On Saturday night, Sergey Kovalev will take on Andre Ward in a much-anticipated fight for a variety of titles at light heavyweight and will answer the question as to who is the best pound-for-pound boxer. How will the HBO PPV do?
For combat sports fans, November is/will be an expensive month as Kovalev-Ward will be the third straight week for a PPV. Pacquiao-Vargas started the month, with UFC 205 next and now comes Kovalev-Ward. It may be argued that Saturday’s boxing event in Vegas will be the best PPV of the three. But, for the casual combat sports fan, will Saturday’s event be worth the money in a month where you could feasibly spend over $200 on PPV.
Another issue is that Kovalev-Ward comes on one of the biggest days for combat sports in some time. There are two UFC events and a huge Bellator card competing for eyes.
The allure of Ward, 30-0, facing Kovalev, 30-0-1, is tantalizing for boxing fans. Ward, the former Olympian, has been criticized for not taking on challenging opponents. He’ll get one in Kovalev. The Krusher looked invincible as he prepared for this fight but looked human against Isaac Chilemba as he was unable to knock Chilemba out.
It’s been an underwhelming year for boxing on PPV.
April 9, 2016 – Pacquiao-Bradley III: ~400K PPV buys
May 7, 2016 – Alvarez-Khan: ~450K-600K PPV buys
July 23, 2016 – Crawford-Postol: 50K-60K PPV buys
September 17, 2016 – Alvarez-Smith: >~300K PPV buys
November 5, 2016 – Pacquiao-Vargas: ~300K PPV buys
On another note, according to Lance Pugmire, Ward will make $5 million while Kovalev will earn $2 million for Saturday night.
Payout Perspective:
The Alvarez-Khan number has been rumored to be anywhere from 300K to slightly under 600K and anywhere in between. But, the main point is that there has not been a blockbuster fight this year which has drawn truly big “Conor McGregor” numbers. Boxing is centered on the one fight whereas the UFC packages 2 or 3 big fights together. Still, it’s the one star (i.e. McGregor, Rousey) that does the huge numbers for the UFC. Even Canelo Alvarez, the next big hope for boxing on PPV, had an uneven year. While he may have done well in May against Amir Khan, he did not follow-up in September with a strong buy rate. We already knew that Pacquiao is trending down domestically while the hope is that he does better in Asia. As for Saturday, I do not expect Kovalev-Ward to do better than 300K PPV buys due to the aforementioned combat sports competition. In addition, there has been little lead-up for this fight by HBO. The shoulder programming has been less than previous HBO Boxing PPVs and the stars are less familiar to the casual viewer.
Another fight I don’t feel warrants a PPV.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/boxing/article-3935842/Think-UFC-scourge-boxing-Viewing-figures-mixed-martial-arts-not-level-despite-record-breaking-event.html…..good article hahahaha…so ufc fanboys can get out of the bubble….global means numbers are global.not hype job from dw
Boxing is at an all time low- even De La Hoya agrees. Their ppv, even with their inflated numbers by promoters still won’t crack 2m buys this year.
This fight might do 300k buys if they are lucky.
This sport is on life support in the US.
Topps pulling out the boxing dinosaur propaganda pieces. Hahaha. True desperation.
Even in most of their weak markets, the UFC is outdrawing boxing abroad.
I actually enjoyed the hbo special on this fight. It’s the one thing boxing does better than the Ufc. The embedded episodes are good but lack the emotions of hbo fight specials.
D, de la Hoya does not speak for the whole sport. The fact that 4 million people bought may pac last year shows the fans are there, they’re just waiting for the right fights.
It doesn’t matter, when a major promoter like that acknowledges the situation publicly, you know it is bad.
