The industry's views on boxing videos and stream ?

[whiskey]

ALL boxing sites have embedded videos and clips from fights, either classic fights from the 70's or shows from last weekend.

The portal player and content are provided by other website(s) - not the boxing site itself, they dont actually have the content on their servers whatsoever.

People nowadays say that you can get done by 'inducing' someone to view copywrited material. (In the U.S. anyway...)

But that's rubbish if you ask any legal eagle.

Because you could type 'Carl Froch video' into Google and it will provide many links, then you click on a site and it may have a youtube video = so who is inducing? google, the boxing site or youtube ? you could say the site provides only one single link wheras Google is providing HUNDREDS, yet youtube has the actual material !

It's like typing Captain America into google image search - you'll get hundreds of images of him, but he is a copyrighted image owned by Marvel comics. Are google breaking the law ?

Laws are different in many different countries. Some countries dont recognise boundary's or copyright material online. So if your site IS hosting videos and is located in that country, then technically you free to do whatever you want.

The United Kingdom has not enacted censorship legislation specific to the Internet and appears to have no intention of so doing.

http://www.efa.org.au/Issues/Censor/cens3.html#uk

So all that happens in the uk are threatening letters are sent by TV companies, that get deleted by the recipient knowing that f*ck all can be done by them.

With regards the sport of boxing, if these clowns who currently put together the shows got their act together and allowed boxing fans in other countries view the fights, say on their PC for a small fee, then pirate material or illegal streams would not be as popular. People dont want to break the law, but they think 'sod it' if there is no other way of watching the fight than online and I dont blame them.

And boxing promoter's who whine and moan about boxing videos being online, are putting on an act. Most fighter's today are only popular in other countries due to their video clips spreading virally online. James Kirkland for example has never been on a British TV screen yet thousands of Brit boxing fans have seen his videos online and are now a fan - is Kirkland's promoter pissed about this? sure he aint !

Also a lot of promoter's get their fighter's a DVD of their opponents fights... so they can study their style. Now unless it's Amir Khan and you've gone and bought their off-the-shelf DVD, most of these tapes / dvd's come from download sites because 99% of fighters dont have an offical DVD available. So would a promoter be angry that their fights are online and get them pulled? if they one one hand get pirate DVDs for their fighters, yet have their online videos pulled from youtube, then they are hypocrites.

I suppose if it was PPV and the fight was still being charged for on TV, then quite rightly as revenue is being lost / stolen. But if the fight is over and the result is know to the world - under the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech and the press, then is it really a big issue ?

Some promoters are always snotty about their fights online, yet others like the fact that other's can see the result / action in other countries that had no other means of watching it.

I think it was refreshing that Hatton.tv showed the Matthew Hatton vs Ted Bami fight for free last night. It gets their fighters shown to thousands of viewers and increases their profile. Plus longterm you'd attract sponsors.

RTE showing the Dunne fight was also an excellent idea.

Thoughts ?

Is the internet keeping boxing alive? or leeching from it ?

Personally if these uploaders didnt do their thing, i'd be stuck with sky, setanta and ITV forever and they miss a lot of the fights.

[WOODDDDDDDYA]

Great post, promotors would be mad to take youtube videos down because Boxing doesn't get enough publicity as it is. allegedly is the only guy that releases boxing dvds over here but not many promotors do so why not upload fights, boxing needs to attract fans.

[Asterix]

RTE completely kick butt by providing such a good stream. And it just raises their profile. RTE.

[xxgrice666xx]

Khan The Champion – The Official DVD released March 30th 2009




Khan The Champion

After silencing his critics with a unanimous points victory over Marco Antonio Barrera on Saturday, Amir Khan releases his official DVD, Khan The Champion, on March 30th 2009. Khan The Champion takes us inside the ring with one of Britain’s biggest boxing talents and is an official account of the young boxer’s hugely successful career, as told by the star himself. Featuring some of his biggest fights - from his outstanding Commonwealth Lightweight victory to his recent sensational win over Barrera - Khan The Champion is a must-have for all boxing fans.

At just 22 years old Amir Khan was a Silver medal winner in the 2004 Athens Olympics, is the current Commonwealth Lightweight Champion and is now ranked 7th in the world by WBO.
Featuring fight action from his best fights to date including Khan Vs Earl and Khan Vs Michael Gomez - Khan The Champion is the boxers’ personal account of each of the matches that have kept him at the forefront of British boxing.
The DVD charts Khan’s epic journey from his amazing Commonwealth comeback against Willie Lamond to one of his most difficult fights to date against Graham Earl.
With exclusive footage and personal comment from his emphatic victory over the Number 1 lightweight Barrera at the MEN Arena, Khan The Champion is an insight into the boxer’s personal feelings and thoughts on his career as a professional fighter.
Khan The Champion is THE ultimate account of one of Britain’s most revered stars.

[dbf]

I have never understood why HBO don't make a yearly compliation DVD of its best fights, I would pay £50+ for that, esp if they could put as many full fights as possible.

Promotors need to wise up to the internet and allow footage of past fights to increase the fansbase.

