80k is not realistic at all, when you consider BT are putting Tyson Fury v Tom Schwarz on PPV. They have the facts and figures, they have their projections and anyone with half a brain wouldn't put Fury/Schwarz on PPV if Fury/Wilder done 80k. Btw, BT done a fantastic job promoting Fury/Wilder, you obviously weren't paying attention.
I bet Carl Froch isn't impressed with the UK figures, he fought in front of 80k at Wembley. Did you know that? Lol
I'm a big fan of Fury and I don't think 700k is realistic either, especially for that time of night. I don't actually think Fury is as popular as BT seem to think he is. As I mentioned yesterday; I think their promotion and marketing of this fight is totally wrong. Hits all the wrong notes. I think on the wave of goodwill he had post-Wilder - he had the potential to become a very popular figure in British sport. He doesn't have the marketing budget behind him that Joshua does, but he had a lot of momentum post-Wilder. Had he signed up for Wilder/Joshua (maybe even someone like Whyte) instead of Schwarz - he'd still have lots of momentum in my opinion and could potentially be getting close to Joshua in terms of fan popularity. I think we're in real danger of seeing a potential Joshua/Fury showdown in the USA which would be an enormous shame. I can't see Bob Arum agreeing to make it in the UK at 5pm East Coast time. It would be a travesty actually - a fight like that should only ever be at Wembley.. but I can see it going that way. From a fan's perspective - that ESPN deal has potentially scuppered a really exciting year of heavyweight fights.
I’m not trying to take anything away from Fury by saying the 80k. I’m guessing the 80k from the figures that have came out of their actual mouths. People also need to remember it was Showtime who footed the bill for the fight so I doubt it cost BT much at all. I also have no doubt in my mind that if Fury vs Wilder 1 was promoted properly, was on prime time UK and had a big build up then it would do upwards of 700k. Maybe even surpass the million mark.
I just can't fathom 80k. They're ITV Eubank Jr toy belt box office numbers. Wilder and Fury are two well known, unbeaten champions and BT is in another league to ITV box office. The BT promotion was excellent for those paying attention and the hype pre-fight was up there with the better UK PPV's. The pre-fight talk was everywhere.
But aren't you forgetting this is your favourite fighter and you'd be drawn to watching him and the build up? If you don't have access to BT Sport and aren't actively seeking Fury out you're not going to see much of him. General fans of sport aren't seeing him on the adverts between Sunday afternoon football for example. Add to that that plenty who'd watch at 10pm are going to maybe think about it for a minute and think 'nah, can't be bothered' as it dawns on them they're paying twenty quid for something in the middle of the night.
Yes and yes. Still think it done way more than 80k. If it was 80k BT won't last long in the game because the only fight bigger than Fury/Wilder is Fury/AJ. Granted a rematch would be bigger but 80k is pathetic. If Fury/Wilder done 80k, Schwarz fight won't break 50k. BT are paying Fury good money. How can they sustain it? For those reasons I don't believe the 80k figure.
Surely both. Hearn offered him millions to fight on sky. Hardly turned that down to earn buttons on BT.
Why surely both? If he's being paid by Arum but BT handle his UK television then it makes sense for them to stick it on PPV even if figures are garbage. If you've got something deeply unpopular you may as well try to sell it rather than give it away. I think it's incredibly short termist in fairness; Fury's tip tap five punches a round nonsense and tendency to drone on about Jesus, mental health and himself are deeply dull but in fairness he may have had a chance to build a profile on the back of him getting up against Wilder. That's now dust in the wind. The reaction to this will be people laughing at him fighting a nobody which nobody watched.
You make a good point, make some solid arguments and then you let your hatred take over and ramble on with complete nonsense. Needless and over the top, Tony.
Wasn't the fight on BT PPV but only available if you were an existing BT Sports subscriber ? That might explain the reason if the figures were that low.
Who knows what the UK figured were but I’d be shocked if they were as low as 80k... In the US it did 320k, which is the biggest selling Heavyweight PPV in the US since 2003, believe it or not.