BoxRec

Canelo-GGG III generates disappointing 550k to 575k PPV buys

Undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez’s clear unanimous decision over rival Gennadiy Golovkin in their third fight did not come close to doing the kind of business of their first two thrilling middleweight championship fights.

Fight No. 3 on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas generated between 550,000 and 575,000 pay-per-view buys in the United States, multiple industry sources told Fight Freaks Unite on Tuesday. One of the sources said the fight had a chance to hit 600,000 buys.

The total includes buys from DAZN subscribers, who paid $64.99 for the event on top of their monthly or annual subscription fee, and those who purchased the fight card for the one-off price of $84.99 on traditional linear television and satellite services as well as digitally via PPV.com. Of the overall total, about 200,000 were from non-DAZN subscribers, according to sources.

That means Alvarez-Golovkin III would have to be considered a major disappointment, considering that, according to sources, DAZN needed far more buys than 600,000 to break even given the reported $75 million combined it guaranteed to Alvarez and Golovkin.

It also means that the fight did not do all that much better than Alvarez’s upset decision loss when he challenged light heavyweight titlist Dmitry Bivol in May in a fight that generated a disappointing total of approximately 520,000 buys in the United States. That fight was priced at $59.99 for DAZN subscribers and $79.99 for non-DAZN subscribers.

Both of those fights fell far short of the approximately 800,000 buys Alvarez generated for his 11th-round knockout of Caleb Plant to unify all four 168-pound titles and become the first undisputed super middleweight champion last November. That fight was put on by Premier Boxing Champions and produced and distributed by Showtime PPV. Alvarez had just a one-fight deal with those entities and returned to DAZN and promoter Matchroom Boxing for the fights with Golovkin and Bivol.

Alvarez won the third fight with Golovkin with relative ease — 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113, scores most viewed as far too close — compared to the controversial results of their first two bouts, a split draw in 2017 in a fight most thought Golovkin clearly won and a majority decision that Alvarez won in the 2018 rematch to end Golovkin’s long first middleweight title reign.

When four-division champion Alvarez (58-2-2, 39 KOs), 32, of Mexico, and two-time middleweight champion Golovkin (42-2-1, 37 KOs), 40, a Kazakhstan native fighting out of Santa Monica, California, met for the first time on Sept. 16, 2017, the fight, which was promoted by Golden Boy, generated 1.3 million buys via HBO PPV.

The rematch, on Sept. 15, 2018, which was also promoted by Golden Boy on HBO PPV, generated 1.1 million buys, but brought in more television revenue than the first fight due to a higher price for the pay-per-view. The rematch headlined the final HBO PPV card. Soon after HBO ended its involvement in boxing after 45 years.

It was never gonna go a million IMO.

It says at least 200k of those buys came from non-DAZN subscribers.

Those that probably could be bothered with all the messing around.

The fight was televised behind 2 paywalls.

Some may have just opted to use the PPV.com site instead.

In the UK, who knows what it did.

Asking us to pay £18 for the fight that no one really asked for.

It generated around $45m

That alone was probably Canelo’s purse.

I’m unsure what the attendance was. They usually announce that as well.

Overall would have made more revenue that the Bivol fight because that was priced much lower.

Good news.

Most everyone here knew this fight was way past its sell by date.

Now his paymasters can demand he fights a live one.

A rematch with Bivol might not sell enough, so it should be Benavidez.

Who doesn't want to see that?

Apart from our boy Saul of course.

I think charlo fight on pbc can be biggest ppv for canelo

The numbers aren’t disappointing, since very few people subscribe to DAZN, coupled with the fact this was the third bout between GGG and Canelo.

Canelo-Golovkin III Generated 1.06 Million 'Worldwide' Buys

DAZN has issued a statement to indicate that last weekend's pay-per-view event, which featured the trilogy fight between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Gennadiy “GGG” Golovkin, generated 1.06 million pay-per-view purchases.

However, the streaming app was very clear that the buyrate figure was a "worldwide" number.

It was reported earlier this week by longtime boxing scribe Dan Rafael of Fight Freaks Unite that Canelo-Golovkin III generated between 550-575,000 buys in the United States - which industry insiders view as a disappointing number.