Props to Woooodya, your channels on youtube are superb.

[whiskey]

Yes Woodya you do the biz, especially on terrestial news clips like Central etc.

It's amazing but the entire online community only has about 10 people worldwide doing it.

I owe circleinsideabox about 10 crates of beer (whoever the hell he is!)

[metropol]

Great post, promotors would be mad to take youtube videos down because Boxing doesn't get enough publicity as it is. allegedly allegedly is the only guy that releases boxing dvds over here but not many promotors do so why not upload fights, boxing needs to attract fans.

Your stuff on youtube is great , what a channel bestofbritish is, welldone

[ERIC GUY]

I might start doing some great fight DVDS in the next few months, stuff that was not seen on tv,

[WOODDDDDDDYA]

Thanks guys, I found it worrying to hear that Roy Jones Jr has got a UK company trying to track down people who illegally watched his PPV stream last week. Hopefully HBO, Showtime & Warren won't follow him and do the same.

[DG.]

Thanks guys, I found it worrying to hear that Roy Jones Jr has got a UK company trying to track down people who illegally watched his PPV stream last week. Hopefully HBO, Showtime & Warren won't follow him and do the same.

He is just talking, he cannot do jack about it.


Fwank Warren has tried but as soon as he shuts the site down it pops up somewhere else.

[Spud]

Gomez,

At the moment I see no problem - but - one is just around the corner!!!

The time is coming ever closer when promoters will start to use the internet to showcase their fighters in live fights - when that happens they will have already sought advice from lawyers with regards exclusivity - when that happens slowly but surely the law will clamp down on those sites who involve themselves in an illegal streaming or advertising the sites who go against the law.

The Internet is the way forward for boxing - shortly when TV revenue starts to dry up - watch the promoters latch onto things.

Those who think the purse strings at Sky or Setanta will not tigthen rapidly are seriously deluded!!!

[stujones]

I found the hatton stream terrible at the weekend.

[scottmallon]

With regards to streams - it takes huge bandwidth and thus is costly. Unless the bout is huge and people are willing to pay $10-$15 a pop, then what you'll get is a shitty stream or none at all. Personally I think it's the wave of the future, but right now, it's too costly for most. I've looked into it for a few promoters and it is almost never profitable.

Trading is one thing, out and out selling is another. It's no different than downloading music. Here in Thailand I'm fortunate because PPV is free. It once was completely free, now it's only free to gold and platinum cable subscribers. For the rest it's around $4-$5 U.S.

[Twinkle Toes]

Streaming is the way to go eventually, but I can't see it taking off over here until it's done via a set top box that has mass commercial appeal.

[Spud]

There are a number of boxing promoters really making moves into this area - have to say though Robert Waterman formally at Fight Academy has been banging on about the internet and boxing for a good 10 years now - alas his thoughts will not come true until TV really starts pulling the plug something that I hope does not happen!!!

There is bad news to come in 2009 - I know its boring but the credit crunch is biting - TV is hurting just as much - The internet is definitely going to be the place to be.

[whiskey]

I was sat in a curry house in 2007 when I got chatting to some middle-aged tarts on another table who had champagne with their Bhuna.

Turned out one of them had turned 50 that night and they all explained what they did for a living. Basically some of them owned a beauty parlor, another owned a hairdressers - and the birthday girl actually owned and run a Sky TV television channel with her husband.

It was something like price-drop tv or bid-tv or something or other where they sell junk earrings for £1.50 etc or a new paddling pool for the kids for a fiver.

I cant for the life of me remember what the Sky channel cost to use, but i remember thinking it was not as much as you'd actually think.

Nuts TV came out of nowhere and started broadcasting fights. Some of them where live, just like Povetkin vs Taurus.

If someone has a few shilling then they could easily have a station that maybe just began at 5pm and had a Boxing / MMA rota of classic fights, mixed in with like a Channel M seconds out weekly show and then maybe some decent fodder from the UK and around the globe on a weekend.

[DG.]

I was sat in a curry house in 2007 when I got chatting to some middle-aged tarts on another table who had champagne with their Bhuna.

Turned out one of them had turned 50 that night and they all explained what they did for a living. Basically some of them owned a beauty parlor, another owned a hairdressers - and the birthday girl actually owned and run a Sky TV television channel with her husband.

It was something like price-drop tv or bid-tv or something or other where they sell junk earrings for £1.50 etc or a new paddling pool for the kids for a fiver.

I cant for the life of me remember what the Sky channel cost to use, but i remember thinking it was not as much as you'd actually think.

Nuts TV came out of nowhere and started broadcasting fights. Some of them where live, just like Povetkin vs Taurus.

If someone has a few shilling then they could easily have a station that maybe just began at 5pm and had a Boxing / MMA rota of classic fights, mixed in with like a Channel M seconds out weekly show and then maybe some decent fodder from the UK and around the globe on a weekend.

Shall we get our own station?


DGBoxing.... For that reason.....i'm in!

[ERIC GUY]

I have just started putting up shows on youtube, its obviously the way ahead,