By Charles Jay
I think if there’s going to be an American superstar in boxing, Errol Spence Jr. have as good a chance as anyone. Perhaps final confirmation will come if he fights Terence Crawford, who presents himself as the other candidate.
He’s got the qualifications, for sure – he’s an Olympic athlete, he’s undefeated, he’s got a lot of talent and he’s fought the kind of opponent worth considering.
On Saturday night, he will fight against Yordenis Ugas in a belt unification match in the welterweight division. It’s slated for Showtime Pay Per View, priced at $74.99.
That’s a pretty big amount. Some people complain that anything good going on in boxing is only made available through the Pay Per View (PPV) platform. And of course you have those who oppose certain events as the “Pay Per View War”.
So just what qualifies as a believable “Pay Per View war”?
The truth is, anything can be a PPV war. In fact, there is a website that specializes in providing various types of combat that you can pay for.
As for the idea of financial viability, well, it’s all relative. One war might have 100,000 buys and a nice success, while another might have a million buys and fail. It mainly depends on how much cost has to be overcome.
For example, what guarantees are there for each main event warrior? In this case, at least according to a few sources, Spence is guaranteed $1.5 million and can participate in up to $5 million in funding, while Ugas is guaranteed $1 million up to to 2.5 million dollars. These numbers may not be entirely accurate, but based on those numbers, there doesn’t seem to be much risk of major financial disaster for the Premier Boxing Champions (PBCs), who are organizer of this event.
It has been reported that Spence has won $1.22 million against Kell Brook and $2 million against Shaun Porter, if that gives some perspective. Confronting Danny Garcia, I’ve read that he pocketed $8 million, based on 250,000 PPV purchases, and that seems a bit off to me.
Reports that he had been scheduled to secure $7 million for a fight with Manny Pacquiao had to be shelved because of an eye injury to Spence (which allowed Ugas to step in and benefit). ).
It would be great if he could fight Pacquiao, but for now the fight that seems to represent the “pot of gold” will be with Crawford, whose advertising situation is currently a bit messy.
It was perhaps Spence’s best shot with a big score; After all, this is a fight that could, when the time comes, take the 1 pound guy’s 1st place (it’s a “myth” thing, so anyone can give make a reasonable claim), but is there any championship-level appeal in that game?
It is a question that causes skepticism, because the answer is… .. not yet.
And we say “yet” because there’s still a chance. It is clear that for Al Haymon and the PBC, this war is not an end for Spence but a means to an end. If Crawford has a lot of magnetism, it doesn’t have to be proven with huge PPV numbers. So it makes sense that Spence could be the one to bring more “heat” to the proceedings.
But it won’t be easy. I’m sure the Spence-Ugas PPV can succeed as an endeavor to a certain extent. But I proposed something that might be considered a bit daring in this day and age.
Bringing the war to free, over-the-air television.
In the current situation, that means FOX Network.
Any promoter who has a special interest in promoting fighting fish should consider themselves in the “branding” process. There is a “product” and you have to sell it. When it comes to someone like Spence, and their aspirations for him, this matters a lot.
And let’s take a moment to be honest with each other. This is a boxing site, so it stands to reason that you’ll be watching the fight more than the average Joe. If you will, you’re living in a boxing bubble, where your perception of these fighters is bigger than it really is.
So it might come as a nasty surprise that there aren’t many professional fighters who are familiar names. You’ve got Canelo and it hurts just as much, Jake Paul. There may be a few others, including the current heavyweight, which is Tyson Fury.
People who bought things like Spence and Crawford on PPV were more avid boxing fans than usual. But if you want massive success at the nationwide box office, there’s no way to do it unless you’re garnering a casual fan base; curious seekers, who may not be boxing fans, but are intrigued by the significance of the event.
So you have to set the magnitude.
And with that said, wouldn’t it make sense, if you’re someone who is particularly interested in promoting Errol Spence as far as possible, to get him in front of as many eyeballs as possible, to increase his value? his brand?
I think that would be something to consider carefully.
And from this point of view, I don’t know that Spence has improved themselves so much, no matter what happens to Ugas, because they chose to deliver with the smallest audience.
If they can get 200,000 PPV purchases, that means they’ll have double the viewership (because obviously a lot of people can watch these), so feel free about that and give it a go. grant them 500,000 spectators. Ratings for boxing on FOX are all over the place, but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect that, with a great hit, they could get 2.5 million viewers or more overall. their platforms.
So they can have five times as many eyeballs. At least.
Some of you may not realize or remember this, but never has the method of “pre-selling” a fighting fish to the public is as powerful as television. Sure, some of that came before the cable boom, but still had a larger viewership, as over-the-air television hit every home.
It’s true that a free FOX broadcast would make the “early end” situation out of the question. But will they meet the required thresholds? I don’t see why both boxers couldn’t get their guarantee for a network TV show with lots of viewers.
And if you’re a promoter, investing now can pay off more later – that is, if you think Spence-Crawford is a “big fight” – even making it a leader. Directing losses is something you have to do given a lot of thought about.
