Disastrous for British boxing and another knife in the back of boxing fans.
Setanta went belly up despite having Prem football to attract subscribers so quite how this Setanta-lite channel, looking to charge as much as Setanta did but providing a much narrower output can conceive of being profitable is beyond me.
I consider myself a so-called hardcore boxing fan - I watch all shows broadcast on Sky, I buy 90% of PPVs, I download and watch all the big (and some small) fights from the US that are not broadcast over here, I go to 2-3 shows a year, I subscribe to Boxing News and buy every issue of Boxing Monthly, I have a library of 2000 old fights and perhaps 25 boxing focused books. I am a boxing fan. But I don't subscribe to Sky purely for the boxing - I also watch football, cricket, rugby, snooker, darts, golf, etc. The removal of boxing from Sky will not lead me to cancel my Sky subscription as I get value elsewhere. I will not, however, add to the cost of my subscription by paying out for a channel on which there is no guarantee of quality. Consider what £90 (£10 per month for 9 months) would have bought you from January this year:
Larry Olubamiwo v John McDermott and Frankie Gavin v Steve Lomax
Ricky Burns v Joseph Laryea with James DeGale on the u/c
John Murray v Karim el Ouazghari with BJ Saunders on the u/c
James Degale v George Groves with Cleverly, Gavin and Saunders on the u/c
John Murray v Kevin Mitchell, Burns v Cook, Bellew v McKenzie and Gavin v Woodhouse
Stephen Smith v Lee Selby with Paul Smith on the u/c
Effectively you end up paying £15 for each of Warrens big shows. Chucking in some overseas content is misleading as none of the fights mentioned would be big sellers in their own right, so they are being used to say to the paying punters "Hey look for just £10 a month you get this, this and this" when most people would have been happy to not pay £10 and only get the UK content. How many people in this country really give a damn about Marco Huck or Chad Dawson? It'll be barely in 4 figures.
Some of the media reports say that Warren will honour his existing contract to Sky - How is that going to be possible given that he has publicly declared that all of his name fighters will be on allegedly in the coming months? What does that leave for the Sky contract? Surely there is some kind of exclusivity deal in the Sky contract that would prevent Warren from taking his fighters elsewhere while still under contract to Sky?
Hardcore boxing fans are fairly vocal, but I simply don't believe that they are numerous enough to make this venture a financial success. Without the required revenue streams, Warren fighters will end up fighting fewer times a year and will take on fewer risks in title contests against non-Warren fighters. Mitchell v Murray was good first time round, but Mitchell v Murray 4 with Degale v Groves 3 on the undercard is none too appetising a prospect.
Finally, what about the HD? Sky Sports presentations have a number of critics, but the technical quality of their broadcasts is unquestionable. Boxing presented from a cardboard studio with an agitated Buncey in fuzzy SD is not an enticing prospect.
earsjohn wrote:
Surely there is some kind of exclusivity deal in the Sky contract that would prevent Warren from taking his fighters elsewhere while still under contract to Sky?
Good point, however ....... which FW controlled legal entity has the contract with Sky, and is this the same legal entity that has the contracts with boxers ?
Sky might find that they have a contract with a company that no longer has any boxers as they have all signed for another (FW controlled) legal entity.
FW has form on this kind of thing - just ask Joe Calzaghe ........
earsjohn wrote:
Surely there is some kind of exclusivity deal in the Sky contract that would prevent Warren from taking his fighters elsewhere while still under contract to Sky?
Good point, however ....... which FW controlled legal entity has the contract with Sky, and is this the same legal entity that has the contracts with boxers ?
Sky might find that they have a contract with a company that no longer has any boxers as they have all signed for another (FW controlled) legal entity.
FW has form on this kind of thing - just ask Joe Calzaghe ........
I dont actually think Sky are bothered by letting him go. If they interestd in boxing they show other promotors instead.
