Turki Alalshikh has been making massive fights for the past two years now, but he has a new blockbuster opponent in his sights – the cost of the sport’s PPV (pay-per-view) shows.
Major fights have always been expensive on PPV in the United States, with Canelo Alvarez vs Edgar Berlanga about to retail for $89.99 on Amazon Prime Video on September 14. Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk meanwhile was a shade under $70 back in May.
DAZN: Sign up to watch Joshua vs Dubois LIVE!
The UK pricing is more measured, with the biggest fights now tending to retail at around the £25 mark, but that is still too expensive according to Alalshikh – who is Chairman of Saudi’s General Entertainment Authority.
He has a dream vision for what pricing around PPV shows should be – in the hope that it will persuade fight fans to actually sign up and buy instead of trying to stream fights illegally. Estimates suggest around 20million fans streamed Fury vs Usyk illegally.
Vision starts with Joshua vs Dubois
That vision will start for the Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois showdown for the IBF world heavyweight title on September 21 – the first show in the UK brought to you by Alalshikh, Saudi and Riyadh Season.
A record boxing crowd of 96,000 is expected to pack the iconic Wembley Stadium as Joshua bids to become a three-time world heavyweight champion, and Alalshikh believes the PPV pricing will attract more people to sign up and watch on TV as well.
He told the Jordan and White show on talkSPORT: “Usually when I see a high PPV, a lot of people go and watch the fight illegally and this is not healthy for boxing and the platform.
“What I will try to push is to have our Riyadh Season shows at less than £20 in England and less than $20 around the world…
“I would prefer to have one million fans subscribe and buy the PPV for £20 than less than 500,000 [for £40].
“The people go around it illegally because the price is high. In the future, this will not build boxing.
“If I give the fans good fights at a good price then I will increase the fanbase.”
Joshua vs Dubois price
Alalshikh clearly is a man who sticks to his word – the PPV for Joshua vs Dubois will retail at £19.95 in the UK. And it will be aired/streamed on three different networks – Sky Sports Box Office, DAZN PPV and TNT Sports Box Office.
The big fight goes down at Wembley on September 21, with ring walks expected at 2300 local time (1800 Eastern Time, 1500 PST if you are watching on the West Coast).