Keep going back a year and a half, to that one fight. It’s becoming more and more laughable as time goes on and you keep bringing up things from years ago. The truth is, since that fight, boxing has yet to have a ppv go over 750k buys(in real numbers, the Cotto-Alvarez figures were fabricated by GB). During that time the UFC has gone over 1m buys 6x, they’ve gone over 800k 8x. I think the jury is in. If we are comparing ppv numbers, the two sports aren’t even remotely close anymore. The top 10 ppv buy rates this year between both sports will all- every single one in the top 10 will be UFC’s. That’s how bad boxing has become in terms of ppv and how strong mma’s audience is.
Waiting for the right fights? Haha. That’s some patience.
Where’s the audience for Tuf then?
One company controls the whole sport. Boxing is global, mma is stateside
McTapper out for months, boxing doesn’t live and die by the ppv d, show me the last cable show which did 5 mil for the ufc like the spence fight did.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/mattconnolly/2016/11/18/dana-white-confirms-conor-mcgregor-is-out-at-least-6-months-what-it-means-for-ufc-top-contenders/#5f9b2cb42b72
To be fair, non McGregor Ufc ppvs still does better numbers than most boxing ppvs these days.
International doesn’t matter, there’s a reason Bob Arum and other promoters don’t care about international numbers. There’s a reason the biggest fights always happens in Vegas or other US soil like cowboy stadium or MSG. If it doesn’t make money in the US, it’s a failure or non factor.
So selling out wembley stadium and selling ppvs like fury vs klitcschko don’t mater Lol
They can make more money selling out T-Mobile arena or MSG
Fury is suspended he isnt selling anything out and the first fight was on BoxNation that’s a subscription channel not PPV.
There will be zero Boxing fights at Wembley until at least June, the weather is terrible, so stop talking like its just about to happen.
Lol cutch it was on sky ppv, do a little research, sold 500k, hbo did over a million views. When was the last time a ufc pulled that kind of event broadcast in an international market?
Hahahaha. FIght Fan …self destructing.
Boxing does live and die by the ppv, as you can see they are dying in the US.
If one company controls the entire sport of mma, then why does Bellator beat boxing numbers routinely on Spike and ESPN?
If mma is only stateside, why are they bigger than boxing in a number of large markets abroad? Why does this matter anyway because the UFC generates more revenue than every boxing promotion combined a number of times over?
Klitschko-Fury ppv did less than 500k ppv buys and they charge less than half of what the UFC does for theirs. IE, this was around Demetrious Johnson ppv numbers. Haha.
When was the last time the UFC did that kind of event broadcast on an international market? Uh, Bisping-Henderson.
The only reason boxing had a good number for that ONE event with Spence was because of the Olympics- everyone in boxing even acknowledges it. PBC is going the way of the dodo soon for a reason- their ratings stink and they failed miserably. Losing hundreds of millions in the process.
D you are clowning as usual, 3 mil for thurman porter just before that fight lol.
D you got numbers showing how many people watched that fight overseas?
Ufc on fox draws a lot of 3 mil views then there is ufc fight night which averages in the small 1 mils and you have to pay for that.
http://www.sportspromedia.com/news/sky_sports_wins_mayweather_pacquiao_fight……10 to 12 million UK for tv rights and people saying international is nothing… weird hahahaha
http://philippineslifestyle.com/blog/2015/03/25/solar-sports-pays-millions-for-television-rights-of-the-fight-of-the-century/…..10 million dollars for one fight….now that shimming is a world champ…arum would cash more big money and is it tax free? Hahaha
Smh, you making my point for me. You’re just talking now.
Anyway, it was a great fight that left a bad taste in people mouths. They have to do a rematch.
Hahaha. 3m for a big boxing matchup on free tv. Wow. Haha. The UFC would have done over 5m for a comparable matchup. Bellator did almost that on cable with a few of their big shows.
Fight Fan, do you have numbers for anything you’ve spouted out? You just fabricated the Klistchko-Fury numbers.
Topps resorting back to May-Pac. Hahaha. Desperation. 10 years from now…Topps…”May-Pac did xyz.” Hahaha.
Also amusing how another championship level boxing match ends in controversy.
