Arum Makes Fury-White PPV Predictions: 300K in the US, 1 Million in the UK

Bob Arum isn’t necessarily expecting a blockbuster at the American box office for the upcoming heavyweight showdown between Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte, though he insists there is a good reason for that.

The heavyweight title bout, which puts up for grabs Fury’s WBC belt, will take place April 23 in London at Wembley Stadium on pay-per-view.

Since it is a UK fight, Fury-Whyte will air Saturday night there on BT Sport Box Office, the network’s pay-per-view arm, meaning US viewers will have to catch the main event during the late afternoon on ESPN+ pay-per-view, hardly an ideal time slot for attracting high viewership. 

Given these circumstances, Arum, the head of Top Rank Inc. who co-promotes Fury with Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotions, is keeping his commercial expectations modest for this bout, at least as far as the American market is concerned.

“Of course not, of course not, because of the difference in time,” Arum said in an interview with 3 Knockdown Rule in response to a question if he expects Fury-Whyte to be a commercial bonanza. “The US pay-per-view will be the tail of the promotion. We’re gonna do some revenue, closed circuit here…but the big money will be coming from the UK.”

Bob Arum believes that however many pay-per-view buys Fury-Whyte generates in the US will simply be the garnish on top of what he says will be an internationally lucrative promotion. Arum, conversely, expects big numbers in the UK, both in terms of pay-per-view buys and the gate.

“They are predicting that we will do full-up Wembley, which is 90,000 people,” Arum said referring to the largest stadium in the UK. “And that we’ll do over a million homes on pay-per-view in the UK.

“What we do in the US is important, but it’s gravy,” Arum continued. “You understand? In other words, will it do five, six hundred thousand homes (buys) in the US? Not likely.

“If it does three hundred thousand homes that’s pretty good added income.”

Manchester’s Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs) has not fought on UK soil since 2018, when he decisioned Francesco Pianeta in Belfast, but he will break that trend with his title defense against London-based Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs). Four of Fury’s last five bouts have taken place in his adopted hometown of Las Vegas, where he owns a home.