Is boxing overpriced?

[johnreilly]

I fancied the Stuey Hall fight at Leeds Arena just before Christmas but looking at the prices my eyes are watering!

Agreed. I want to support a local boxer who's on the bill, but forking out £40 every time he fights is difficult to justify to myself. A local gym is putting on an amateur show in December, £10 for a ticket, more fights and a great crowd. You don't have to go to the big professional events to enjoy a night of boxing.

[Spud]

Oh Columbo please. Tell you what let's meet up at the next show you attend and we can have a chat face to face. Don't mean that in a nasty way I mean it.

Did you get my PM?

Dont do it mate!!! - Parson Cross is a ****

[expe]

Earsjohn,
How much do you think it costs to stage a show such as the one at Copperbox ?
Start with 18 purses.

Parson, what if the fighters on that show aren't getting paid ?

And if the show is costed accordingly when big names / solid match ups are the show's attraction, and the paying fans end up with a wbo europe fight instead, I don't see the promoter reducing the tickets along the way.

I agree with the opening poster, about ticket prices. I also appreciate its a business. The comparison with football is that if you buy a ticket to see Man United vs Arsenal, that's what you get on the day, you don't get Man United vs Acrrington Stanley, or Accrington Stanley vs Ossett Town.

This promoter launched this Copperbox show with talk of Billie Joe Saunders and Derek Chisora in meaningful fights. What we've got is a load of rubbish.

I have no problem with any promoter costing a show, adding in his overheads and profit, and charging accordingly, and if that means fifty quid for a cheap seat, so be it - as a consumer i make a decision and either the wallet comes out or it doesn't.

The issue with this promoter is he promises lamb and delivers mutton these days.

People also buy tickets expecting certain players to be playing, doesn't mean they will be for various reasons.

[expe]

Thought tickets for the Stuart Hall fight started at £30, you won't find many world title fights in this country cheaper than that, plus a full undercard.

[mickey1975]

I fancied the Stuey Hall fight at Leeds Arena just before Christmas but looking at the prices my eyes are watering!

Agreed. I want to support a local boxer who's on the bill, but forking out £40 every time he fights is difficult to justify to myself. A local gym is putting on an amateur show in December, £10 for a ticket, more fights and a great crowd. You don't have to go to the big professional events to enjoy a night of boxing.

Harehills Labour Club, 18th?

[Spud]

In answer to the thread - no!!!

Most thick ****s pay to get into boxing and miss the entire undercard by getting p*ssed in the bar

[The_Don1]

Thought tickets for the Stuart Hall fight started at £30, you won't find many world title fights in this country cheaper than that, plus a full undercard.

it's a 'world title' fight, but is it a world level fight really? The FD arena holds around 13,000 and never staged boxing before, I'm not even convinced it's suited for boxing with it being a theatre style arena they should be cutting the price on tickets, doing deals for boxing clubs in the area etc to make sure it's packed out, otherwise it'll be an embarrassment for everyone concerned.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Here's a little game for you all.

Design your own card with realistic headline fight and decent undercard (nothing stupid).

Work out how much each boxer should be paid and bare in mind that away fighters don't tend to bring any revenue into the show.

Have a guess at how many tickets would be sold for said show and add up total.

Then remove the purses you'd already worked out, cost of venue hire, promotional materials, board tax, doctors and paramedics etc.

What have you left?

If you can do this and make it profitable without TV money and sponsorship then you're either a genius and found your true calling or, more realistically, you don't understand the economics of boxing and your calculations are flawed.

If you imaginary show comes in at a loss, then you've got a better understanding of the reality of what promoters face.

Precisely - boxing promotion is an extremely risky business, which is why many boxing promoters are people who were already financially secure and successful before they began from other avenues of business.

The risks are enormous, and often the rewards nowhere near as much so. Also, the amount promoters spend bankrolling a future star in the making, with no guarantee of return, can be huge, all it takes is a couple of high profile losses, or the loss of a TV deal, and the fighters defecting, and they face ruin.

It takes balls of steel to be a boxing promoter, it's one hell of a tricky business to be in, and very few make a good living from it, many break even, and just as many make a loss overall.

Without TV money, these days, promoters would do very well to make any kind of living from boxing promotion. They will never be able to keep hold of any of their good fighters, or attract any headline names.

Live gates for all but a few big name fighters are going to be pretty negligible, and lots of tickets get given away of sold off cheap to keep the arena full.

