First off I'll say that this is not an attempt to argue about any previous or upcoming fight and where it should be or should have been held. Just seems to me that a lot of the UK posters on here don't seem to know how the money is made on these fights here in the US. Every time a thread comes up you hear comments like "50,000 people selling out equals more money than 12,000" When fights are held in places like Las Vegas and 12,000 people fly or drive in to see the fight, these people need a place to stay. They need somewhere to eat and most importantly they need **** to do before and after the fight. That "**** to do" part is where the money comes in. These people hit the casino and lose tons of money gambling. The casino recognizes this and pays a site fee which can amount to several million dollars. This more than makes up for the small arena. We have big arenas over here too guys. If it made more sense to sell 70,000 tickets in Yankees stadium we would do that. The fights are held in the casinos because that is where they make the most money
and this exact reason is why boxing is not mainstream in america anymore. before arum and king took the casino`s money american boxing was held in the middle of populated areas like MSG etc etc now they are held in the nevada desert with film stars flying in from hollywood and few actual hardcore boxing fans . yes i agree casiono`s paying the site fees helps the promoters enourmously but fighting in las vegas and on PPV is killing boxing in the states. hopkins/mosely/jones/wright/tarver/dlh/ mexicans jmm/barrera/morrales very soon will be gone and unless america goers the german route and imports its fighters soon these casinos will not have big name fighters to bring the crowds in. it is better for america to have big billed boxing in the regions . i know americans still support there fighters, spinks v karmazin was a case in point.
I understand the business angke but the biggest casino in the word is in Melbourne, Austrlalia pretty much across the road from 100,000 seater stadium, surley that is the best place to hold every fight on that basis? ps, seriously how many fighters do you know that would sell out a 80,000 seater stadium on their own? I can think of only 1 and that is HAtton, altho maybe Tito or Gatti in theior prime
I think you got a very good strong point there, even though it is generating millions of $$, ppv doesnt do to good for the globalization of the sport , just imagine if you got to pay $50 to see the NBA finals or the MLB World Series!!
exactly. in the uk you can still see boxing on live to air tv so boxing is still being shown to the biggest mass audience possible and people are still aware of it. in germany to boxing is on mainly free to air tv. mexico and japan i do not know about but they are big boxing countries. by having hatton and calzaghe/haye etc etc fighting on tv boxing gyms up and down the country are kept busy full of the next generation of kids wanting to emulate. the current american model is hype the superstars/make as much ppv out of them and **** the fans for the sake of quick money. but when the current generation has gone what do you do. already the american heavyweight division is virtually bare . and only a sprinkling of fighters in each division compared to the domination of virtually all divisions down to feather when i was growing up by americans. to use an anology, american boxing is cutting of its own oxygen supply for short term gain.
Sure they could. Just curios quesion for the UK guys. How much do they charge for seats over there for a big fight like Hatton or calzage?
That's what I was saying when people were arguing over where the Mayweather-Hatton fight should be (GBP and HBO probably had the biggest say in the matter anyway). Ticket sales are only a part of the ridiculous amount of money that a casino makes for a big fight. They can afford large site fees because they make so much money. Out of towners spend a lot of money on hotel rooms, food, drinking, GAMBLING, etc... That being said, the Euro is destroying the dollar nowadays.
If I remember correctly, a friend of mine who went there told me, he had to pay about 100 pounds for the not even midclass seats...so it's not that cheap but still no comparison to fights like PBF - DLH or PBF - Hatton...
At the JC v Kessler fight, I paid £55 for my ticket, but they were as low as £30 I think, as high as £?, but yeah, i was at the back of the middle tier
UK uses the pound not the euro (not that it matters since the pound is ***** slapping the dollar right now too)
