Hearn and Warren BFFS

Many good and relevant questions

I think we should prepare for a year that will bring major changes.

Warren and Hearn should stick together because Zuffa Boxing is going to sign all the big names in the coming months. DAZN will slowly be reduced to a minor player in the market.

 

I always appreciate your insight. Thanks

 

Thanks.

In recent months I've been hearing whispers that Matchroom is close to signing a contract with Netflix. It would be incredible for Matchroom to end up on Netflix but I just can't understand what Netflix can gain from signing with Matchroom ?

 

On the face of it the obvious question in terms of Netflix paying for these huge events is “how can they make it pay” - I read something about this following one of their big boxing events and the answer given was that it attracts a huge number of new subscribers who then tend to stick around on a subscription so over the course of the year the ongoing income far outweighs the cost of the event

I don’t know how accurate this is but that’s just what I read

I’m guessing in some ways dazn was trying to be the Netflix of sport? Hoping people would maybe sign up for a particular event and then stay around if they feel there’s value for money but I’m not sure it’s worked out that way

 

If the matchroom/Netflix rumours turn out to be true it will be interesting to see if the Hearn/warren feud fires back up!

 

Dana is Turki’s new bum chum.

 

Turki has learnt all he needed to, Frank and Eddie are of no use to him now

 

Gets a new one every year and the new one doesn’t realise he’ll be old news soon.

Turki is a huge fan of boxing trying to run boxing. It doesn’t work like that

 

bored with this huge fan shite

 

As far as i know, this the current situation and what may happen in the coming months:

Turki & Warren no longer are 'best friends', hence why Hearn has been doing all the ring magazine shows, and Warren is no longer involved and just does his own shows, and Warren no longer mentions him and hasn't said 'his excellency' in months.

Matchroom's DAZN deal expires in August 2026, with the success of the AJ Paul fight and Matchroom documentary on Netflix, Matchroom will be joining Netflix in August, it seems Turki is also pivoting to Netflix with the Fury fight on there, and reports that Netflix want AJ Fury. Netflix is the same model as DAZN for Hearn with 'one platform, one place for all his shows' it is just much bigger and has more subscribers and deeper pockets.

Turki has said he wants no PPV, and he tried that with DAZN with the Ultimate subscription thing but he has clearly realised it won't work, and Netflix is the best place for his shows, hence why the Fury ring show is on there, and he will pivot his shows to Netflix, notice there aren't any Saudi / ring shows slated to be on DAZN past March..

Warren still has a few years left at DAZN so he will stay there and just focus on the UK market, as will Shalom.

Dana / TKO will sign a lot of fighters to Paramount but may take a while to become dominant

Golden boy are moving to that weird niche platform.

PBC on Prime and don't know about Top rank, probably replace Matchroom at DAZN.

 

This is the case but only really for events including Jake Paul to date. I suppose that if Netflix were going to get heavily involved in 'proper' boxing then you'd expect a lot of boxing fans to take up an ongoing subscription so maybe the business model will cross over. I guess they'll get an indication in the UK at least from the Fury fight but surely the North American market is the driving factor for them. Regardless, it definitely looks like a big shift is happening.

 

Netflix could be a great home for the occasional spectacle boxing event – the big-name, big-noise nights that create a moment, spike attention, and help them drive subs. That part makes sense: one fight, one weekend, everyone talks about it, then they move on.

Where it falls apart is if Netflix tries to get involved in boxing like DAZN did. Without PPV-style upside to subsidise the rest, boxing is a money pit at today’s purse expectations unless fighters take massive haircuts. Promoters already know this: Matchroom was built off AJ PPV peaks and Warren’s rebuild came off Fury’s event-era, so the idea Netflix stumps up $100m+ to host and then bleeds more money on loss-making weekly shows doesn’t add up.

And even on the audience side, weekly boxing just doesn’t fit Netflix viewing behaviour. Younger viewers will show up for spectacle, but they tune out fast if it’s slow and tactical unless it becomes a pure dopamine product with constant action. We’ve seen it with crossover cards too: even when KSI/Logan had legit world-level guys on the undercard, the mainstream attention stayed on the circus, not the boxing. Big events: yes. Full-time boxing platform: no chance.

 

100% this. Netflix have been very clear what their sports/live-event strategy is, and it’s big, one-off, stand-alone events that appeal to casual sports audiences worldwide.

They get exactly this from Jake Paul, Big Turks and the Saudis, I just can’t possibly see what Matchroom offers them in 2026, especially for a regular contract of monthly (or whatever) shows. They’ll show any old ‘behind the scenes’ sports doc, so I don’t think that’s any indicator that Netflix would all of a sudden want their live boxing from a hotel in Orlando, quarter full O2 or whatever.

Thought it was interesting that Hearn does seem to be making his first post-DAZN moves though, with a new PPV-deal with Fox Sports in Australia - presumably built around Skye now that Opetaia has gone. If he does move on from DAZN - which would seem odd given I’ve always presumed he was quite a large shareholder - I think it’s much more likely he ends up back on Sky than goes to Netflix.