Small Hall struggles.

spot on!

there are quite a few of them on here I thought lol

 

They’ll be on the darts forum in a few years saying the darts boom is over and Littler was a manufactured hype job.

 

They are all Anna Wooley fans - where her legs go, they want a glimpse.

 

Good read.

The promoters and sanctioning bodies are to blame for not making the fights that the fans want to see. The Arabs saw a golden opportunity and took it.

 

Dunno if this was at me becuase of my comment but I have liked both sports before the ‘boom’. My gripe with boxing during the ‘boom’ and now is good domestic standard fights being overlooked for likes of women and the overhyped earning kabillions in stadiums/Saudi.

Just seems no room for real boxing anymore, everything has to be flashy and look the part which is a reflection of the shitty society we live in. I was in my twenties still being called an old man because I just want to see good fights. All the people who got into it want to see a name vs whoever and loads of flashy lights and ‘a show’ . I’ve always said if the sport itself isnt enough then I’ve got no time for you. People will say the sport would die as purses would be so little people wouldn’t choose it as a career. It will always be there, even if the standard drops massively you’ll still always have evenly matched, entertaining fights and I’d be there watching.

 

They want wwe style events and Saudis are delivering some. But I want to see fights

 

I don’t think the Arabs are making the fights we all want to see.
They made a few but they are making the fights they can make (like any promoter has done) and just forcing us through all the media to say it’s the fights we want.

 

Oh really?

 

British boxing turned a bit gay in the 1990s. I remember it clearly. The laser shows and 'ring entrances' started. Suddenly the UK was doing silly razzmatazz stuff that the US wasn't even doing (unless you count Apollo Creed in Rocky IV).

 

Yes really. Which fights have got made that the public actually demanded?

I don’t believe it’s any more than the past, actually less at present as boxing is fairly stale now.
Only a few years ago, There was a good high end fight on every couple weeks, now it’s couple times a year.

 

Inoue's fight on Sat a good example - he was 1/35 odds on with the Bookmakers against an opponent who had no chance of winning.

 

No mate it wasn’t!

 

I don’t think poor ticket sales is a small hall problem exclusively, there’s been lower crowds across all levels of domestic/international boxing in the UK over the past few years - just look at how pretty much every Matchroom, Warren and Boxxer show is giving away free tickets the week before the event. And if people aren’t willing to go and watch the ‘upper levels’ of the sport in this country, they’re certainly not going to the grass roots either. The difference is that the TV money seems to more than make up for any low attendances, even in your most expensive arenas and towns to run.

Small hall promoters just don’t have that revenue stream. And given so many of them are now live streaming their shows to understandably try and get a bit more cash that way, if you’re on the fence about going to a show near you, it’s much easier to stay at home and watch it.

And as well as not just being a small hall issue, it goes beyond boxing to the wider ways sports and entertainment have been consumed since Covid. People go mad and pay through the roof for your big ticket events - Oasis, Taylor Swift, PDC darts, Fury and AJ in a stadium etc. but there’s so much less interest and demand below that. Small hall boxing struggling is part of the same society that sees small pubs and local music venues closing left, right and centre.

 

Small hall shows are generally filled with the fighters selling tickets

 

But with everyone wanting to be on Saudi cards, everyone moves up. ‘Small hall’ fighters fill the UK slots left behind.