Matchroom promoter, Eddie Hearn has given his reaction to the reported buys of the recent Chris Eubank Jr vs Liam Smith pay-per-view event.
Eubank was scheduled to fight Conor Benn in October on DAZN PPV under the promotion of Hearn. However, a positive drugs test from Benn meant that the fight was cancelled and Eubank instead had to find an alternate opponent.
The man who stepped up was Liam ‘Beefy Smith’, shocking many by knocking Eubank out in the fourth round. The fight was broadcast on Sky Sports Box Office, promoted by Ben Shalom’s BOXXER.
In an interview with Boxing King Media, Eddie Hearn reacted to Shalom revealing the fight did between 200,000 and 300,000 buys.
Although Sky Sports is a rival broadcaster, the 43-year-old was positive about the estimated figures.
“I heard low two-hundreds [thousand buys], but I think anywhere around that number is good. I think pay-per-view has been difficult for them, because the model has changed, all-of-a-sudden you have got guarantees on pay-per-views, which I don’t think will last, because it is not sustainable. It’s meant that they haven’t made money on pay-per-views, which has been a big change for their business.”
“It is a competitive market, money is out of control, people are going to start feeling a pinch and things will change, you have to ride it out and some people will stick around, some people will go. It’s an interesting time for boxing, but I think that pay-per-view number is pretty solid.”
Like BOXXER and Shalom, Matchroom and Hearn have also had to change their business model since moving from Sky Sports to DAZN – a monthly subscription based offering where regular, high-quality cards are expected.
Another multi-billion-pound loss for the streaming service was recently followed by an increase in the subscription price.