You also have to remember that there are sweeteners from the cities where these fights are held- I doubt Hearn is paying full whack for the Millennium Stadium for example. It's mainly to do with demand however, and the lack of big indoor stadiums in the UK.
Stadiums are not a good place to host a boxing event if you cant afford to get close to the action, especially for the cheap tickets. The alternative is smaller venues with higher prices, maybe much much higher! If AJ does fight in Vegas the nose bleeds will be starting at £300 and while you can see the fight its not amazing, and the atmosphere there is terrible compared to the fights here. The UK fight fans are the best imo. Basically with AJ fights if you cant afford to spend over £300 you just aint going to get close the action. Hearn will say hes providing cheaper tickets for the huge demand which is true but equally is £40 value for money to go to a stadium to watch the fight on the big screen? I don't think so.
I went to Froch Groves st Wembley the atmosphere was great but the view was shocking. Glad I went though. Went and seen Bellew at Goodison the view was ok but the atmosphere was terrible, hit better for main fight but still not great, for the other fights outwidth masher Dodds fight it had the atmosphere of a library. That and people dropping ***s in a wooden built section of a stand wasn't the best ! Best bit of the night was the bus ride back into town with the locals singing, that was a right laugh.
I agree. Not only that the time you pay to travel and get a hotel room your looking at £300 plus before you buy a ticket for fight or factor in spending money. Been Cardiff a few times like the place but not enough accommodation to cater for such a big crowd when the vast majority don't live local.
Get back to grass routes. Support local small hall shows. This is where boxing needs you. Stadium shows are here and there will always be a demand but i usually leave them to the football coke sniffing **** heads to invade whilst singing sweet Caroline etc. Small hallers are where it's at
I said at the time that I went to AJ Takam there and it severely lacked the infrastructure to host an event of that magnitude. Not enough hotel rooms there and bars and clubs afterwards couldn’t cope. It was chaos. I was genuinely shocked when they decided to go back there.
It's all about the money for them. I agree with you totally, though way they will look at it is simple, we will make our revenue the rest isn't our problem. I disagree with this approach don't get me wrong. Even if they or someone put on a few hundreds coaches to take people from Cardiff to Bristol straight after the fight it would share the load, this would be made easier as stadium is in the city centre.
There's lots of things you can say about it all but really and truly if the buyers are there and it will sell then Eddie, and anyone else is gonna do it,
While they're doing well they are here to stay. Like many have said in Joshua's case it's suplly and demand, the Manchester Arena is the biggest indoor arena in the UK and that holds 21,000. The Millenium Stadium with the roof on can hold 80,000 and is available for any type of weather. It's not like it takes days to sell either... Joshua is a juggernaut, they did 70,000 tickets in an hour. That's insane. Eddie has done 6 (?) and for me only 1 didn't make sense. Froch Groves 2 - No explanation needed, biggest fight the UK had for years. Campbell Coyle - Biggest possible arena available in Hull for 2 hometown fighters, did decent sales. Bellew Makubu - Think this was more of a favor to his mate Bellew than it was a business decision, Sunday Evening fight and only opened half the pitch. Bellew was hardly a mega star at this point, think it'd be different now that he's beat Haye. Joshua Klitschko - No explanation needed Brook Spence - Brooks name was at it's peak after the Golovkin fight, did good sales and Spence was himself a decent name for boxing fans, i live in Sheffield and people have been waiting on the Brook stadium fight for years. Joshua Pulev/Takam - Supply and Demand, it sold out, enough said.
O2 is the perfect size for boxing and should hold all big boxing events. I would accept higher ticket prices for big fights if it meant a better atmosphere and quality of punter. £150 for top tier is reasonable and £250 for middle. 6000@150 = 900k 8000@250 = 2m 3000@500 = 1.5m 1500@800 = 1.2m 500@1200 = 600k 500@2000 = 1mil Plucked these figures out of thin air but total gate is 19.5k @ £7.2m. Scrap these stadium fights and get big boxing back to the arena's. Joshua v Klitchsko at the O2 or MEN would have been immense. Joshua v Takam and Joshua v Parker are definitely arena level fights.
Do you not think they should mix it up though, klitschko stadium takam or pulev arena then parker stadium?
I'm not a promoter so what I think is irrelevant. But I will say that selling out a 80-90K stadium is more impressive and will create more free media coverage than selling out a 18-21K arena. From a visual perspective a stadium fight just looks way cooler and will likely create more interest in future promotions.
As a fan yeah. But if I was in eddies position no. Why would you turn away an extra 60k paying supporters. It’s not just ticket revenue either, it’s merchandise, food, drinks. It’s a lot of money. From a business point of view you just don’t turn that down.