Sad too that even with these two big names, the ppv bombed. Rumor is this did under 200k buys.
“the promotion was a debacle, marred by public spats between the promoters, Roc Nation and Main Events, and Ward’s resistance to extend himself to promote the fight. Jay-Z, the head of Roc Nation, was invisible this week, while promoters struggled to connect the best against the best narrative to the mainstream fan base. Officials cringed at the way the fight was trending on Saturday, with the expectation that it will fall well below 200,000 buys.”
Hahaha facts are facts boxing as a global sport has many sources of income. How bout wynn and adelson sponsoring boxing events, casino site fee is also bigger because of the highrollers boxing brings….hahaha
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2011/11/11/sports/pacquiao-packs-an-economic-punch-in-las-vegas.html
Is. This also what.they plan to do with shimming now that he is a champion hahahaha….he will be bringing more.chinese high rollers to las vegas,
Ufc brings fanboys to las vegas….not high rollers hahahaha
Facts are facts, boxing is in an all time gutter. HBO/Showtime budgets slashed, ppv at an all time low- where they can’t even break 200k buys with great matchups, everyone fleeing the US, nothing on the horizon, etc.
Yeah, those site fees are huge for irrelevant fights. Hahaha. High rollers really show up for these 500k dollar gate big events. Hahaha.
Hahaha. Yeah, Shiming is such a star, he made 5k for his last fight. That’s less than half of what TUF finalists make. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Also, nice antiquated article from years ago.
Let me ask a question that I just will never understand about you all….what does arguing and slamming each others favorite sports do for you all individually? Are any of you making money off of boxing or mma? What does it matter if some people like watching one or the other or both?
Off the subject, did anyone watch Bellator? If so, ho was that too? I watched the Ward Kovalev right and didnt see any of the Bellator or UFC cards
D mayweather de la Hoya still tops all UFC’s lol. Ufc has had all this growth but can’t top a 10 year old ppv? Lol
Wil I thought Kov got robbed
Will, you should ask your self this, seeing how you engage in the very behavior you are accusing others of.
FF, no it didn’t, the UFC had more ppv buys, ppv revenue, better ratings, etc than the entire sport of boxing in 2015.
Not to mention of course you have to go back a year and a half to even come up with a straw grasping argument. Boxing is in complete crisis mode while mma is bigger than boxing ever was as it stands right now at least from a business perspective.
Scoreboard d, UFC can’t break boxings top PPV sales.
Also, GSP is likely headed towards bellator, just wait til that happens and MR clean Dana loses the best fighter to ever step in the cage.
The UFC beats boxing every year, you need to actually look at the results.
So if GSP goes to Bellator (which I highly doubt will happen), then Bellator promotes his fights. Doesn’t affect the sport, just the UFC.
@ Fight Fan: If Kovlev VS Ward does not warrant a PPV, what boxing fight does ??
I wrote on the Pacquiao article that I was expecting 300k or less and that’s what it did. I expect this to do 350k.
They can’t top the ppv record sales d
They already did FF, they do every year.
JF, I initially thought Ward-Kovalev would have hit around 300-350k buys, but most insiders are saying this bombed big time.
D what’s the highest ppv ever sold for the ufc?
This fight was for the hardcores so I think it does less than pacquiaos last fight.
Ufc Fanboys making theyre own world hahaha…they compare with boxing, now boxing has lotsof promotion -promoters globally, lots of international sponsors,foreign casino money,more tv viewers globally and it also has ppv, sponsors,events in the u.s….and they say we just compete on ppv buys hahahaha….
Fight Fan, how many times has boxing outdrawn the UFC annually in ppv numbers?
I initially had it for kovalev by one based on the knockdown, but then I watched it again without being emotionally attached and I had it 114-113 for Ward. So that tells me the fight could have been a draw or gone either way. It was an outstanding fight and Im looking forward to a rematch, hopefully it becomes a trilogy
Shows how much they know, like MMA isn’t global either, how many european/asian promotions there are. Tops E, that is the dumbest shit i’ve read on this discussion. Have you ever seen the asian promotions and how much money they bring to their casinos?
