The U.S. PPV price for Tyson Fury vs Dillian Whyte has been confirmed, and it is likely to leave Stateside fight fans pretty underwhelmed.
‘The Gypsy King’ puts his WBC, Ring magazine and lineal heavyweight titles on the line at Wembley Stadium on Saturday week (April 23) in front of 94,000 rabid UK fans.
Fury vs Whyte a U.S. draw?
Across the pond though, while Fury has done a decent job of building a name for himself, this bout is not even close to having the same pulling power. Put it into perspective:
- Dillian Whyte is not a huge name on either side of the Atlantic
- We have two Brits fighting – never before has this been a huge U.S. draw
- They will fight between 5pm and 6pm Eastern time on a Saturday in the U.S.
Those factors suggest it will be tough to draw a huge audience, and the price point will likely make it harder. That came this week with confirmation that it will retail for $69.99 on the ESPN platform.
That price puts it into the same ballpark as P4P stars like Canelo Alvarez and Errol Spence Jr. The difference being those guys are already enormous in the U.S. market, and they are fighting on U.S. timezones. The fight remember retails for just £24.95 on BT Sport in the UK.
Arum says 500k buys possible
Fury’s co-promoter Bob Arum, whose Top Rank puts all its major shows on ESPN, is predictably punchy about the whole thing – he believes as many as 500k buys are possible. Promoters are always going to promote right? That number would seem to be enormously odds against.
ESPN, the self-styled ‘Worldwide Leader’, does have huge distribution power. But the price point could outweight all of that. Add in the lack of American interest and the fight time, and it’s an uphill challenge.
There is of course one other question mark ahead of April 23 – will Dillian even turn up?
