“10 To 20 Million People” Reportedly Streamed Wilder-Fury 2 Illegally

[Ruthless-RKO]

By: Sean Crose

Sports Illustrated is reporting that a whopping 10 to 20 million – that’s million – people illegally streamed last month’s Tyson Fury – Deontay Wilder heavyweight title rematch. The fight, which followed a classic 2018 bout between the two men, was expected to break at least a million pay per view buys. Instead, Fury’s destructive beat down of Wilder brought in one to two hundred thousand less purchases than was expected. Eight to eight hundred fifty thousand buys is nothing to scoff at – but it’s not what most had expected – or wanted – from such a high profile match.

The publication reports “’Extraordinarily high theft”’ of the heavyweight title rematch between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury on February 22nd resulted in a depressed PPV sales total.” While some suspected that the disappointing Pay Per View results were yet another indication of boxing not being able to effectively promote itself, the Sports Illustrated piece suggests that the data presented indicates otherwise. The article goes on:
“VFT Solutions’ Wayne Lonstein (a source who admittedly would benefit from talk of rampant piracy) said that his company tracked between ten million and twenty million ‘live views of the fight on major social media platforms’ and another ten million views in the immediate aftermath of Fury’s victory.”

No small number.

What’s more, Wilder-Fury 2 was a hybrid fight, a rarity in contemporary boxing’s dysfunctional landscape. Wilder is advised by the enigmatic Al Haymon – and England’s Fury is represented by Bob Arum and allegedly. What made the battle all the more unique was that ESPN – which is allied with Arum – and Fox – which is allied with Haymon – agreed to air the card as a co-promotion between the two network giants. Clearly neither broadcast entity is happy with this latest bit of news.

Sports Illustrated also highlights Eleven Sport’s Frank Golding indicating illegal streams have to do with more than just simple theft – that the quality of the product may not equal the cost. While this certainly may be true at times, it’s hard to argue that anyone who actually purchased Fury’s brutal seventh round victory didn’t feel they got their money’s worth. On the other hand, Pay Per View boxing isn’t cheap, at least not in comparison to the Pay Per View costs of UFC cards.

[cormack]

so if the numptys charged a very small fee would fans prefer to do it legally ?

like a £ 5 er or less ?

[srvihs]

It was $80 to watch on a crappy app, and $85 to watch on a decent app. I am glad people stole it, because $80 in this day in age when I have to pay $60 a month for internet, or $60 for cable to get the thing to begin with you are talking about $140 just to watch the thing. Stupid decision for the powers that be. Could have gotten 10 million on ESPN or Fox if they wanted to sell ads instead.

[Ruthless-RKO]

so if the numptys charged a very small fee would fans prefer to do it legally ?

like a £ 5 er or less ?

By putting on a high price, they know a lot of people are not gonna buy it. They're just trying to maximise profits.

Even 50 is better than 75

[Stuarty]

It's too expensive for a lot of folk and i don't blame folk for streaming if they can get away with it.

[gilgamesh]

I would've streamed it illegally if I'd had a reliable way to do so. This fight was big enough I didn't want to risk missing it so I went ahead, and paid the 80 for it.

First PPV I'd ordered in years.

[gilgamesh]

It's too expensive for a lot of folk and i don't blame folk for streaming if they can get away with it.

I wouldn't even blame you for streaming it if you're a Millionaire to be honest with you. Just on principle something you're watching on TV should never cost more than 20 dollars.

[Stuarty]

It's too expensive for a lot of folk and i don't blame folk for streaming if they can get away with it.

I wouldn't even blame you for streaming it if you're a Millionaire to be honest with you. Just on principle something you're watching on TV should never cost more than 20 dollars.

Deffo mate. I used to buy them all but it takes a right good card to get me to part with money nowadays. It's beyond a fuckin joke the shite they put on PPV. Fuckin Chisora who's had 9 defeats and Whyte are bloody PPV stars nowadays!

[rd350lc]

so if the numptys charged a very small fee would fans prefer to do it legally ?

like a £ 5 er or less ?

Not rocket science is it mate ?
I think even a tenner would be acceptable .
Hope it carries on in this vane until people stop being ripped off .

[gilgamesh]

I wouldn't even blame you for streaming it if you're a Millionaire to be honest with you. Just on principle something you're watching on TV should never cost more than 20 dollars.

Deffo mate. I used to buy them all but it takes a right good card to get me to part with money nowadays. It's beyond a fuckin joke the shite they put on PPV. Fuckin Chisora who's had 9 defeats and Whyte are bloody PPV stars nowadays!

Not in my house they ain't. I wouldn't pay 10 dollars to watch a Whyte or Chisora fight. If they fight on TV I'll watch 'em all day, if it costs me money. I'll read about it or find it if I can.

