ESPN: Why Fury? Why £80m? Why now?

@Holler Well, yeah, it's a multi-front war (because they all want to see the competitors gone), but, in this specific case my opinion is that DAZN was more like a spectator, exclaiming "Wow! WTF just happened?". Actually, their position has even improved. Because a fight between AJ and Wilder is now more likely to happen (than it was before).

I don't remember Arum talking too bad about DAZN, he was rather positive: "... another player is good for boxing in general, blah-blah..." or condescending. For example, once he explained how ESPN+ can benefit from ESPN (promoting fights, or, even better — when fights start at ESPN but then continue on ESPN+) but at DAZN they have to pay for everything.
Arum is definitely more hostile towards Showtime. He already voiced his predictions about their demise, and lately even called Showtime c*ckamamie
So, again, I see signing Tyson Fury as a move to improve their own (TR & ESPN) positions, plus an attack on Haymon (not DAZN).

 

I'll just throw this in for good measure but it probably means nothing.

As someone based in North East Asia ... I'm acutely aware of the vast population in this part of the world. There are many Chinese provinces with populations greater than California, and some with populations greater than the UK. The online purchasing power that exists in East Asia is very substantial and people in China, Korea and Japan, do online transactions with ease.

If, theoretically, anyone basically in the 'online-boxing-retail' game had their eye on these markets ... Fury has great optics. He comes across as a big heavyweight that people remember quickly. Not just streaming, but cable packages contain a lot of syndicated sources, we get both HBO and AMC mixed in and maybe 20 different sports stations.

 

Good point I also think WBC have had enough of Wilder.

 

Apart from the one off fight against Wlad you could argue that Hughie has just fought the tougher opposition eg Pulev and Parker are very underrated and are better fighters than Fury has face bar Wlad. Pulev jab will cause Tyson all sorts of problems. I said the same before the Hughie vs Pulev and the majority of this forum were underrating Pulev and picking Hughie to win.

 

With HBO out of the picture and DAZN flexing their financial muscle, there's a land grab going on. Fury became marketable in the States and ESPN snapped him up. It's pretty clear that long term, streaming subscriptions will, in the main, replace PPV as the viable model for boxing coverage in America and these two rivals look best placed to fight for the top spot. DAZN has the No1 HW and ESPN needed a 'face' in the 'glamour' division.

$80m is pretty good value, really. ESPN get Fury - a great seller of fights and talented boxer - and weaken AJ by making it highly unlikely he will face either of the other top three HWs any time soon without DAZN being prepared to sit down and thrash out sensible deals out of the social media spotlight which Hearn likes to use as his main promotional tool, a trap Wilder/Finkel fell into. The fact this ESPN/BT/Warren tie-up was announced without any prior leaks hints at how tight-knit these three players have become and suggests they are unlikely to be bullied into anything which does not align with their goals.

The flaw in the plan may well be Fury's fight style, with his more aggressive approach to taking on Wilder clearly not typical. He will be under pressure to entertain inside the ring as well as out of it....

 

More importantly...why is there a never ending video of Tony Bellend constantly playing on this website? Seriously, it's been there for months now.

 

Is it the Usyk KO? Because I can watch that all day.

 

Well we got all these people saying it should of been wilder. No it shouldn't. People taking risks with big money deals for 2 brits coming to try be a success in America. But wilder has already had 40 fights in the states and is an American and has been unable to be a big success.

 

A lot of people are put off with Fury's charisma and his talking like Usyk .
Usyk said he wishes he would stop talking and be more like AJ .

 

Yep I thought as much, they are investing in his potential because his PPV numbers doesn’t command a fraction of that.

Him and Wilder did a ton of promoting and was practically mainstream only to draw 200k or so.

I’m not one to throw the race card around but I’m guessing the element of “the great white hope” also plays a role in this.

Yes wlad was white but he was Ukrainian who spoke Russian. Just look at Hollywood to see how Russians are portrayed every time.

 

Been watching Furey since his pro debut. He's a bit unhinged, any network would be crazy to invest that sort of money on him

 

His name is Fury

 

ESPN has gotten so politicized I am sure revenue has been dropping. You read about how viewers are abandoning them. This may be an attempt to stop the bleeding. ESPN has made some incredibly stupid moves. Allowing commentators to comment on politics and other areas outside of their purview is one major error in judgment. Management should make it clear they will not tolerate anything outside of the coverage of sports. The other thing is the clowns at ESPN all of a sudden want to editorialize. Just give us the play by play and take your personal political views elsewhere. It has a feel of a fraternity. If I were to come in and manage them I would make it clear anyone who goes outside of the sports realm is toast. ANYONE. Arrogant little pricks.