Is It Piracy Or Boxing That Has Led To Diminishing PPV Sales?

Signal theft has always existed, but to act as if it’s the sole reason the sport is in decline is ludicrous and disingenuous. It ignores the issues that boxing fans have complained about for years.

Tell The Truth

Pay-per-view (PPV) sales have reportedly been down significantly over the last several years. Let’s cut right to the chase. Most fights sold on PPV today don’t belong on PPV. The fans will tell you if a bout doesn’t belong on such a platform. They will either not purchase the fight or steal it. Some may say we’re promoting theft. No, stealing is wrong, but we also have to think critically. When boxing was at its peak and money flowed in from every direction, piracy was still present, and no one complained about it then. My generation had Limewire, Frostwire, and other websites that illegally streamed movies, concerts, and other events. And yes, while the quality has improved, most illegal apps today are still laggy and inundated with foreign viruses that can perforate many security systems. Thus, those who choose to steal are making themselves susceptible to identity theft at the very least. Why are people all of a sudden using piracy as an excuse?

Last week, the Terence Crawford–Israil Madrimov card in Los Angeles lost at least $10 million. The event, which cost $79.99 on PPV, only pulled in 75,000 buys and could wind up at 100,000 with streaming. It would be easy to blame the signal thieves, but that doesn’t address the entire story. Before his ninth-round TKO of Errol Spence Jr. last year to become the undisputed welterweight world champion, how many PPV buys was Crawford averaging? The answer? Approximately 113,000 over a three-fight span. The Spence fight accumulated 700,000 buys. Why did this particular event do so well? The fans had yearned for this bout to occur since 2017, the same year Spence won his first world title with an 11th-round TKO of Kell Brook.

Putting Crawford-Madrimov on PPV was an assumption that his dominant win over Spence would make him a household name, but that was not the case. This is a shame because Crawford is arguably the best fighter of the 21st century. Unlike Floyd Mayweather Jr., he’s never been able to penetrate that threshold with casual fans, and his PPV numbers are generally low. Since 1960, only four boxing PPVs have generated less than 100,000 buys. Crawford accounts for half of those fights. The other bout was a 2006 rematch between Hasim Rahman and Oleg Maskaev, which pulled in 60,000 buys.

Moreover, PPV numbers are forecasted and fed. Do we even know if these numbers are legitimate? If they are, we have a problem. Is this a piracy issue, or was it a mistake to put Crawford back on PPV? Crawford-Madrimov clearly should have been a regular DAZN fight. On that note, it’s interesting how many people conveniently forgot that we were told in 2018 that “pay-per-view was dead,” Now it seems as if every fight is a PPV.

All of this isn’t very pleasant, especially if you’re a supporter of “Bud” Crawford. He’s a four-division world champion, and each time he has moved up in weight, his first bout in that new weight class was against the champion. Crawford knocked out Thomas Dulorme in 2016 in his first bout at 140 before eventually becoming the undisputed champion in that division. In his first fight at welterweight in 2018, he stopped Jeff Horn to become the WBO titleholder. Most recently, Crawford made his junior middleweight debut against Madrimov and took his WBA belt away from him. In a perfect world, Crawford would be that guy. But for whatever reason, he’s not. It’s sad; it’s not right, but it’s the truth.

Give The Fans What They Want

If piracy is such a prevalent issue that threatens the very existence of our sport, explain why British boxing continues to thrive. Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua fought twice between September 2021 and August 2022. The first fight did 1.23 million buys, and the rematch came in higher at 1.24 million. Interesting. It’s as if most people are willing to pay for fights they want to see and won’t pay for bad ones. What a fantastic concept and yes, piracy is still present in the UK. According to a study conducted by YouGov Sport, more than eight million people are watching illegal streams in the UK. And yet, their PPV numbers are better than ours in most cases.

Is it piracy, or are they producing a better product? While we’re on that topic, Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia in April 2023 accumulated 1.2 million PPV buys. We had two solid, popular fighters in their primes square off in the ring, and the fans didn’t have to wait six years to see the fight—another outstanding concept. Perhaps we’d be in better shape if we consistently made good fights. The sport’s biggest star, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, fought Gennadiy Golovkin three times. The first two bouts did over a million PPV buys each. The third fight did about 850,000. However, Alvarez isn’t immune to criticism, either.

The fans have clamored for the four-division world champion to face David Benavidez for years, and he has come up with multiple reasons not to face him, including his viewpoint that Benavidez lacks a solid résumé and the belief that the former two-time super middleweight world champion would outweigh him by at least 25 pounds on fight night. In translation, Alvarez knows Benavidez is a good fighter and a threat to his throne. Why else would he ask for $200 million?

Alvarez returns to the ring on September 14 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas against Edgar Berlanga. This fight has been roundly criticized throughout the boxing world. The PBC on Prime PPV, which will also be available on DAZN & PPV.com, will cost $89.99. There’s a good chance this event could post disappointing numbers by Canelo’s standards. As popular as he is, even some of his strongest supporters have publicly stated their dislike of the fight. If it results in less than favorable numbers, it won’t be because of piracy but a direct cause of blatantly ignoring fans, the consumers, for years. People are fed up, and while stealing is wrong, they have every right to be upset.

Imagine if we revamp the local club show scene here in the United States. Everyone loves to make fun of British cards on DAZN because so many of the fighters in the early bouts don’t have much of a following. Well, how else are they supposed to build their brand? Would you prefer the American way of being inactive and on the shelf for 3/4’s of the year?

The Foundation Is Broken

Globally, the sport is doing fine, but in the U.S., it’s struggling. Make fun of the British all you want, but it’s the Americans who are missing out. We don’t have Wednesday or Friday Night Fights, ShoBox is gone along with Showtime Boxing, and HBO left nearly six years ago. And don’t be surprised if some established promoters close up shop shortly. It used to be that the prospects fought many times in one year while the stars of the sport were largely inactive. Now, it’s both! The foundation is broken. You can’t build anything without a base. We live in an era when even young prospects and contenders hardly fight. We’re not even talking about the top pound-for-pound fighters; this is the future of the sport. There are hardly any local club shows anywhere.

When was the last time the Foxwoods Resort hosted a fight? 2019. Almost five years ago. They will, however, host a card on September 7, promoted by Jimmy Burchfield of CES Boxing. In the main event, Kevin Walsh (13-0, 6 KOs) takes on Irvin Gonzalez (16-4, 12 KOs) in a scheduled eight-round junior lightweight bout. If you are reading this and are close to the area, go support them. If the foundation of your structure is broken, missing essential parts, or unrecognizable, you will have a hard time getting clients. And if you’re having problems on a local level, can you imagine trying to build the next “PPV star” that way? It’s unbelievable. That’s the epitome of trying to develop the next hockey star without skates and the equipment needed to be successful.

Piracy? Impending doom? Please. Reminiscent of a close decision defeat, this isn’t a robbery. The administrators of this sport have been robbing themselves by turning their back on the people who want to see good fights.

Ryan O'Hara

Ryan O’Hara is an award-winning sportswriter based in Denver, Colorado. The 30-year-old has been recognized by the Boxing Writers Association of America three times for his accomplishments, with a best finish of 2nd at the 2022 awards ceremony.

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