Sky Boxing Contract

[Spud MK2]

The posting style is incredibly familiar.

Anyway, my two pennies worth. I’m really not convinced Sky are bothered by boxing and more critically I think the Sky model and platform is yesterdays news.

All types of TV (and streaming) is going on its arse. MTV is closing in the uk, that says a lot about the sky model.

Herlo stu i find
Your post incredibly sad.

Boxing is a minority sport so when
The cutbaks come boxing is going to suffer

And before anyone says it ppv is on its knees

Amazon firesticks are the main culprit

Believe it
Or not
Haye v Harrison is still one of
The best

[Spud MK2]

[Spud MK2]

My gut feeling if whichusen and sky lose
Agsinst Boxxer it would Be the final nail in the coffin

[johnmanchester]

The posting style is incredibly familiar.

I thought that. A smarty pants with 'inside' knowledge and an ever so slightly condescending tone. Reminds me of Rover and a couple of others.

No I'm just some guy, I'm not any sort of insider or industry bigshot lol. I know a couple of people around town, that's it.

I should add /make clear that I did not intend to sound at all derogatory to Steve Wood /VIP. Quite the opposite - SW is one of the few people in the industry you'll never hear a word said against. VIP is a long running, competent promotion.

My earlier comments were only in regard to the suggestion that VIP was a frontrunner alongside televised /previously televised promoters like Sauerland, Hennessy

Of course, Sky did pluck Shalom from near obscurity, I think he had done six shows ever, only one or two televised.

[Spud MK2]

Wasserman
Vip Boxing

And Hennessy sports

[johnmanchester]

My gut feeling if whichusen and sky lose
Agsinst Boxxer it would Be the final nail in the coffin

Sky aren't on trial and have no suit against them.

Boxxer would be EXTREMELY ill advised to take suit against Sky unless they were absolutely sure they could not be counter sued for any contract breaches in the four years of the deal.

It's often the case that various technical breaches will occur over the course of a broadcast deal but will be let slide as non material. If boxxer were to sue Sky I'd imagine Sky would immediately go looking for any such instances and then counter-sue.

Re JW, I will be amazed if this makes it to court at all. A huge amount of dirty laundry will be aired if there is a court hearing. Can't see that being in boxxer interest.

Expect boxxer to drop or settle.

[Spud MK2]

I disagree.

Because the initial judgement against whichusen was so daming

[Spud MK2]

Expect boxxer to drop or settle.

https://iclg.com/news/23099-high-court- ... boxing/amp

U obviously
Havnt read this

[johnmanchester]

I disagree.

Because the initial judgement against whichusen was so daming

There was no judgement against Wischusen

An injunction is not a judgment

An injunction hearing is a single question to be settled: "Is there a situation here which is complex and in which further damage could be done if the parties are not frozen now by injunction?"

That's it. Nothing more than that. The merits of the case are not debated. It is only a question of whether or not the case appears complex and whether there is reasonable probability that further damages could be theoretically done unless all sides placed on pause.

[johnmanchester]

Expect boxxer to drop or settle.

https://iclg.com/news/23099-high-court- ... boxing/amp

U obviously
Havnt read this

I've read it and it's why I expect boxxer to try and settle out of court /avoid a hearing.

As outlined here, they are claiming John W made a verbal agreement which heavily benefits them but which they have no actual record of.

Their case is also heavily centered on the premise that Sky dropped boxxer as a result of JW and a Sky exec colluding.

In a court hearing it will be a simple matter of asking Sky by subpoaena to explain why Boxxer was not renewed.

Sky can then explain their reasoning and the matter becomes public record and that reasoning can be shared by all the media.

For that reason alone, I do not expect boxxer to want a court hearing.

Their case is also incredibly weak. It relies on a supposed verbal agreement + supposed Sky reasoning which can be easily disproved if Sky have records, emails etc of dissatisfaction with boxxer pre-dating the decision not to renew.

The court notes also state that JW was due a 100k bonus of Sky renewed Boxxer and that JW had said he intended to pay off his mortgage with that. Boxxer themselves entered that into evidence lol. So that fact I itself doesn't make it seem JW wants to derail boxxer and lose his 100k bonus.

If they go to court, I think a lot of dirty laundry gets aired in public and I think they also lose the case.

I think they expected John W not to defend /fight the case.

[Spud MK2]

Extremely interesting

Why issue an interim injunction?

[johnmanchester]

Extremely interesting

Why issue an interim injunction?

Standard practice in complex cases, as explained above. Interim injunction not rare at all.

[stujones]

The posting style is incredibly familiar.

