Comments Thread For: Fury-Wilder Produced Just Over 750,000 PPV Buys; Could Reach 800,000

[UNBANNED]

Just asking but where did that 1.1million break even no.come from and did that include an allowance for Wilders idiotic costume that as we all know was too heavy for him to carry 168 paces into the ring !

Read somewhere purses for all fights were nearly $60 million, ad time (superbowl commercials are very expensive), PBC, FOX, Top Rank, and ESPN get their shares, ESPN spent a lot of programming on the fight (so didnt cover other events they tried to promote/market), etc.

So the fight was a 25% loss (roughly and assuming 800k buys and not 750k).

[champion4ever]

Those are very good numbers in this new day and age of boxing. It probably would have sold more than that had they not streamed the fight on an online app. However, this fight was available on Pay Per View as well.

In any case, many older boxing fans are not online literate. For instance, 20 years ago they did not stream fights online. They broadcasted them on Pay Per View through one's cable or satellite provider.

Whether they want to admit to it or not but ESPN and Fox are becoming more and more like DAZN in more ways than one. DAZN stream all of their fights online while Fox and ESPN stream only their Pay Per Views online which narrows their audience.

[MDPopescu]

Those are very good numbers in this new day and age of boxing. It probably would have sold more than that had they not streamed the fight on an online app. However, this fight was available on Pay Per View as well.

In any case, many older boxing fans are not online literate. For instance, 20 years ago they did not stream fights online. They broadcasted them on Pay Per View through one's cable or satellite provider.

(...)

... I can't understand this... (did they sell it "online" for less money???)

[bigdunny1]

True. The numbers have gone up faster than inflation and there’s no good undercards anymore. They just assume u will buy it for the main event and they aren’t willing to sweeten the pot with another exciting championship fight even at the lightest weights.

Promotion was unprecedented, 2 networks, Superbowl ads they spent vast amount of money, time and resources to the point that you couldn't avoid hearing or seeing about this fight. The problem is just because you bombard fans about a fight if they don't know or care about the fighters doesn't mean they will actually buy it. The terrible undercard pushed away die hard boxing fans from buying it and those are the ones who actually knew and cared about the fighters. Casuals were pushed away because of the $80 price tag for fighters they didn't know or have a strong connection to before the massive shove down their throat promoting it. With it being so easy to illegally stream the fights or just wait until moments after it's over when it's easy to download or see the fight asking for $80 to see 1 main event with 2 guys who aren't stars and has a shyt undercard? That's why they lost money and didn't hit the numbers they needed.

[Angeljuice]

considering all the promo and 2 networks pushing it. should of at least did a million but this is boxings climate in american these numbers arent bad considering the first fight was well under 500k. this is why fights like spence/crawford should not be ppv! if this didnt crack a million they surely wont. most people in america have no idea who any of these guys are. if you dont stir up controversy nobody cares.

The price you pay in America is ridiculous. I'm surprised anybody buys these PPV events ever.

£25-£30 (about $33-$39) is the going rate over here. It's still a lot of money if the fight lasts 10 seconds or is a complete dud.
If that was the price in the States, I think you'd make more money in the extra buys.

I love boxing but wouldn't pay £60 to watch anybody fight on TV ever. I think if you halved the price you'd more than double the audience.

If there are any Americans who can shine a light on this and tell me whether the fanbase is big enough for that I'd appreciate it.

Would the fight have sold more than 1.5m at $40 making more money overall, or is there too limited a number of people prepared to pay to watch a fight?

[bigdunny1]

https://metro.co.uk/2020/02/28/eddie-hearn-slams-boxing-fans-illegally-streamed-tyson-fury-vs-deontay-wilder-12317587/

Eddie Hearn slams boxing fans who illegally streamed Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder

Metro Sport Reporter
Friday 28 Feb 2020

Eddie Hearn has slammed boxing fans who illegally streamed Tyson Fury’s victory against Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas on Saturday evening. The fight was one of the most highly anticipated contests in recent years following their thrilling and controversial draw in December 2018.

According to reports, Fury’s rematch with Wilder received 750,000 pay-per-view buys in the United States, which is the highest rate for a heavyweight fight through since Lennox Lewis versus Mike Tyson in 2002.

To watch the fight in the United States, the pay-per-view price was $79.99 (£62) and many boxing fans turned to illegal streams to catch the action.

But Hearn, who promotes Anthony Joshua and works closely with Sky Sports and DAZN, an subscription-based sports streaming service, believes those who rely on illegal streams are taking money from the two fighters in the ring. Tyson Fury's win over Deontay Wilder received 750,000 pay-per-view buys in the United States.

‘One of the problems is, there is so many illegal streams now when the price becomes unbearable to the customer,’ Hearn told IFL TV.

‘One thing I’ll tell you about illegal streams is people think that it’s clever, it’s illegal by the way, that’s why it’s called an illegal stream, but people think it’s clever… you’re taking money out of the fighters’ pockets.

‘On pay per views the money goes to the fighters. Don’t think it’s affecting me, because it’s not. It might be a tiny bit but not what it’s affecting the fighter.

‘The thing about illegal streams is if you’re price point is £19.99, with the undercard you’ve got to give value for five or six hours for the night.

‘You’ve got to sell to the customer an experience where you sit down, you can watch world championship boxing, great young fighters, 50-50 fights, and then build to the main event.

‘Not there’s a main event and I don’t even know who’s on the undercard.

‘So when it’s £19.99 you can say to the customer, sit down, it’s great value all night, you’re going to watch it in beautiful in high definition without some thing [advert] popping up, and you can enjoy the show.

‘When it’s £65 or £60 like an American pay-per-view [price] it’s going to encourage illegal streaming because that’s a lot of money.

‘I would believe the illegal streams for that particular show were through the roof because people don’t want to pay £65 any more, they are sick and tired of it.

‘What DAZN are doing with a £99 annual subscription, that’s virtually what you’re paying for one pay-per-view night otherwise. I think more and more people are trying to stream.

‘On the illegal streams, just understand that you’re actually depriving the fighter of money, but more importantly at £19.95 do you really want to fire up an illegal stream where it keeps popping off [with adverts] and the stream is behind and actually you’re watching something that happened four minutes ago?

‘No one wants to pay the money, I understand that. Boxing fans don’t want to pay £20 for a show but that’s how it is.’

[Kezzer]

"About 1.1 million buys is believed to have been the number needed for the networks and promoters to break even on the event."

Sounds about right. Bob arum suggested it would get to two million and it needed 800k to break even.

We know how promoters work though and he would have been exaggerating both ends so 1.1 mil may well be right.

That said, it was still decent numbers. Personally I think bob arum shot himself in the foot by declaring so frequently a 2 mil expectation as he as just setting himself up to fail.

In the uk the numbers sound like they were between 50k and 100k. Again that sounds really poor, but do remember it was an awful time in the uk and and there was literally no undercard anyone would want to watch.

[Someone88]

This is great for Boxing!