Eddie Hearn Responds To PBC’s Amazon Prime Video Deal
Eddie Hearn has reacted to PBC’s new deal with Amazon Prime Video.
The news came in response to Showtime’s decision to leave the sport at the end of the year. That left PBC’s massive stable of fighters with an uncertain future as the search for a new network began. DAZN and Amazon Prime were mentioned.
The deal with Amazon was announced, giving PBC access to 167 million subscribers in the US alone. There is an expectation that the first PPV will be next year in spring, with Gervonta Davis being one the names considered to headline it. That has given boxing fans potentially huge fights later down the line while keeping Hearn and Matchroom on his toes. In response, this is what Hearn had to say.
Hearn On PBC’s Deal
“I don’t know the financials. I don’t think it’s a massive rights fee deal, (it seems like a revenue share) which is difficult but also at the same time, good. Glad they got a broadcast, glad that we got another player in the broadcast world of boxing because we need it, they needed it. You know, they got a lot of good fighters that need to be serviced and hopefully it’s a deal that can service their roster,” Hearn said
This naturally begs the question: Will PBC now open up to other networks? PBC has historically made it clear that they like to work in-house, which has required fighters to crossover to the PBC to make the biggest fights happen. Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford were examples of that.
Alvarez’s three-fight deal with the PBC has been done with the hope of securing the David Benavidez fight, which required him to leave DAZN. Meanwhile, Crawford crossed over to make the Errol Spence Jr. fight. But given that Amazon Prime may be more selective over how much they put into boxing, Hearn was unsure if PBC could do the same approach. That would allow more opportunities for promoters to work together.
Working With PBC
“PBC have always wanted to keep everything in house. And probably now they don’t have the deal to do that but maybe the stubbornness will remain. I think everyone should work together. You know, we’ve seen really with the Saudi card when promoters come together, how great you can build a card and how big a night can be. But we’ll see what happens, obviously they’ll want to have their talent with their broadcaster and we want to do the same so it’s difficult to make those fights but hopefully we can make some big fights moving forward,” Hearn
A potential fight involving the PBC could be between Devin Haney and Gervonta Davis. Both boxers have been linked with a fight as Haney described it as the ‘biggest’ in boxing. And with the amount of money on the line, it would no doubt sell. But the differences with promoters would have to be resolved. Can the new deal from PBC allow that? Time will tell.
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