Sky turns down Klitschko-Haye for Khan - then turns down Khan? What's going on?

Threetime no1 · Apr 11, 2011

shaunster101 said: ↑

To be fair to Sky, they haven't rejected the fights you mention out of ignorance - quite the opposite. Khan had already secured a PPV slot in April long before Haye - Wlad was negotiated, so they had to honour this and couldn't show the Haye fight that month. Then over the last few weeks the Khan undercard has fallen apart, leading them to feel that it was by no means PPV worthy. They offered him a slot on regular Sky for less money but he declined and sought a bigger payday else where.

Also, regarding your comparison to the Haye situation, there is a slight difference between fighting for free and fighting for £250k, which is a decent cheque for most fighters, but I take your point - because I'm sure if Haye was only going to get 250k for the first Klit fight then he'd still have pulled out.

The problem with Khan here is that it just doesn't seem like a sensible business decision in the long term and a bit of a financial gamble in the short term, but in his defence it does seem like he's stuck between a rock and a hard place.

His choices were:

- scrap the fight
- accept the 250k and fight on regular Sky Sports
- Take a gamble and try to maximise his income on another PPV TV station

He clearly doesn't want to scrap the fight - so that's the main thing and I think it deserves respect. But as for the rest of the decisions, I can't say I agree with what they have done.

At the most basic level it does seem like a gamble to risk a guaranteed £250k to go to a channel which 99.9% of the population have never heard of, which has absolutely no marketing power in the hope that enough people will buy the PPV to raise more money. I could very much see them not selling enought PPVs even to make 250K.

But for me it shows a ridiculous lack of foresight to take the fight off of Sky. I could understand if Primetime was going to guarantee him the extra million, but it's definitely not the case. Khan potentially has a HUGE unification fight with Bradley in the summer, a chance to make a career high pay day. Having the McCloskey fight on regular Sky would have brought in a HUGE audience of potential PPV buyers to impress with an exciting performance - not to mention maintaining a good working relationship with the biggest boxing broadcaster in the country.

Why not just take the financial loss on the chin (excuse the pun) this time round and look at the bigger picture?

For me it just sums up the attitude of Khan's team - make as much money as you can, as quick as you can, with no consideration if the future, just like getting rid of Ariza when you're planning to jump weight divisions in the future.
Click to expand...

:goodExcellent post. It's like a laymans guide to TV and boxing politics.
Has you say it's all about the quick buck with the Khan's.

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Sky turns down Klitschko-Haye for Khan - then turns down Khan? What's going on?

Threetime no1 Boxing Addict Full Member

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Sky turns down Klitschko-Haye for Khan - then turns down Khan? What's going on?

Threetime no1 Boxing Addict Full Member