
They get $500K.
It's the feeling of being protected by uncle Al they're after, not the money.
They also love getting long vacations in between fights.
They love the idea of being Part-time Boxing Champions (PBC).

[Scipio2009]

Agree DAZN shouldn’t have went with Hearn Who’s a promoter first and while successful in the UK has no experience in the States to make a successful push into the US market

They should have hired a Espinoza / Dibella type who is able to work with multiple promoters and not rely on a what seems barren Matchroom US stable filled with fighters that have no fans or buzz

Hearns ignorance , thought that since he has a boatload of $ to throw around everyone not attached to a promoter would flock to him

I guess he didn’t figure that the high profile Haymon clients would rather enjoy their independence, make as much or more $ and now with the Fox / Showtime deal be exposed to the largest audience instead of taking equal or less $ , working for a promoter with a unproven track record in the States on a App that no ones heard about and right now seems no ones watching

So far what he’s done with DAZN has been sh.it and isn’t getting anyone interested in the App . Maybe he’ll be able to get some fighters with some buzz but right now it’s just comprised of a bunch of cast offs in fights no one cares about

Hearns failure up to this point is probably the reason why DAZN went above and beyond to get Canelo and get the WBSS ( even though I guess it might be shutting down ) both of which are able to attract fans of the sport better then what Hearns been able to do so far

There's not enough free talent to make that work though; this is an incomplete list but, with HBO gone, you have K2, Main Events, Roc Nation, and Golden Boy as the biggest name unaffiliated promotional companies. Throw in Zanfer, and you're talking about maybe 25-30 fighters, spread across a bunch of weights, with very few having opponents to fight worth fighting.

Take that whole package (Alvarez, Ward, Golovkin, Kovalev, Bivol, Munguia, etc) and pair that with Matchroom USA and you'd have a pool of 40 or so to work with. (Can't really pair the effort with Matchroom Sport, on the simple fact that Sky Sports dictates things on that side, and Sky isn't letting a bout with interest in the UK head hardly anywhere).

Scoop of a few smaller outfits (Thompson Boxing, Peltz, All Star Boxing, etc), and you've got a pool of 50-70 fighters; how high profile is whatever, but could've mixed things up from there.

[Fanofreason]

Strategy was to get the top fighters in the sport. DAZN (without Hearn) got the top fighter, and Hearn got the second top fighter. They tried to get the third top fighter in Pacquiao, and failed. Very likely they'll get the fourth top fighter in GGG.

Very impressed with the marketing.

By the way, I won't be surprised if they get NFL Sunday Ticket next year, which will unfortunately raise the price for all you non-football fans.

NFL turned them done. Going to PPV model for games not on. Starts is 2020. Opted out of Direct TV contract after 2019.

DAZN is toast. Eddie really shawt the bed on it.

[Earl-Hickey]

Hearn is a successful promoter.

DAZN are going to have to play the long game in the states. It's the same as when Netflix launched they didn't have much on there and built up over time.

DAZN now have Canelo, Joshua and Usyk, no matter what anyone says that's a very good start, GGG will probably be added soon.

The American fighters are harder to sign because they are on sweet deals with Haymon but most PBC fighters haven't been getting much exposure and Haymon has really been overpaying them for fighting on small shows in front of like 1000 people.

Hearn has been very successful in the UK, he has demonstrated the ability to bring boxing back into the casual fans radar when it was becoming niche.

Americans can be overly tribal, he could do a lot for the sport in the USA but they'd rather see boxing stay a niche sport than see Hearn be successful in bringing it back to the mainstream which is a weird mindset.

[Motorcity Cobra]

Hearn is a successful promoter, why would they hire a failed promoter that is now just a front for Haymon instead?

Hearn is a successful promoter.

DAZN are going to have to play the long game in the states. It's the same as when Netflix launched they didn't have much on there and built up over time.

DAZN now have Canelo, Joshua and Usyk, no matter what anyone says that's a very good start, GGG will probably be added soon.

The American fighters are harder to sign because they are on sweet deals with Haymon but most PBC fighters haven't been getting much exposure and Haymon has really been overpaying them for fighting on small shows in front of like 1000 people.

Hearn has been very successful in the UK, he has demonstrated the ability to bring boxing back into the casual fans radar when it was becoming niche.

Americans can be overly tribal, he could do a lot for the sport in the USA but they'd rather see boxing stay a niche sport than see Hearn be successful in bringing it back to the mainstream which is a weird mindset.

He's been very successful in the UK, thanks to Daddy. A whole different game over here. You gotta actually compete with people who are a lot smarter than you and you don't have a platform like Sky handed to you