PPV Only

The problem is at the top level these fighters are way overpaid! Does Fury deserve multi miliions for that performance last night!? Ppv is the only way to pay what these fighters have come to expect. Look at UFC and the disparity on pay for similar profession.

 

I don't like the idea of PPV on top of subscription either. HBO and Showtime did it for years so I guess they made the market.

But if boxing came away from these platforms that tie up promoters, and cards were like £5-10 on their own steam, bit more for the really big ones, I'd happily pay that. Scrub out the subscription that just pays for filler content between the big events anyway.

 

If the Fury v Ngannou fight did not happen last night due to not meeting the financial demands of Fury, would it really matter to the boxing fans?

Can understand why a superfight like 'Rumble in the jungle' would demand higher money at the time but last night was simply an exhibition fight with zero titles at stake except a Saudi local belt.

People can only be sucked dry so far and the recent KSI v Tommy Fury farce also opened many eyes.

 

Exactly. So no more ppv won't hurt the sport. Might bring the fighters down to a lesser purse but they won't starve.

 

Don't forget multi-millionaire types like Chisora and Whyte need to put food on the table!!!!!

 

All completely correct, but all the fights happened because someone put the money up and took the risk. That's separate from the PPV debate I reckon.

You wonder if Riyadh Season really needed the TV money if it was primarily promoting the country. Fair enough if Fury-Usyk needed PPV to underpin the budget but last night was clearly a showcase.

 

Last night was, imho, a deeply sinister turn in the PPV concept.

Boxing pay-per-views have always been about boxing. Sure, the American ones have often shown special guests in the crowd, and Sky often featured interviews with other sports stars in attendance during the build-up. But the key objective of the event was i) to show boxing and ii) for the organisers, broadcasters, and boxers to make money.

Last night was different. The *only* objective was to advertise Saudi Arabia and Riyadh season. This was very different to Joshua's events in Saudi. Boxing was secondary, and with those huge waits, it felt peripheral.

Saudi Arabia sold a pay-per-view advert for their country. Many of the worlds' largest boxing broadcasters - TNT, ESPN and DAZN - facilitated it.

The sales won't have funded that lavish an event, sure - but the event crossed the line between sport and propaganda in a big way last night.

 

Very good points.

 

Yeah this is exactly what it was. How many people outside of a few boxing fans had ever heard of Riyadh season?

Whereas now huge amounts of people will be aware of it due to the hype around this event and by the 7th or 8th edition when it's hosting CL games literally everybody in sport will know what it's about.

Said it last night but you can't deny sports washing works. Didn't hear a peep about human rights from the media in the past week.

 

You can't expect Whyte to fight for 400k ...Eddie hearn