POLL: How many UK PPV do you think Wlad/Haye will do?

What kind of "men" are you hanging about with?

 

A question to people who think this will blow Hatton - Mayweather out of the water:

Why do you think this fight will sell better than Haye - Valuev?

That fight was hugely hyped by Sky as David versus the heavyweight champion - and not just any champion, the biggest in history. Haye was on pretty much every talk show going in the build up and the media absolutely lapped up the whole David versus Goliath thing. The mind of the casual fan was captured by Valuevs size and appearance. That was the huge selling point in that fight, no doubt about it.

What about Haye versus Wlad (who is a pleasant, respectful not to mention normal looking guy) makes you think it will sell more than Haye - SNV? Especially given the amount of people who found that fight a snoozefest and then had their fingers burnt buying Haye - Harrison.

I think we need to remember, Haye v Wlad is a ****ing massive fight for people who follow boxing, but maybe not the casual. Haye v Valuev sold well because Valuev is an absolute freak to look at, plus a World Champ. Haye v Audley sold because EVERYONE knows who Audley is. Other than being a unification fight, what is this fight's USP?

 

:rofl:rofl:rofl

 

It wont take long for the word to spread that Klitschko is the best HW in the world , as stated by yourself the Haye PR machine will begin and we all know the way Haye captures the imagination of the British public with his flair and trash talk . He will not be holding back on how dangerous Wlad is and how good he is and this and that and Sky have numerous PR angles to sell this better than any of Haye's previous fights

This will sell more than Valuev , substantially more ??? , i dont know but my guess is it will sell more

 

Sky and the press will do the work, don't worry about that. Wlad also unlike Valuev actually has a decent highlights reel to use as well as actually being a bit bloody good at boxing. Just a pity the Chisora massacre didn't happen just prior to this fight, that would have added maybe an extra 100'000 PPV's.

 

I know, don't you just love England?

Remember, we're talking about the 'average sports fan'. Of course people knew it was a big fight - they'd been told that in the press. The average sports fan would not have seen Floyd fight before. It's the same with Wlad actually. A lot of my friends who very casually watch boxing refer to K2 as 'the russian giants'.

However, the following factors will get this a bigger PPV than Hatton - Mayweather:

- Time zone (+1 GMT?)
- Heavyweight
- David Haye's big mouth and appearance
- Wlad's hostility and hot famous girlfriend
- Perceived rivalry with Germany

Standard edit: The Sun will have a ****ing field day with most of the above points.
-

 

Just for the record, I want this fight to do massive numbers - i'm just not sure it will. But i'm just running through ideas and playing devils advocate here.

The thing is, I really don't think you can solely rely on Wlad being the best HW in the world equalling huge sales. The casual fan doesn't work like that, sure it helps - but look how many casuals bought Haye vs the shittest HW in the World, purely because of the story behind it. One of the worst mismatches in HW title history, yet the public lapped it up.

I also think some people are really underestimating the effect that the Valuev snoozefest and Harrison farce will have on this fight.

If I had to predict sales I'd say around 1.3 - but it really does have the potential to do like 1.6 - 8

 

Your underestimating the Haye factor here , Haye talks the talk and the British public lap it up , he was in a less than compelling fight against John Ruiz and people are still buying into him (by people i mean the general public) this was displayed against Harrison . And this fight is on another level to that or Ruiz and the public will be duley informed

If this fight does 1M+ its huge numbers :deal , could it beat 1.4M who knows , possibly ??? , but it will certainly do a million

 

Mate, I completely agree with you on the numbers you're giving. As I said, anything around 1 mill or above is huge, and i'm sure it'll sell. I was just saying why i though some people were being optimistic in saying it'll better Hatton v Mayweather - but who really knows

 

Exactly.

In the UK PPV numbers, who Wlad is doesn't really matter. As long as people are told it's a big 'meaningful' fight then it will sell.

Trust me, in the week before the fight we'll see:

- Articles on Hayden Panettiere with photos in a bikini. Probably with the suggestion that Haye will take her from Wlad if he wins.

- Haye in men's fitness and fashion/lifestyle magazines

- Lots of hyperbole to do with unifying the heavyweight division, a new era of british boxing, etc

- How popular Wlad is in Germany; even more reason to support Haye.

 

atsch
What a fool.
I'm sorry! But what a fool.

 

Exactly.

Any time a fight does over a couple of hundred thousand PPV buys, it has done so because it's crossed into the mainstream. The number of boxing fans isn't huge at all, so to get anywhere near 1m PPV buys, there needs to be some attraction to bring the casual fans in. With Valuev, he was a 7ft giant with an impressive record. He was the biggest heavyweight champion of all time and it was a true 'David vs. Goliath' fight. With Harrison, he was someone the general public hated and wanted to see get knocked out, so it was an easy sell.

However, what is the selling point for Wlad vs. Haye? For boxing fans, it's because we know Wlad is the true champion but to the mainstream, they don't know the difference between Wlad and Valuev's legitimacy. They see that a guy is a 'world champion' and he becomes an equal to other world champions. The mainstream don't know or care who is the proper world champion. Unlike Valuev, Wlad isn't a monster and unlike Harrison, he's not someone they'll want to see get knocked out.

I just don't know where the selling point is. To boxing fans, it's enough that both Wlad and Haye are terrific fighters. To the general public who add the majority of buys, I don't know what the attraction is for the non-fans, who care that Wlad is the best heavyweight and true champion.

I think it'll do good numbers but I wouldn't be surprised if the Valuev fight got more buys.

 

I'll take this bet. Name your price.

 

Yeah - anything around 1 million or above in our PPV market is ridiculously good numbers.

The problem is that large PPV sales are reliant on the general public buying into the fight, because hardcore fans make up such a small fraction of people in the country - and one thing we've learned down the years is that the general public don't buy based on the quality of the fight. There usually needs to be a gimmick or story involved to cross over into the mainstream and capture the publics imagination.

Wlad is the best HW on the planet but he isn't a 7 foot hairy monster, a deluded British Gold Medal winning Olympian or a brash or a cocky American who people want to see knocked out. He's a nice, friendly well spoken guy. I genuinely think that this fight would sell better if Wlad was the fighter with the PPV market behind him, paying to see the cocky loudmouth get knocked out, a la Hatton - Mayweather.

Saying that, it should definitely be up near or above the 1 mill mark. I'll be very interested to see how this fight is marketed and how it sells.