Enlightened-One wrote: ↑30 Jul 2018, 05:00
The justification for the use of PPV’s is to optimise the amount of revenue that can be generated.
If the fighters were willing to compete for “pennies”, the TV networks would still charge a PPV fee to cover an event if there was sufficient demand from their paying audience to see it.
Agreed, but if Matchroom and Sky are capable of charging for a PPV, with their paying customers satisfied that they’ve got their monies worth and were willing to continue paying to watch these events in the future, then the situation isn’t going to change.
I'm not suggesting it will change and you're missing my point in regards to the PPV justification - you and I may know it's simply a bid to optimise revenue but Eddie and others have frequently attempted to justify it publicly by claiming it would be impossible to make those fights otherwise. The reality if that it's clearly part of a medium- to long-term strategy by Eddie and Sky to build a climate whereby fans view PPV for big fights as the norm rather than the exception, and the marketing push is critical as part of ensuring that perception change. Judged through a business lens, there are elements you have to respect. Judged through the lens of a fan, it's very poor indeed.
And by the way, the reference to medium-term is deliberate, as I think the subscription model that the likes of DAZN are seeking to champion will start to subvert the Sky-type model over time - Netflix has set the precedent.
It sounds as though our opinions are similar.
Whilst I personally despise having to pay for PPV’s, in my humble opinion, the Whyte-Parker fight card was one of the most entertaining events I’ve seen in recent years.
As a self-professed hard-core boxing fan, if I anticipate a few bouts that are included in a PPV event are going to be very competitive and possibly exciting, then I’ll probably feel compelled to pay the fee to watch it.
This was the reason why I was willing to handover my hard-earned cash to watch the Whyte-Parker PPV, because I knew I was going to be entertained. And it didn't disappoint.
I didn’t want to pay £19.95, but I ended up doing so, because I didn’t want to miss out.