Anyway, my two pennies worth. I’m really not convinced Sky are bothered by boxing and more critically I think the Sky model and platform is yesterdays news.

All types of TV (and streaming) is going on its arse. MTV is closing in the uk, that says a lot about the sky model.

Herlo stu i find
Your post incredibly sad.

Boxing is a minority sport so when
The cutbaks come boxing is going to suffer

And before anyone says it ppv is on its knees

Amazon firesticks are the main culprit

Believe it
Or not
Haye v Harrison is still one of
The best

It is sad, but all you can look at is the cutbacks on ITV, cutbacks to other major sky channels. It is just the facts it would seem.

It is sad but unfortunately it is the truth.

Regarding boxing - unfortunately Eddie joining Dazn was a huge nail in the coffin of the sport..... Ricky Hatton was a freak in that he became a superstar based on Sky. Anthony Joshua had a huge Olympics backing, as did Khan. Tyson Fury?? Now I am not going to say that being stuck on ITV 4 was as glorious a start for him - but Fury got a little bit on the lucky side I am convinced of this. He still couldn't sell out anywhere before he got his shot vs Klitchscko - and his story, well documented mental health struggles, a truly inspirational speech on the BBC (SPOTY) which got a lot of media attention, a well publicised documentary got him some huge deals and made him a star and a favourite of Turki...... Not his fights between Klitchscko and Wilder. The 12th round of the Wilder fight helped also.

But now we are talking about Sky like it is a mainstream platform that can make people stars all the time - that's because the alternative is DA fornicating ZN.

Dazn is not going to build stars - it might make people rich cos Turki has unlimited funds, but its put boxing way into the minority of sports. What TV channel is seriously going to invest in a promoter who they know if they start to make inroads, all roads lead to Turki and Dazn and they will lose that golden egg and the golden time.

Sadly mainstream TV is on its arse - thanks to the Firestick, so I cannot see any firm investing in a sport that is highly demanding and costly (thanks to Turki) and boxing is on its knees thanks to it being on a completely obscure high priced, streaming channel, that is very restricted to view, and it is the sport that is the pet project of sports washing - with no stars (lots of rich UK boxers, but no UK stars (once Joshua and Fury retire) - so they are not going to draw in millions.

The one hope is Dana White and dare I effing saying it Jake Paul and netflix. The BBC can pull in some good figures still, so yes if Boxxer can really do something with this deal - then that is a glimmer.

The other hopes might be youtube based. Some kind of independent channel on youtube, which could provide free and easily accesible build up and the actual fight.

There is a reason why there is negotiations for Mayweather vs Pacquaio. Mayweather is one of the only boxers that the mainstream have heard of these days.

[Spud MK2]

will Ring TV take a punt ?

[Spud MK2]

Excellent read stu

Dana is not an option for Sky he has a lucrative comtract to show his boxers on
paramount+ once gets some .

sky are going to be a nightmare … shalom got £36m for his contract….
sky
are no longer a lucrative option

[stujones]

Excellent read stu

Dana is not an option for Sky he has a lucrative comtract to show his boxers on
paramount+

I don’t think Sky will be interested in any already firmly established promoter who is in bed with Turki. What’s the point. I think Sky if interested in anything at all will be a cheap promoter with nothing lucrative signed previously, so they is not much too lose.


What’s the point in investing huge amounts. The channel is declining, the platform is decline and the sport is run by one guy at the top end (essentially) who has his fingers in another media company and at the moment doesn’t care if he’s making huge losses.


Turki didn’t want Parker vs Usyk, guess what fight we didn’t get!

[Spud MK2]

excellent post again stu

i unfortunately see the very real possibility..

sky call forward the favoured promoter, they
tell the promoter how many years & shows they will get.

They will then get told how much …this is when we will see promoters turning down sky unless they have excellent sponsorship

or sky turning their backs on boxing through it not being financially viable

[johnmanchester]

Dana is not an option for Sky he has a lucrative comtract to show his boxers on
paramount+

So? That's a US contract, nothing to do with UK.

Top Rank was on ESPN in USA and Sky in UK.

UFC is on Paramount in US, previously ESPN, previously Fox. Was on BT Sport /TNT in UK the whole time.

You do know that broadcast deals are for specific territories right?

[johnmanchester]

I don’t think Sky will be interested in any already firmly established promoter... I think Sky if interested in anything at all will be a cheap promoter with nothing lucrative signed previously, so they is not much too lose.

doesn’t care if he’s making huge losses.

This is actually why Sky could be an option for Zuffa Boxing imo.