The first two bouts, which were distributed by HBO Pay-Per-View, generated double the number of buys in the United States. The first meeting, in 2017, brought in 1.3 million buys just in the United States. And in 2018, the rematch bought in 1.1 million pay-per-view buys - just in the United States.

The third encounter saw Canelo outbox Golovkin over twelve rounds for a dominant unanimous decision win.

DAZN further stated - "[Canelo-Golovkin 3] claims the title of #3 biggest boxing event globally on DAZN since its inception and #2 biggest boxing event in the United States since its 2018 launch. Moreover, DAZN was once again the most downloaded sports app in the world, in addition to being the highest grossing app of any category in the United States.

"Additionally, DAZN saw tremendous growth across its commercial premise partners, including +71% across bars, restaurants, casinos, and cinemas compared to Canelo’s last fight against Dmitry Bivol in May; this included fans all across the nation coming together to watch live in 680+ cinemas in the United States alone. Engagement records were set on social media as well, including TikTok fight night content that was the highest-performing of any DAZN boxing event in history (7.9 million views)."

From another website:

DAZN Group has confirmed the Canelo vs. GGG III fight night saw a global audience in the millions, with more than 1.06 million buys generated worldwide including PPV and DAZN subscriptions.

Man, Hearn was getting death! These guys do have points, but those same guys are doing 200k buys.. But then again, those guys are not earning $40m+ in purses..

Ellerbe is a right winey bitch

why are so many yanks so triggered by the edster?

this fight, even with a well faded ggg and hardly much hardcore interest, still did over 200k more than the fury-wilder 1 fight that was treated like it was some massive box office smash, still did more than any errol spence fight, still did more than tanks fights, lol

maybe claire shields, since she loves ed so much, can teach him on how to do a ppv with 10k buy as well

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑22 Sep 2022, 15:45 why are so many yanks so triggered by the edster?

this fight, even with a well faded ggg and hardly much hardcore interest, still did over 200k more than the fury-wilder 1 fight that was treated like it was some massive box office smash, still did more than any errol spence fight, still did more than tanks fights, lol

maybe claire shields, since she loves ed so much, can teach him on how to do a ppv with 10k buy as well

It’s probably because of the purses..

Fury-Wilder 1 generated enough to at least break even.

This fight likely didn’t break even.

weren't the purses like 40m? not sure on breaking even

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑22 Sep 2022, 15:53 weren't the purses like 40m? not sure on breaking even

That was Canelo’s purse. G was on $25m roughly.

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑22 Sep 2022, 15:45 why are so many yanks so triggered by the edster?

this fight, even with a well faded ggg and hardly much hardcore interest, still did over 200k more than the fury-wilder 1 fight that was treated like it was some massive box office smash, still did more than any errol spence fight, still did more than tanks fights, lol

maybe claire shields, since she loves ed so much, can teach him on how to do a ppv with 10k buy as well

Dude the purses were insane for this fight. They over payed GGG. It would've been great numbers if they didn't give GGG that inflated purse. I remember someone saying that he got 40 mil, but maybe that was wrong.

Mexi-Box wrote: ↑22 Sep 2022, 22:38

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑22 Sep 2022, 15:45 why are so many yanks so triggered by the edster?

this fight, even with a well faded ggg and hardly much hardcore interest, still did over 200k more than the fury-wilder 1 fight that was treated like it was some massive box office smash, still did more than any errol spence fight, still did more than tanks fights, lol

maybe claire shields, since she loves ed so much, can teach him on how to do a ppv with 10k buy as well

Dude the purses were insane for this fight. They over payed GGG. It would've been great numbers if they didn't give GGG that inflated purse. I remember someone saying that he got 40 mil, but maybe that was wrong.

A few different places reported he got between $25m to $30m..

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑22 Sep 2022, 15:45 why are so many yanks so triggered by the edster?

this fight, even with a well faded ggg and hardly much hardcore interest, still did over 200k more than the fury-wilder 1 fight that was treated like it was some massive box office smash, still did more than any errol spence fight, still did more than tanks fights, lol

maybe claire shields, since she loves ed so much, can teach him on how to do a ppv with 10k buy as well

Because he’s doing it better than any of them. He gets the best fighting the best time and again and they don’t like it.

In many countries there even wasn't a buy option, I think it's better to tell what the total incoming is instead of fictitious buys.

But I highly suspect the break-even was comfortably surpassed, counting all costs.