BoxRec

The Anthony Joshua-Andy Ruiz Jr. rematch was the event streamed most by DAZN subscribers in 2019.

According to a viewership list released Tuesday morning by DAZN, Joshua-Ruiz II was watched by more DAZN subscribers in nine countries combined than any other sporting event it offered last year. DAZN didn’t provide specific viewership figures for the Joshua-Ruiz rematch or any of the other nine events that rounded out the streaming service’s top 10 for 2019.

Four of the events in DAZN’s top 10 for individual viewership were boxing matches. The six other events in the top 10 were soccer matches.

Joshua’s first fight versus Ruiz, one of the biggest upsets in heavyweight history, didn’t crack the top 10. Ruiz dropped Joshua four times and stopped the previously unbeaten British superstar in the seventh round of that June 1 bout at Madison Square Garden in New York.

DAZN’s list is based on total viewership in each of the nine markets within which it is available. Those markets include Austria, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the United States.

Below is the list of DAZN’s most-watched sporting events of 2019:

1. Anthony Joshua-Andy Ruiz Jr. II (December 7)

2. UEFA Champions League: Tottenham vs. Liverpool (June 1)

3. UEFA Champions League: Liverpool vs. Barcelona (May 7)

4. Canelo Alvarez-Sergey Kovalev (November 2)

5. KSI vs. Logan Paul II (November 9)

6. UEFA Champions League: Tottenham vs. Bayern Munich (October 1)

7. Serie A: Milan vs. Internazionale (September 21)

8. UEFA Champions League: Ajax vs. Tottenham (May 8)

9. UEFA Champions League: Barcelona vs. Liverpool (May 1)

10. Canelo Alvarez-Daniel Jacobs (May 4)

Without any context to how many views each broadcast received, I don't think anything can be garnered from this list.

Many of the European countries saw the AJ-Ruiz rematch at peak prime time.

Some will say well what was the figures for the US only. But we know they have less than 1m subs in the US alone.

Some will say well boxing is a worldwide sport. Which it is, but DAZN isn’t doing that well in the US in terms of boxing. As it’s a dying sport.

Unfortunately the actual size of DAZN’s customer base, in the context of it being a global service provider, is rather small, but it’s growth figures are impressive (i.e. doubled its global customer base within the last eight months, whilst having twice as many subscribers than ESPN Plus).

I’m not convinced that boxing is a dying sport. It might be far less popular in the US than it was a few decades ago, but this has been offset by its growth in popularity in other geographical regions.

KSI vs Logan Paul got more streams than Canelo vs Jacobs, the Milan Derby and several champions league matches.

Just let that sink in for a moment........

keirw wrote: ↑07 Jan 2020, 15:48 KSI vs Logan Paul got more streams than Canelo vs Jacobs, the Milan Derby and several champions league matches.

Just let that sink in for a moment........

The only thing is.. they haven’t put any figures in. Difference between 4 and might be 10,000 views.

The fact they don’t give figures suggests to me it’s struggling, just cannot for the life of me see how it’s ever going to be viable with the amount of money they are paying fighters. That said if it comes to the UK at $100 per year, I’ll be in.

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑07 Jan 2020, 15:54

keirw wrote: ↑07 Jan 2020, 15:48 KSI vs Logan Paul got more streams than Canelo vs Jacobs, the Milan Derby and several champions league matches.

Just let that sink in for a moment........

The only thing is.. they haven’t put any figures in. Difference between 4 and might be 10,000 views.

The problem with just posting numbers is that DAZN are a worldwide company with their fingers in many pies, so the demographics who watch the different events were likely very different.

For example: DAZN has exclusive rights to Serie A in Italy so it is fair to guess that Italy provided the bulk of the viewing figures for the Milan Derby.

Whereas DAZN signed Canelo to try to tap in to the Hispanic boxing communities within the US, so many Americans who tuned in to the Saudi card were almost certainly rooting for Ruiz.

A sizeable and unexpected percentage increase in viewing figures in certain regions/demographics may not equal huge differences in the overall worldwide figures, but could be a good sign for DAZN long term.

Nightmare Roy wrote: ↑07 Jan 2020, 16:42 The fact they don’t give figures suggests to me it’s struggling...

You could very well be right about your assertion of DAZN struggling, but how many streaming services actually provide their viewing figures? I don't think any of them do (or at least the vast majority of them don't).