I wonder why Freddie Roach is looking for MMA fighters to train, shows why Amir Khan has a stake in an MMA promotion.
You keep bringing up old PPV numbers, Floyd and Oscar are long gone now. Pacman’s last 2 PPV buys were 300k and 400k buys. Canelo is currently boxing’s biggest star and he’s not even bringing in 1/2 of what MMA’s top stars are other than the Cotto fight.
Boxing isn’t dead and I doubt it ever will be, the point is it’s in the trenches and they need some serious promotion to bring it back up.
Lol d u can’t answer the question. Boxing holds the top selling ppv records. Of course ufc is gonna sell more over a year they have one every month lol.
Pretty sure he’s talking about the current situation, there are hardly any huge boxing stars anymore. Boxing numbers are averaging roughly 300k atm which is the same as a small draw ufc event. They need to market it better.
Hahaha. I did answer the question. The UFC has dominated boxing in ppv every year.
The number of events is irrelevant. When boxing promotions decided to raise their number of ppvs to attempt to increase revenue, they made less than when they were doing 4 per year.
By the way, boxing could have 40 ppvs this year and they wouldn’t even do a quarter of what the UFC will this year. HAHAHAHA!!!
D what’s the highest selling ufc event ever in ppv?
Fight Fan, how many times has boxing out gained the UFC in ppvs annually in the past 10 years?
FF, what sport is in the gutter and what sport is at an all time high?
What sport can’t even generate a 300k buy ppv with their top stars?
What sport is on life support in the US/Canada?
lol d is in full meltdown as usual.
fight fan i am a long time boxing fan, but boxing in the u.s in in bad shape, brining up shows that happen over seas is pretty stupid and pointless. why cant you accept that boxing in the u.s
Great fight, amazing to see that talent level mixing it up like that. 2 P4P guys vying for the unified title, it was a display of grit and talent. Looking forward to the rematch since both guys now know what the other brings
Was a good fight, had Kovalev winning but it was close. Hope a rematch happens.
As for the PPV despite being one of the best fights boxing has put together in recent years its probably not gonna do well on PPV.
This is a fight that should do atleast 350k, if they cant hit that then thats not good.
I don’t know why you keep bringing that up, he’s talking currently. It’s unlikely that boxing will crack big numbers anytime soon. Canelo vs khan was supposed to be huge, it had some success but nowhere near what it was expected.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/boxing/frank-warren-hails-british-boxings-9256561 hahaha
Wow tops good catch. Boxing owns Europe along with every continent lol.
I had Kovalev winning by one the first time I watched it, and then had Ward winning the second time. There was just no clear winner, Kovalev owned rounds 1-4, and then Ward shined with an educated jab and underrated bodywork. I would have been fine with either man winning or a draw, thankfully we get a rematch, I hope Kovalev wins so we can have a trilogy. I have a feeling the rematch will be even better since Ward knows the power now.
Wil that’s true, after looking at the fight again I can’t score it for Kov based solely off the first few rounds and the knockdown. One thing is clear though, way too much clinching.
I have to re-watch it, but I had Kovalev winning 7 rounds to 5 (the first 5, the 10th and one other I can’t remember), with one of those being a two point round. And by street-fighting standards (i.e. which guy would you rather be), I would rather be Kovalev.
Watching it in mute mode…i can see ward getting more rounds…first time i had kovalev winning or a draw….also the key was the bodyshots by ward,,you can see the kvlv footwork became slower and his punches missing and his hands were down to protect the body,making ward hit the head more often….but the first few rounds was a scary kovalev– he was faster(than his fight with hopkins) accurate strong jab, combo punching with quick footwork ,predator
Rematch would be interesting
160k PPVs. Not good.