Turki Alalshikh Wants New PPV Prices – ‘Give Fans Good Fights At A Good Price’
Turki Alalshikh has said he will aim to set a new PPV price globally to give fans better value for money.
His comments arrive as there are growing concerns over the rise of illegal streaming. The Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk fight reportedly lost broadcasters over $100 million. This was based on 18 percent of people in the UK illegally streaming it, while the figure was 25 percent in North America. If those figures are accurate, it is hurting the bottom line of the promoters and the fighters who lose out on PPV money.
A large part of that may be due to the cost of the PPV price itself. The Fury-Usyk fight cost $69.99 in the US. The figure was much smaller in the UK at $32. Now, the Saudis have acted. The Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois fight will be priced at £19.95 ($26). Alalshikh confirmed that the prices of UK PPVs would not be higher than this while also stating he hopes to do the same price globally.
New PPV Price
“I dream of a PPV with a good price to make the fans happy and subscribe and get them to watch it legally. Usually when I see a high PPV, 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 PPV for £20 than less than 500,000 [for £40]. The people go around it illegally because the price is high. In the future, this will not build boxing. If I give the fans good fights at a good price then I will increase the fanbase,” Saudis
But to do that, the Saudis may change the scene of boxing forever. Reports indicate that they wanted to create a Saudi boxing league. This would be an alternative to the four traditional governing bodies in charge: WBO, WBC, IBF, and WBA. The different rules and increasing number of belts have hindered the biggest fights from being made.
Saudis Aim
There were suggestions that the PIF (Public Investment Fund) wanted to buy a small stake in Matchroom Boxing and Golden Boy Promotions worth around a $4-5 billion deal. Nothing indicates this has happened, but the Saudis work with Matchroom and Queensbury Promotions. They are also working with Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank as they expand Riyadh Season into the US. Alalshikh suggested that there were big things on the horizon.
“We have a plan for the future to have something like a league. We don’t discuss about the belts until now. But in my opinion around 68 world champions is a crazy number,” Saudis
While those are big aims, the increasing centralization of the sport needs to be balanced with what fans want. That is the ultimate test going forward to ensure the sport remains accessible to everyone.
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