Will be interesting to see what DAZN price this at going forwards. With only the boxing and Women's Champions League, I can hardly see the punters streaming in. Streaming is such a saturated market. I've recently subscribed to Disney + for £7.99 a month and I've already spent 40-50 hours watching Criminal Minds; I've not even scratched the surface, talk about value for money! I know live sports are different, but that's what DAZN are competing against. As for the promotion, the Olympics are pretty much-taking everything up. DAZN really needed a Whyte/Chisora to launch their subscription service. Their launch will fall flat on their arse. In the UK, only football moves the needle. DAZN will find that out pretty quickly. They went to the US not knowing that the NBA, NFL and MLB take everything up. They've now come to the UK without any football. Len Blatanavik keeps pissing his money up the wall, no wonder he's desperate for a DAZN IPO > not sure who Len thinks will buy these shares.
As I keep saying, Fowler is fighting these kind of fights for one reason only - to stay unbeaten until he gets the only real pay day out there for him, Fitzgerald, who will beat him again in fight #2. Cheeseman beats Fowler, this can be the only reason why he didn't take the fight. Loses and the appeal for Fitz/Fowler#2 diminishes.
I agree with everything you're saying. When i look across my streaming product i see that each app has multi-use or a deep bench of product for me to watch: Netflix - all of the family use it Amazon Prime - all of the family use it and i get free delivery Sky - Football, boxing, Sky Entertainment BT - Multi-channel + sports When i look at the DAZN product all i am getting is Saturday night fight cards that i used to get with Sky + Darren Barker and Chris Lloyd before the bell (which i used to get free on Youtube). We was promised lots of shoulder programming around each fight card but I am yet to see anything decent on the DAZN app. You would have thought they would have had some decent programming BTS capturing the build up of the first ever DAZN UK show but there is nothing. I also fear that they don't have any household boxers (aside from Benn) to carry the brand. There is no Froch, Groves, Degale, Brook, Khan, Bellew to carry the brand across the line. It is all non-world level boxers fighting international boxers for non-world title belts or low quality domestic names (Cheesman vs Williamson etc). I can't see Joshua signing either. Why would you leave the biggest PPV platform in the country - and you're now the only star on the platform - to go to a streaming provider? Already Joshua has Laurence O fighting on his undercard in a world title fight instead of Laurence on a SAZN card. I wouldn't be surprised if Joshua stayed with Hearn as promoter but used the Sky platform and his own 258 management fighters on Sky PPV. If they don't get Joshua they're basically building a platform around domestic fighters. Which will mean it goes the same way as Boxnation: down the pan suffering heavy losses. They should have gone all out for these first shows with the Chisora fight (which isn't PPV quality but gives you a like for like comparison with the old sky product), Benn vs Ava, Fowler vs Cheesman as the headline fights. That would have been a real statement of intent. Galahad vs Dickens will be appalling and i wouldnt build a brand associated with a known drug cheat
My guess is £4.99 from the whole “it’s less than you think it’ll be” narrative created by either plants or idiots online saying it’s going to be £9.99/£19.99. I think they’re going to have to stick with the current price until they have something a bit more appealing lined up.
Good post; BT Sport (£30) - MotoGP, Speedway, Aussie Cricket, DTM, Boxing, Aussie Supercars, UFC plus BSB, WSBK, WTCR and cycling via eurosport you get. Motosport TV (£2.99) - Super GT, ADAC GT, Brazilian Stock Car plus a lot of others Easy for me to think unless the DAZN cards stack up it isn't good value.
I am not subscribing to DAZN again until I see decent fights. Shyte camp is not getting me parting with £1.99 for DAZN. Usyk v Tony Dosh PPV is on Sly Sports Box Office and I would expect the same pattern in the future. All the turd on DAZN for £1.99 and any decent fight on Sly Sports Box Office
I'd argue strongly that Benn is not a "household" boxer anywhere near the other names you mention. Froch got a start on ITV, he and Groves were a cultural phenomenon with the Wembley fight; DeGale and Khan had the Olympics. Brook and Bellew were Sky fighters right at the peak of the Joshua-driven hype cycle. Benn is a manufactured fighter who supposedly does huge numbers on social media, and I get the sense that's the audience Matchroom is going after. If a reasonable % of those followers sign up to DAZN cheaply then they'll be OK. But to pretend that any boxer coming through this kind of process will be mainstream or a household name, is a nonsense. And it probably doesn't matter in any case. Look at the other prime Matchroom sports - snooker and darts; they have players who could walk up any town centre and be largely undisturbed, but the world darts is looking at £1m for the winner soon, mostly driven by exposure in various niche markets around the world. Snooker gets bigger as a business every year, largely driven by China. If Matchroom can build that kind of base like they did with darts - with the UK scene effectively asking as the first progression from amateur / Olympic ranks to the pro game - and then export these Brits round the continent - then it might just work out. And it's not a million miles from Eubank's "Sky World Tour" back in the day which suited both sides very well.
I’ve spoken to casual fans at work who still ask me when the next ‘Hearn fight’ is on Sky. They are completely unaware he’s moved and they’ve never heard of DAZN when I tell them.
Same here. I've spoken to many casuals who usually watch boxing on sky, who don't realise that Eddie has moved to DAZN. If sky hurry up and get something going, it won't be long before it's a case of Eddie who? Sky should move quickly
I know the whole ‘game changed’ thing is a bit of a joke now, but these cards genuinely are horrendous.
Will the casuals who only tune in for Joshua and Whyte wanna pay a fiver a month or whatever it goes up to when they won’t even get Joshua or Whyte fights as part of the deal? Not a chance me thinks. Most will already have Sky and don’t mind paying 20 quid every 6 month or watching it down the pub but I doubt your average Matchroom casual will be bothered about Kyoguchi or Estrada fighting at 4am.