[gilgamesh]

so if the numptys charged a very small fee would fans prefer to do it legally ?

like a £ 5 er or less ?

Not rocket science is it mate ?
I think even a tenner would be acceptable .
Hope it carries on in this vein until people stop being ripped off .

If PPV's were 10 dollars or less, I'd have no issue ordering almost every PPV fight legally. Keep 'em to less than 3 a month, and I'm golden.

[Stuarty]

Deffo mate. I used to buy them all but it takes a right good card to get me to part with money nowadays. It's beyond a fuckin joke the shite they put on PPV. Fuckin Chisora who's had 9 defeats and Whyte are bloody PPV stars nowadays!

Not in my house they ain't. I wouldn't pay 10 dollars to watch a Whyte or Chisora fight. If they fight on TV I'll watch 'em all day, if it costs me money. I'll read about it or find it if I can.

They have Whyte v Old man Pov on PPV here

Chisora v Usyk will be the same! Piss take! Then you have AJ fights and anything else decent they can throw on PPV and regular Sky cards are fuckin dreadful! The one this weekend is ok but that's it.

[KiwiRider]

I doubt data that begins with "between 10-20 million"
That's too big a margin for me to even contemplate any accuracy.

[Lenny Cravats]

I thought it was quite difficult to buy.

If I can't do it by pressing a button on the Sky remote, then I won't bother.

[SAPFO]

Deffo mate. I used to buy them all but it takes a right good card to get me to part with money nowadays. It's beyond a fuckin joke the shite they put on PPV. Fuckin Chisora who's had 9 defeats and Whyte are bloody PPV stars nowadays!

Not in my house they ain't. I wouldn't pay 10 dollars to watch a Whyte or Chisora fight. If they fight on TV I'll watch 'em all day, if it costs me money. I'll read about it or find it if I can.

Do you have a firestick?

[MasterG]

I watched the fight he following morning on youtube. I was quite surprised it was on youtube in full so quickly.

[oogiebe]

Five of us split the 80.00 cost so it was worth the money for me. I'd like to know how anyone would actually know how many 'illegal' streams there were.

[Boxerbeetle]

I watched the fight he following morning on youtube. I was quite surprised it was on youtube in full so quickly.

Same. I set my alarm and listened to it live on the radio, then I checked YouTube a few hours later when I got up and full fight was on there in HD so I watched it all straightaway. Saved myself 25 quid and don’t consider that I missed out at all, happy days.

[Controversial]

If Netflix put their prices up to £15 a month I'd cancel and so would most people, give it a sensible price and more people will buy. Same for PPV fights, I begrudge paying just a fiver more so I didn't bother out of principle. I listened to it on the radio as did a few people I know.

They should trial an early buyer for PPV, book it early and get it for £9.99, leave it to the last week or so and pay full whack, I bet they would get much higher figures.

[Ruthless-RKO]

They should trial an early buyer for PPV, book it early and get it for £9.99, leave it to the last week or so and pay full whack, I bet they would get much higher figures.

See this is what they should trial at least.

Dubois vs. Joyce would be the perfect event to start with.

[Delta Jay]

I doubt data that begins with "between 10-20 million"
That's too big a margin for me to even contemplate any accuracy.

Exactly. This man is essentially an online security salesman. Not being sure about 10 MILLION people is daft, it sounds worse when you call it a 50% margin of error.

850,000 is actually really good going. 20,850,000 would be insane. Is that comparable to an FA Cup final? Would that be the largest viewing numbers for a fight ever?

Edit: I don’t know what a margin of error is

[Ezzard]

I don't mind paying to watch any fight. I just don't want to have to pay a subscription for football too. I'd happily pay SKY, BT and whoever £5+ for every boxing show they put on.

[Controversial]

They should trial an early buyer for PPV, book it early and get it for £9.99, leave it to the last week or so and pay full whack, I bet they would get much higher figures.

See this is what they should trial at least.

Dubois vs. Joyce would be the perfect event to start with.

Yep. I wouldn't even quibble over a tenner but at soon as its 20-25 quid invariably talk myself out of it and happy to watch it the next day. The undercard to the Fury fight didn't interest me at all. I'm mates with quite a few boxing fans and no one I know bought it.

[ewenhay]

The price is too high for lots of people. If the price was lower many who chose to stream would pay. Many will still stream of course.

Others will wake up in the morning and watch the full fight on YouTube. Again, if the price was lower some might stay up and pay.

I think we've just passed the threshold of what people are willing to accept

[tiny_acres]

It's just too easy to find a free stream. It would not matter if it was 1.99 or 80 bucks
If it's easy to get it for free people will still find a free stream