[RonnieTheSharkClark]

Promoting a show how many families actually go? £30 for adults seems perfect £15 for under 16's and if its promoted properly and the fights were more competitive then i bet a lot of shows would sell out ;)
If you wanted to give the fighters ticket commission add £5 onto each ticket... Make sure u have sponsorship and VIP in place and make them feel important and all will work out!!! ;)

[jamesmcdonnell]

Promoting a show how many families actually go? £30 for adults seems perfect £15 for under 16's and if its promoted properly and the fights were more competitive then i bet a lot of shows would sell out ;)
If you wanted to give the fighters ticket commission add £5 onto each ticket... Make sure u have sponsorship and VIP in place and make them feel important and all will work out!!! ;)

I just don't think boxing as an event is mainstream or genteel enough for most families, it would scare the beejeezus out of most people with no prior knowledge of boxing or a connection with it, many small hall shows are full of coked up drunken lairy geezers, hardly family friendly. Even as someone used to the crowd at boxing matches, I've often found it fairly nerve wracking, having to avoid contact with the coked up nutter brigade. At Hatton v Pendleton, It was like walking through dodge city, loads of football louts with big scars eyeing eachother - on the way out, there were people just brawling in the streets all over the place. And that was a mainstream fight!

Selling boxing as a 'family day out' just ain't going to happen, not unless security was much tighter, and the venues more pleasant. The 02 is a nice venue for that sort of thing, but conversely, the atmosphere is a little bit dead for a fight - never really catches fire there.

[mickey1975]

Promoting a show how many families actually go? £30 for adults seems perfect £15 for under 16's and if its promoted properly and the fights were more competitive then i bet a lot of shows would sell out ;)
If you wanted to give the fighters ticket commission add £5 onto each ticket... Make sure u have sponsorship and VIP in place and make them feel important and all will work out!!! ;)

I just don't think boxing as an event is mainstream or genteel enough for most families, it would scare the beejeezus out of most people with no prior knowledge of boxing or a connection with it, many small hall shows are full of coked up drunken lairy geezers, hardly family friendly. Even as someone used to the crowd at boxing matches, I've often found it fairly nerve wracking, having to avoid contact with the coked up nutter brigade. At Hatton v Pendleton, It was like walking through dodge city, loads of football louts with big scars eyeing eachother - on the way out, there were people just brawling in the streets all over the place. And that was a mainstream fight!

Selling boxing as a 'family day out' just ain't going to happen, not unless security was much tighter, and the venues more pleasant. The 02 is a nice venue for that sort of thing, but conversely, the atmosphere is a little bit dead for a fight - never really catches fire there.

The M.E.N is evil! I have seen some right brawls there, outside the ring... Froch-Groves was pretty quiet but there was still a big one amongst the floor seats during the main event. Had to step over a knocked out guy in the bar area too.

[Lightsoot]

Two of the biggest misconceptions in boxing:

1. Promoters don't make money (maybe they make little but how can they continue to put on shows for no return and supplement a zero return model?)

2. That Boxrec forum posters regularly attend shows, if indeed any at all.

Neither of the above points are meant to be critical, so I'd agree with the original poster that shows laden with mismatches priced at £30-£40 are poor value for money in this economic climate or any other. Watching boxing is such an expensive do.

[mickey1975]

I attend about 40 a year, am, pro, unlicensed. Done all three last month in a two week period.

[lefty]

Promoting a show how many families actually go? £30 for adults seems perfect £15 for under 16's and if its promoted properly and the fights were more competitive then i bet a lot of shows would sell out ;)
If you wanted to give the fighters ticket commission add £5 onto each ticket... Make sure u have sponsorship and VIP in place and make them feel important and all will work out!!! ;)

I just don't think boxing as an event is mainstream or genteel enough for most families, it would scare the beejeezus out of most people with no prior knowledge of boxing or a connection with it, many small hall shows are full of coked up drunken lairy geezers, hardly family friendly. Even as someone used to the crowd at boxing matches, I've often found it fairly nerve wracking, having to avoid contact with the coked up nutter brigade. At Hatton v Pendleton, It was like walking through dodge city, loads of football louts with big scars eyeing eachother - on the way out, there were people just brawling in the streets all over the place. And that was a mainstream fight!

Selling boxing as a 'family day out' just ain't going to happen, not unless security was much tighter, and the venues more pleasant. The 02 is a nice venue for that sort of thing, but conversely, the atmosphere is a little bit dead for a fight - never really catches fire there.

The M.E.N is evil! I have seen some right brawls there, outside the ring... Froch-Groves was pretty quiet but there was still a big one amongst the floor seats during the main event. Had to step over a knocked out guy in the bar area too.

Not sure if you've watched the fight back or not mate but if so is that why you could see people turning around during the fight?

[mickey1975]

It will be. It was mid fight. Quite a big brawl by anyone else's standards, not The M.E.N's, though!

[expe]

Thought tickets for the Stuart Hall fight started at £30, you won't find many world title fights in this country cheaper than that, plus a full undercard.

it's a 'world title' fight, but is it a world level fight really? The FD arena holds around 13,000 and never staged boxing before, I'm not even convinced it's suited for boxing with it being a theatre style arena they should be cutting the price on tickets, doing deals for boxing clubs in the area etc to make sure it's packed out, otherwise it'll be an embarrassment for everyone concerned.

