Boycott primetime!

Competition can be good but unfortunately to watch boxing costs alot of money. No matter what, I want Sky to maintain a monopoly. I wouldn't mind Box Nation joining that monopoly. Primetime on top of that isn't bad but then theres C5, Premier Sports and hopefully it stops there.

 

Your arguement only applies to domestic fights though. We're talking about the likes of Mayweather-Ortiz being on PPV, why would that fight being shown on UK TV affect the attendance? It wouldn't. That fight would only attract a handful of Brits anyway, and if they're willing to spend the time and money to go to Vegas for it they'll most likely do that whether it's on TV or not.

I also don't see how you can compare a PPV charge to watching the fight live in the venue. If I watch on TV I don't pay travelling costs because I haven't travelled anywhere. I don't pay the same as the ticket price because I don't get the same experience as those who are there watching it live in the venue. Nobody is doing me a favour here or giving me a bargain. Of course watching on a screen in your lounge costs less than attending the event, so it should.

The likes of Golden Boy and Top Rank are earning plenty and they'll sell their TV rights to whoever offers them most. In this day and age, where people can quite easily watch for free on streams (not that I'm advocating this or encouraging it) they'll take £50k if the alternative is nothing at all. Sky have been showing Mayweather and Pacquiao fights for no extra charge for ages plus other cards from America (Williams, Berto etc) so lets not pretend that PPV is the only option. Sky were including these fights with standard subs and we're now paying £15 a pop or we don't get to see them. Explain to me again how this is a good deal.

 

But Golden Boy, Top Rank, DKP etc do not always sell to the highest bidder. Sometimes the decision is political and sometimes as with the above mentioned Whitaker/Chavez fight, they decide to make a point, and not take any monies and refuse any offer from a British distributor.

That said you also have a point, thus if SKY offers a nominal fee for a fight, a rival may decide they can offer more and make a profit off of PPV sales, thus the fight goes to Primetime...

That is just common sense and Primetime must have a plan to turn over a profit and I am guessing thus far it is working, so why change it, if they are getting the numbers required to stay in Business?

As I said, I like the option of Primetime, I can if I choose watch some of their fights. I do not always buy their PPV's, but it is nice to have the option.

Also with Boxing generally on a decline in this country, there may come a point when SKY, like Terrestrial TV (I know 5 are trying an experiment), decides to cut boxing entirely from its schedule. So at least then there will be other TV stations in place to help pick up some of the slack.

 

Don't get me wrong, I was glad of Primtime when they were picking up fights that we wouldn't otherwise have seen and I didn't have a problem with paying for Froch's S6 fights when nobody else wanted them. But that's not really what I'm getting at. When they are in the mix for fights that we would normally get "free" on Sky Sports it becomes an issue because we pay more for the same thing or even an inferior product if production values are important to you. I know that Primetime is a business and they will ultimately make money however they can but this is an irritating time to be a boxing fan.

It's a vicious circle in my view. PPV = smaller fan base = more frequent PPV's = even smaller fan base. I just think that if we keep lapping it up we are making a rod for our own backs. The sport is on it's arse because of the greed of promoters and TV execs and it feels like they are cashing in on what's left of the fan base before their actions kill the sport in this country altogether.

 

Primetime definitely plugged an unserved market with the Froch fights and despite being a critic of putting the Ortiz-Mayweather fight on PPV, you cant argue with the numbers - 40,000 buys for a over matched main event on at 4.30am. So, there are a lot of people out there who disagree with the thread starter.

If a PPV comes up and I like it, I will buy it on Primetime, no problem at all.

 

If primetime would only **** off there would be more fights on Sky.

So primetime and boxnation are doing no good for sky subscribers. Fact.

 

Where are your facts?

I would be of the opinion that SKY will show the same amount of boxing; Primetime and Boxnation or not. There is not the interest in our sport to justify the costs of boxing, for SKY to increase its coverage.

SKY is so much bigger than Primetime and Boxnation, it could if it wished severely marginalize/destroy both companies. But as I stated SKY does not really care. Show them a profit, and I suspect they might be more interested.