PBC Is ‘Very Close’ To Signing A Deal With Amazon Prime – Says Ariel Helwani
Al Haymon’s PBC is reportedly very close to securing a deal with Amazon Prime to broadcast their boxing fights.
The news arrives after Showtime confirmed it would no longer be broadcasting boxing after the end of this year. Thereafter, PBC was linked with network deals with DAZN and Amazon Prime. The new network is vital in light of PBC’s current stable of fighters, which includes many big names: Canelo Alvarez, David Benavidez and Gervonta Davis, to name a few.
But now, according to Ariel Helwani, a deal with Amazon Prime is ‘very, very close.’ The organization has a massive number of subscribers, totalling 167 million in the United States. It is not exactly clear if this is going to be a long-term relationship, but one thing for sure is that it will be welcomed given the uncertainty surrounding PBC’s stable of fighters. In addition, a deal would provide some serious competition to Top Rank and Matchroom Boxing, who would have otherwise filled the gap in the market. In response, this is what Helwani had to say.
Helwani Reacts
“What I’m hearing right now is PBC is very, very close to a deal with Amazon, and we’ll see what happens there. There will be events if your an Amazon Prime subscriber, just like if your an Amazon Prime subscriber if you want to watch the NFL, you can get those games.
“Then there will be certain fights that will be behind the pay-per-view paywall on Amazon and on traditional pay-per-view platforms, such as PPV dotcom and in Demand, cable, satellite, etc. So that could be the new home now that Showtime deal is done, and you need that home, you need that platform because if you don’t have that platform, it’s going to be hard to book Crawford-Spence, which looks like it’s going to be in March, like Benavidez & Canelo, and a Tank Davis fight,” Helwani stated
Will It Happen?
Nevertheless, there are still some issues that need resolving. If a deal with Amazon Prime cannot be agreed upon, then there is a high chance that the fighters from PBC will leave the network. That would allow DAZN, Top Rank and Queensbury Promotions as some of the promoters to benefit. However, in doing so, it could lead to fights being made a lot easier, given the absence of numerous networks. At the same time, however, the lack of competition may result in the quality of boxing being reduced. But as of now, Haymon has no plans on leaving the sport.
“That could happen [PBC fighters going over to DAZN], but Al Haymon isn’t talking about going out of business, obviously. Premier Boxing Champions were on Showtime. That was their home for several years, but there is talk of Amazon, Netflix, these guys. If they sign one of those big deals, I could see the fighters staying with them, but Bob Arum and Top Rank and ESPN are a very powerful force over there as well,” Gareth. A. Davies stated
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