Comments Thread For: Arum: Even If Crawford & Porter Want It, How In The Hell Do You Afford The Fight?

[Gate keeper]

Exactly, I said this a few months ago. Just because there's money in the fight, doesn't necessarily mean it's enough money worth 2 networks or promoters sharing, at least not enough for Arum.

He's hoping there might be enough in a Spence fight but definitely doesn't believe there is in a Porter fight. Nor does he want to make a habit of such things. It was very silly of Crawford to act like a few exceptions of crossover fight, due to the perceived profit being high enough, suddenly now means crossover fights can happen all over the place. He thought if he talked enough trash, he could force a crossover fight, now he's realizing it doesn't work that way, just like the fans said when he signed back to Arum. Oh well, it is what it is. Maybe he'll try to get out like Mayweather and Pac

[Combat Talk Radio]

Everyone is missing the valid point Arum is making though. He's not sure how many people he can convince to pack a stadium due to coronavirus, even after it's died down. No gate, that's a lot less money.

PPV revenue has so many splits that he would probably just break even on it.

I think he's delusional that fighting Spence would do any better. Porter has been seen by the mainstream.

His biggest issue isn't Porter's side. It's Crawford and his guarantees. That alone probably eats up the bulk of any money made and Haymon isn't going to foot money into the red.

[Bob]

So promoter's like Bob are going to block all big fight's post corona because of affordability instead of lowering they're prices 🙄
Idiot.

[Boxviewer]

Spence - Crawford fight won't be made in next two years due to the economic climate and greed by all parties involved.

If they really want to make the fight within two years from now all parties involved have to accept less $$.

[STREET CLEANER]

Long winded excuse why they are ducking Porter

[xxlefthookxx]

How about...paying the fighters what the market says they are worth? If they can only generate enough revenue via PPV or network advertising to get a $1M purse...then pay them $1M. This is about the only sport where the participants come up with a number as opposed to looking at what is a reasonable number and then getting a percentage. After the big losses with Fury/Wilder 2, fighters need to re-evaluate what they are truly worth.

[Combat Talk Radio]

So promoter's like Bob are going to block all big fight's post corona because of affordability instead of lowering they're prices 🙄
Idiot.

What price would he lower?

Ticket prices aren't 100% up to promoters. You got the venue, the brokers, the city, the state, the food vendors, etc.

PPV prices are high because of network broadcaster splits.

Network TV is not and will not generate enough ad revenue.

There aren't any real talk shows left to highlight the fighters anymore, so you're spending more money just to get people recognized. At least Spence has the Dallas Cowboys to piggyback off of.

If I were Arum or Haymon, I would call Dana and Hearn and do a joint promotion.

[Boxfan83]

Throw Valdez vs Berchelt & Ionue vs Nery and thatd be a $50 card.

[Kingraleck]

Business logic/acumen

Let's go through a brief business lesson so we can avoid the inevitable/irrelevant "ducking" or "greedy" posts:

1. Crawford and Porter are going to seek huge guarantees, as they should. I would imagine that for both fighters it would be in the neighborhood of $15-20 million. I cannot imagine Crawford would get less than $10 million and Porter would get less than $7 million realistically.
2. So now you've got to front $20,000,000.00 to fight and Arum and Haymon have to come up with this money to have it occur.
3. The impediments to setting up this fight, for a profit, would be that it could likely occur in Omaha if they want to sell out the fight in 2020. Brooklyn may not open up until 2021 fully due to its current complications. The live gate is important to a fight like this to generate income.
4. ESPN and FOX are not coming up with $10 million each to do a split broadcast. As such, you need a PPV. To get to both fighters guarantee, let's set at $80.00. You need a minimum of 250,000 buys to get to that minimum. The cable companies, satellite providers and streaming services all take their respective cuts out of the PPV, thus likely needing no less than 50,000 buys to meet these guarantees.
5. The promoters have to pay for advertising and other fees associated with promoting. I do not know all the details as I am not a promoter, but there's more than just putting up a ring in Omaha or Barclays.

In sum, this fight needs to do at least 300,000 buys to stay afloat, and maybe more. For the fighters to get more and promoters to make a profit, I would think 500,000 is the number. Fury-Wilder II did 800,000, but that was a heavily promoted fight with 2 participants who are exponentially more popular than both Crawford and Porter. Indeed, another issue will be the economy after this fight, and who has the disposable income to shell out $80 for a fight when they haven't worked in months.

Fighters like Crawford and Spence are doing just fine getting value for fighting on regular ESPN and Fox. When attempting to obtain PPV status, the fighter must be able to sell the fight. Heavyweights like Fury and Wilder do this easy. Their marketable and understand showmanship. They sold the fight. But at this juncture, Crawford and Spence cannot expect to sell this fight for what both are seeking realistically.

You're welcome for the brief economics/business lesson. Next time you feel the need to say "ducking" or "greedy", please refer back to this brief discussion so that you realize there's a lot more than putting on gloves to commencing a PPV. Stay blessed.

[elfag]

If all parties involved aren't run on greed then it's quite easy to afford it Bob..

It's a fight that people would like to see and Bob knows it. Throwing a number out to test the reactions is quite clever for Bob...

This is what he is doing.


His premise is ridiculous, if crawford fighting a soviet cabbage farmer is profitable then him fighting a top 4 welterweight can also be profitable.

Its May already, even if they signed it today it aint happening for 3 months out.