P&L is not an immediate concern. What they do need /want to do is establish the brand as quickly as possible.

They may serve it to Sky as a pret-a-manger high production, low cost package - just to be on the leading UK sports broadcaster.

People can talk about Sky declining, model threatened etc - irrelevant, it's the home of the Prem and EFL, it's got all the sports eyeballs. Highly attractive to Zuffa.

That said, Sky always refused to pay what UFC asked, so UFX ended up on TNT /BT. Could be that Zuffa ends up there as well.

[Spud MK2]

I disagree.

Because the initial judgement against whichusen was so daming

There was no judgement against Wischusen

An injunction is not a judgment

An injunction hearing is a single question to be settled: "Is there a situation here which is complex and in which further damage could be done if the parties are not frozen now by injunction?"

That's it. Nothing more than that. The merits of the case are not debated. It is only a question of whether or not the case appears complex and whether there is reasonable probability that further damages could be theoretically done unless all sides placed on pause.

Thank you for that

[Spud MK2]

j
I don’t think Sky will be interested in any already firmly established promoter... I think Sky if interested in anything at all will be a cheap promoter with nothing lucrative signed previously, so they is not much too lose.

doesn’t care if he’s making huge losses.

This is actually why Sky could be an option for Zuffa Boxing imo.

P&L is not an immediate concern. What they do need /want to do is establish the brand as quickly as possible.

They may serve it to Sky as a pret-a-manger high production, low cost package - just to be on the leading UK sports broadcaster.

People can talk about Sky declining, model threatened etc - irrelevant, it's the home of the Prem and EFL, it's got all the sports eyeballs. Highly attractive to Zuffa.

That said, Sky always refused to pay what UFC asked, so UFX ended up on TNT /BT. Could be that Zuffa ends up there as well.

zuffa are going to paramount+
with regards to sky i feel you are far too rekaxed abouuut the position of sky sports in boxing.

i have spoke at length to people who claim to know their position in regards to giving out a boxing contract.

i got told by 1 person “think about it” theres a big reason why boxing not been Sky for 5 months and the earliest seems to be jan/feb

[Spud MK2]

thanks for debating the sport at length. I
have thoroughly enjoyed it.

but, i think you think you have made
your points far too logically.

[johnmanchester]

j
I don’t think Sky will be interested in any already firmly established promoter... I think Sky if interested in anything at all will be a cheap promoter with nothing lucrative signed previously, so they is not much too lose.

doesn’t care if he’s making huge losses.

This is actually why Sky could be an option for Zuffa Boxing imo.

P&L is not an immediate concern. What they do need /want to do is establish the brand as quickly as possible.

They may serve it to Sky as a pret-a-manger high production, low cost package - just to be on the leading UK sports broadcaster.

People can talk about Sky declining, model threatened etc - irrelevant, it's the home of the Prem and EFL, it's got all the sports eyeballs. Highly attractive to Zuffa.

That said, Sky always refused to pay what UFC asked, so UFX ended up on TNT /BT. Could be that Zuffa ends up there as well.

zuffa are going to paramount+
with regards to sky i feel you are far too rekaxed abouuut the position of sky sports in boxing.

i have spoke at length to people who claim to know their position in regards to giving out a boxing contract.

i got told by 1 person “think about it” theres a big reason why boxing not been Sky for 5 months and the earliest seems to be jan/feb

The Paramount+ deal for Zuffa is USA, Canada and LatAm only. No UK distribution yet in place. They'll take an alternative UK broadcaster if it offers bigger reach.

Not sure who you're talking to who seems to think 5 months signifies anything.

The only thing is signifies is that their boxing moves were put on ice by the JW court case lol. They were actively in process of planning events, that's why Boxxer wanted injunction ASAP, so that members of their stable wouldn't jump ship to Sky.

How long was the gap between end of matchroom on Sky and start of boxxer on Sky....?

It was just under 5 months. Matchroom last event was early June, boxxer first event was late October.

I wouldn't worry too much about timelines. Sky won't be in a rush - it's not a game changing part of their business the way football is. I'd assume Sky are more concerned about getting it right than rushing to get any boxing product rushed in.

Expect to see MVP have some presence on Sky in 2026 though. Won't be surprised to see Caroline Dubois join the MVP roster in the near future, possibly Lauren Price also.

[SeanBrennan]

I agree with Stu Jones. Really well made points.

Stu Jones for PM!

[veriton]

My kids are teens and below and none of them watch any sort of live television. They do not consider it as an option. It's all YouTube and social media so no surprise these channels are dying.