BoxRec

Fury vs Wilder 3 PPV buys fall well short of pre-fight goal

The domestic pay-per-view buys for Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder in the United States reportedly came in at just under 600,000.

The dust has officially settled on the trilogy between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder with Fury, after an epic contest last Saturday night, coming out on top after a decisive knockout in the eleventh round.

As you’d expect, there were some pretty high expectations for what this bout could achieve given everything they’ve gone through – but in the end, it fell short of the mark with just under 600,000 buys in the United States.



There was also said to be 300,000 overseas buys with a large chunk likely coming from the United Kingdom on BT Sport.

Bob Arum may wind up being disappointed with these figures given the fact that he thought it’d do far better than the rematch but either way, there’s a lot to be said for the PPV price of $79.99 and how much that may have thrown fans off the scent of buying it.

I’m more surprised about the U.K. numbers. 300k is good for a Whyte/Chisora but for Fury/Wilder it seems very low. I appreciate the much later start time but even still.

None of my casual mates were talking about it beforehand (although clips were being sent around the following day) which is unusual for a big fight as they were talking a fair bit pre AJ/Usyk. Perhaps it was just assumed that Fury would repeat what happened in the second fight.

600k buys in the US may be a lot less than they were expecting but they threw everything at their second fight and still only did c.850k buys so I’m not overly surprised with the result.

maverick23 wrote: ↑15 Oct 2021, 10:31 I’m more surprised about the U.K. numbers. 300k is good for a Whyte/Chisora but for Fury/Wilder it seems very low. I appreciate the much later start time but even still.

None of my casual mates were talking about it beforehand (although clips were being sent around the following day) which is unusual for a big fight as they were talking a fair bit pre AJ/Usyk. Perhaps it was just assumed that Fury would repeat what happened in the second fight.

600k buys in the US may be a lot less than they were expecting but they threw everything at their second fight and still only did c.850k buys so I’m not overly surprised with the result.

The rematch did around 450k buys in the UK...

Joshua-Ruiz 1 was late start, that did around 500k buys in UK.

Also, no one really wanted the trilogy, everyone was hyped for Fury-Joshua.. So add that into it.. Most people in the UK probably illegally streamed it.

So that’s like 58 quid sterling for us ppv buy, I know the Americans have more disposable income as I was led to believe they don’t pay as much tax, ni as brits but still not a chance I’d pay that

The truth is PPV is a dead horse for 5am fights over here. That they get even what they have is a surprise. So why BT Sport think Canelo Plant and Tommy Fury Jake Paul is feasible on UK PPV at 5am is absurd.

If they cared about UK market they could put fights on earlier or on the East coast but they won't.

In regard to US figures, Hearn was right when he previously said $80 PPV is on the way out and slowly dying. It's just greed they'd rather a few extra dollars and half the people watch it. Most boxing fans in the US can't afford it or won't pay and they either split the cost with friends or stream illegally.

I mean look at the Vegas seat ticket prices too. Total cash grab, where is the affordability for boxing fans.

Foggy wrote: ↑15 Oct 2021, 11:05 So that’s like 58 quid sterling for us ppv buy, I know the Americans have more disposable income as I was led to believe they don’t pay as much tax, ni as brits but still not a chance I’d pay that

Very true although let's not forget our own PPV prices here in UK/IRE has basically doubled in recent years.

It's like the price of a pint, which has also went through the roof, they will always keep pushing upwards to what they get away with because they know people will pay.

I'm more open to paying PPV now than I was before for safety ie stream not failing. But it would be for fights like Usyk Joshua and Fury Wilder. Huge fights basically.

peter barlow wrote: ↑15 Oct 2021, 11:14 If they cared about UK market they could put fights on earlier or on the East coast but they won't.

Yup..

But the west coast is more lucrative ain't it?

and it's a business that doesn't care about fans,

I really liked when DAZN put Andrade-Williams around 11pm main event in the UK..

Was on the east coast as well, so wasn't too early for US fans, but that fight was much more appealing to UK fans anyway.

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑15 Oct 2021, 11:30

peter barlow wrote: ↑15 Oct 2021, 11:14 If they cared about UK market they could put fights on earlier or on the East coast but they won't.

Yup..

But the west coast is more lucrative ain't it?

and it's a business that doesn't care about fans,

I really liked when DAZN put Andrade-Williams around 11pm main event in the UK..

Was on the east coast as well, so wasn't too early for US fans, but that fight was much more appealing to UK fans anyway.

Hearn/DAZN are probably the only ones that would consider it. It's a shame and a nuisance for us.

I think these figures, which are terrible, give a good indication of where boxing is right now in terms of popularity. Especially in UK.

Black Sam Bellamy wrote: ↑15 Oct 2021, 11:53 I think these figures, which are terrible, give a good indication of where boxing is right now in terms of popularity. Especially in UK.

To some extent yes but I think it's in a reasonable state, AJ sold out White Harte Lane only weeks ago.

The widespread availability of streaming and dodgey boxes is really sticking the knife in though. They're a significant amount of people who stream all the boxing via other means. Same with football.

Shows how big Mayweather Hatton was. Over a million at 5am.

emallini wrote: ↑15 Oct 2021, 12:40 Shows how big Mayweather Hatton was. Over a million at 5am.

also 14 years ago..

A lot of people weren't excited for an unnecessary rematch and no-one expected such an exciting fight so I'm not surprised by the low numbers.

And more people are getting used to finding alternative ways to watch ppv for free.

And it was a long time after the second fight. And Fury withdrew once with Covid, although news articles showed him buying a car at the same time. He gave his critics a lot of ammunition. The feeling was Fury didn’t even want the fight or even feel it was necessary, and no one knew if he’d be in proper shape when it finally happened. Given the well documented issues mentally and physically.

Also Wilder has been perceived to be a head case in denial after the beating he took in the second fight. In terms of perception there wasn’t a lot positive in this matchup, at least going in.

Probably the drama and positivity from the third fight will allow some serious momentum to build for the next fight to be much bigger.

next fight? you think there will be wilder-fury 4?

Im impressed with those numbers considring really noone wanted this fight. It still had that must watch feel to it i guess, but i only really got that feeling 3/4s of the way through the card for me.

Should be good for both of there future fight numbers though. the after fight buzz was massive.

And Furys stock will have gone up a lot after that fight

id say so, but then again he got an even more dominant ko in front of a bigger audience for fight 2

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑15 Oct 2021, 19:14 id say so, but then again he got an even more dominant ko in front of a bigger audience for fight 2

But a lot of folk didn't buy 3 because they didn't think it would be competitive, I think he will have more hard core fans now because he is all round entertainment.