Fight fans have long since been moaning and groaning about the seemingly skyrocketing pay-per-view fees they have to fork out; as one fan put it on a social media post, “Just watch a bit of boxing.” And many people have chosen to illegally stream a big fight instead of paying something as high as $90 in the US and over £25 in the UK. Now, Saudi money man Turki Alalshikh says he has plans to drastically lower PPV fees to prevent illegal streaming and to give fight fans great value for money.
Talking with Talk Sport, Alalshikh says he aims to put on cards that cost “less than £20 in England and less than $20 around the world.”
“You mention the pay-per-view; I think this is my next big fight, and I want your advice also,” Turki said on Talk Sport’s Jordan and White show. “I dream of a pay-per-view with a good price to make the fans happy and subscribe and get them to watch it legally. Usually, when I see a high pay-per-view, a lot of people go and watch the fight illegally, and this is not healthy for boxing and the platform. What I will try to push is to have our Riyadh Season shows at less than £20 in England and less than $20 around the world. I would prefer to have one million fans subscribe and buy the pay-per-view for £20 than less than less than 500,000 [fans paying £40].”
What Alalshikh has to say here will surely be good for boxing fans. Too many high PPV prices will lead to further illegal streaming, and as Turki says, “This will not build boxing.”
How the rival promoters will take to Turki’s plans will be interesting. Imagine, though, getting a big fight with a star headlining, say, Canelo Alvarez, Tank Davis, or Terence Crawford, with the PPV fee being under $20! Is Turki being unrealistic here, or can this happen?
In the meantime, before such changes can come, the September 21 clash between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois will set a UK fight fan back £19.95.