The top tiers closed off(3,500 seats), so £30 for a lower bowl seat is reasonable to me. It won't sell out and they know that already, it's just that there's no other venues of a suitable size available in Yorkshire. I'd expect to see around 4,000 in the arena all going well.

[Spud]

Here's a little game for you all.

Design your own card with realistic headline fight and decent undercard (nothing stupid).

Work out how much each boxer should be paid and bare in mind that away fighters don't tend to bring any revenue into the show.

Have a guess at how many tickets would be sold for said show and add up total.

Then remove the purses you'd already worked out, cost of venue hire, promotional materials, board tax, doctors and paramedics etc.

What have you left?

If you can do this and make it profitable without TV money and sponsorship then you're either a genius and found your true calling or, more realistically, you don't understand the economics of boxing and your calculations are flawed.

If you imaginary show comes in at a loss, then you've got a better understanding of the reality of what promoters face.

Precisely - boxing promotion is an extremely risky business, which is why many boxing promoters are people who were already financially secure and successful before they began from other avenues of business.

The risks are enormous, and often the rewards nowhere near as much so. Also, the amount promoters spend bankrolling a future star in the making, with no guarantee of return, can be huge, all it takes is a couple of high profile losses, or the loss of a TV deal, and the fighters defecting, and they face ruin.

It takes balls of steel to be a boxing promoter, it's one hell of a tricky business to be in, and very few make a good living from it, many break even, and just as many make a loss overall.

Without TV money, these days, promoters would do very well to make any kind of living from boxing promotion. They will never be able to keep hold of any of their good fighters, or attract any headline names.

Live gates for all but a few big name fighters are going to be pretty negligible, and lots of tickets get given away of sold off cheap to keep the arena full.

I will not stop slagging promoters when I see an opening ... but ....

For 14 years now I have had a great insight into how a promotion is put on and the costs!! ... I have been stunned into silence on a number of occasions!!

[mickey1975]

Thought tickets for the Stuart Hall fight started at £30, you won't find many world title fights in this country cheaper than that, plus a full undercard.

it's a 'world title' fight, but is it a world level fight really? The FD arena holds around 13,000 and never staged boxing before, I'm not even convinced it's suited for boxing with it being a theatre style arena they should be cutting the price on tickets, doing deals for boxing clubs in the area etc to make sure it's packed out, otherwise it'll be an embarrassment for everyone concerned.

The top tiers closed off(3,500 seats), so £30 for a lower bowl seat is reasonable to me. It won't sell out and they know that already, it's just that there's no other venues of a suitable size available in Yorkshire. I'd expect to see around 4,000 in the arena all going well.

Why does it have to be Yorkshire? Hall is from County Durham.

[pyenest77]

That Boxrec forum posters regularly attend shows, if indeed any at all.

I do about 12 shows a year. I have been to shows that range from brilliant to abolute dogshit so now I pick & choose accordingly.

[pyenest77]

The top tiers closed off(3,500 seats), so £30 for a lower bowl seat is reasonable to me. It won't sell out and they know that already, it's just that there's no other venues of a suitable size available in Yorkshire. I'd expect to see around 4,000 in the arena all going well.[/quote]

I didnt know part of the arena was closed off so that puts it in a slightly different perspective. Still not sure that the venue would work for boxing.

[stevedoc]

i think boxing is better value than most entertainment , £40 to see 8 odd fights isn't bad ,i'm off to see palace vs cardiff next week it's cost £45 each and it's a crap game and i'll be freezing , but if i wanted to see palace vs arsenal it would be £80 a ticket , i took my niece to see shriek a few weeks ago £80 each it was.

[bripez]

I will not stop slagging promoters when I see an opening ... but ....

For 14 years now I have had a great insight into how a promotion is put on and the costs!! ... I have been stunned into silence on a number of occasions!!

If it isn't financially rewarding then why do they do it ?

I am sure that FW could do something else and Eddie could get a bit part of TOWIE or something.

In my opinion the cost of the tickets is too high (I don't give a shite about the costs, that is not my problem).

Not only that, as others have said it is not the kind of event that you take your bird or kids or other relatives and have a nice night out - you are therefore eliminating over 50% of the population before you start.

[stevedoc]

I will not stop slagging promoters when I see an opening ... but ....

For 14 years now I have had a great insight into how a promotion is put on and the costs!! ... I have been stunned into silence on a number of occasions!!

If it isn't financially rewarding then why do they do it ?

I am sure that FW could do something else and Eddie could get a bit part of TOWIE or something.

In my opinion the cost of the tickets is too high (I don't give a shite about the costs, that is not my problem).

Not only that, as others have said it is not the kind of event that you take your bird or kids or other relatives and have a nice night out - you are therefore eliminating over 50% of the population before you start.

i don't want lots of kids or women at a boxing show i can go and to the panto if i want that . boxing is a male sport just as netball is a mainly femail sport there's nothing wrong with that .