"Sky blocking AJ by paying him more" - Eddie Hearn

Yep, 600,000 buys if I remember right. No idea how many subscribers the 1989 fight added though!

 

Without pretending to know the commercial element here it is a bit odd Sky have went in so hard here. They have the platform to make big fights and make stars so why waste their time with someone who has signed elsewhere

 

I don't know the ins and outs of the figures but Sky don't seem to be in the habit of regularly making massive losses like DAZN.
If they are going to take a loss on the Joshua v Usyk fight they will have reasons behind it

 

Probably putting it on as to say ‘we’re still here and we’re still in boxing’ ... as sad as it sounds a lot of people probably thought they were done when Hearn left.

 

Exactly!
A fight between Sky and BT will be a lot easier to make than BT and DAZN.

If Joshua does somehow get the win he still won't be the A side in a fight with Fury so Eddie won't have the upper hand in negotiations

 

Sky make marginal losses all the time. There's zero chance they get their money back on test cricket for example, especially when England's form drops, and they absolutely make losses on women's or minority sports they choose to cover. But in aggregate, across the channels, they keep eyeballs coming back who might watch something else and maintain the subscription.

 

who are you refer to?

 

Won't be the A side? How so?

AJ has just had a site fee for over $100 mil and a platform pay £30 mil to screen his fight.

If he beats Usuyk he is still very much the A side and all the numbers prove that to be the case.

 

This is Hearns juniors legacy; a breed of boxing fan more invested in arguing over the operating p&l of multi billion pound broadcasting companies than in who fights who in the ring. Fcking nuts.

 

Agree that it is easier for Sky and BT to work together, but believe that in the event of a possible fight between AJ and Fury then it will be a 50 50 deal.

 

It would be interesting, given BT's penetration and ability to sell PPV on Sky, whether many people would bother registering for DAZN to watch, on a 50-50 split with two host broadcasters?

 

It is an easy choice for the vast majority who would rather watch such an event on a real TV channel where both the sound and picture quality are far better compared to an app. I work in the media world and we can see that a lot of people still want to watch ordinary tv channels.

By the way : Fury vs Whyte on BT Sports Box Office sold really well.

 

Gareth Davies last week on talksport was saying people will be able to book DAZN PPV via the red button in the not so distant future.

Do you know anything about that?

 

You probably know the answer to your question. I think Gareth A Davies is right in what he said.

Being made available on the Sky box, it is not certain that it will be a success. Do you remember Prime Time a few years ago ?

 

It's going to be quite interesting to see where DAZN/Matchroom and Sky/Boxxer are in 5 years time. Boxxer/Sky have done very well with their signings considering they've started from scratch in the last couple of years, they've been building a solid domestic stable with the aim of satisfying the UK fans and being number one in the UK seems more and more like a realistic target as time goes by. Matchroom/DAZN's mission is global domination and look like they are taking their eye off the ball domestically. The level of investment required to take on PBC/Top Rank/Golden Boy internationally and Boxxer/Queensbury/Probellum/Wasserman domestically would be insane, I just don't see how they can take over the world and be number one in the UK at the same time, especially with DAZN's lack of promotion and advertising.

I think DAZN have spread themselves to thin personally, no wonder more and more British fighters are jumping ship. Losing Usyk Joshua 2 to Sky is a kick in the nuts for DAZN, they could really have done with this fight to get their name in the public conversation again and get more subscriptions. Even if Sky make a loss, it's a massive statement from them and their brand.