By: Sean Crose
The highly anticipated September 21st Pay Per View event between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois will cost Americans $19.99 to watch on pay per view. That’s right, $19.99…around twenty bucks for Yanks to watch the hard hitting Englishmen thrown down in at Wembley Stadium for the IBF heavyweight championship of the world. Consider most pay per views cost at the higher end of a hundred dollars, the price for Joshua-Dubois is very good for American fans. Even the UFC, which is known to charge less than boxing when it comes to pay per view events, can’t compete with this one.
Perhaps it’s understandable now why Turki Alalshikh, the General Entertainment Authority for Saudi Arabia, goes by “His Excellency.” The man, simply put, is big on the fight game, and is willing to prove that fact repeatedly. Not only is Alashikh dropping pay per view costs; he’s promoting Joshua-Dubois in both fighter’s native England, as well. Considering the fact that major bouts are now going down in Alashikh’s Saudi homeland (the much looked forward to rematch between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk will be hosted by the Middle Eastern Kingdom this December) as well as elsewhere it’s easy to see how serious Alashikh is about transforming the sport.
“You mention the PPV, I think this is my next big fight and I want your advice also,” he told talkSPORT this past week. “I dream of a PPV with a good price to make the fans happy and subscribe and get them to watch it legally.” The truth is that Alashikh is aware of the problem of illegal live streams and aims to do something about it. “Usually when I see a high PPV,” he says, “a lot of people go and watch the fight illegally and this is not healthy for boxing and the platform.”
According to Forbes, if Alashikh’s plan comes to fruition, “it will be interesting to see how or if the UFC adjusts its prices moving forward.” Whatever can be said about Alashikh, he is certainly a man with a plan for the sport of boxing. “If I give the fans good fights at a good price,” he says, “then I will increase the fanbase.” Sure enough, one of the biggest problems boxing faces is that pay per views cost to much and that the best don’t fight the best enough. Things might profoundly change if prices go down and quality matchmaking start’s to dominate boxing’s culture.