Eddie Hearn: Fighters Should Take Guaranteed Pay Over PPV Points

Eddie Hearn believes the pay-per-view model is diminishing, especially in the United States.

The Matchroom Boxing promoter feels in addition to the massive number of events in America, the steep price tags aren’t helping matters at all.

“You live in a world now, where, pay-per-view in America, you’re on a knife edge every time you fight, because it’s so saturated,” Hearn told Boxing Social (via BoxingScene). “It’s not saturated at 19.99 pounds, it’s saturated at 80 bucks a pop.

“Obviously, you had Gervonta Davis [against Marrio Barrios on pay-per-view]…now you go into Wilder-Fury getting another pay-per-view, and then you go into Pacquiao and Spence, a great fight, but another pay-per-view. Before that you have Jake Paul-Tyrone Woodley. These are $80 at a time.”

Matchroom Boxing, of course, is featured on DAZN which is a subscription-based streaming service and much more affordable as a whole compared to shelling out the big bucks for each pay-per-view event.

And with Canelo Alvarez having the choice of signing a deal with either DAZN or FOX (pay-per-view) should a title unification clash with Caleb Plant be booked, Hearn believes his fighter would be better off getting the guaranteed payout.

In fact, that goes for any fighter.

“I feel that if I’m a fighter I don’t want to be gambling on my pay-per-view numbers,” Hearn added. “There is no bigger star in America than Canelo Alvarez. For me, if I was advising him, which I’m in that boat, I want a guarantee. They’re saturating the market so much…I just feel like the way people are digesting content is changing and I know the numbers are falling fast in America on pay-per-view.

“I can’t believe $70, $80 pay-per-views are still a thing in America. But it is a thing. But right now, if I was a fighter, I’d make sure I had a guarantee, because I do think that [pay-per-view] is a dwindling market, especially at that price point.”