Kiwi may cash in on ‘Da Zone’
Joseph Parker could be a major beneficiary of a push for a streaming sports service in the lucrative United States market, a move which has been described as the biggest development in boxing since pay per view and possibly worth untold millions for the New Zealander.
Much of Parker’s involvement hinges on whether he can do the job against Dillian Whyte in London this morning, but even if he loses in an entertaining scrap, Parker could still be poised to take advantage of the DAZN (pronounced Da Zone) sports streaming service — described as the Netflix or Spotify of sport.
It is backed by Russian billionaire and British resident Len Blavatnik, who has promised Eddie Hearn, the promoter of Whyte and Anthony Joshua, US$1.5 billion over eight years to set it up in the US.
That investment from Blavatnik, the second richest person in Britain and in the top 10 in the world, is for boxing only because it is not already tied up by other broadcasters.
Blavatnik also wants to get into football and basketball but those sports in the US own their own broadcasting rights. He has already broken into countries such as Japan, where it is said DAZN has two million subscribers, and Germany.
Significantly, Blavatnik owns Spotify and Warner Music, plus many other companies.
“To me, this is the biggest development in boxing since pay per view,” Parker’s promoter David Higgins said. “It’s a game changer.”
Hearn told the Herald on Sunday of his plans, and how Parker could fit into them, on the eve of the Kiwi’s fight against Whyte at a sold-out O2 Arena in London this morning.
Working with other promoters, Hearn will put on 16 shows in the US a year, along with 16 in the United Kingdom. For a fee of US$9.99 a month, US viewers can watch all of them, plus other boxing events.
The annual outlay for a subscriber would be US$108 (first month free), whereas a US viewer wanting to watch a pay per view event has to shell out US$70-US$100 each time.
Hearn, who yesterday announced he had signed a new three-year promotional contract with boxing superstar Anthony Joshua, will be given US$112 million a year to put on his shows — a massive budget from an investor who has put a lot of faith in him.
“That’s a big bet, a big play, and it’s a long-term play,” said Higgins. Sitting alongside Hearn, Higgins asked: “Eddie, how do I end up getting some of this money?”
Hearn replied: “Well, you probably will end up getting some of it, especially if Joseph wins.” There are other possible consequences for the sport. There are four major worldwide sanctioning bodies, all of whom have their own version of the title.
But the move into the US by DAZN could create an opportunity to unite all the bodies, making the sport much easier to follow and potentially increasing its profile significantly.
“The big opportunity is to clean up all the sanctioning bodies and to have one,” Higgins said.
“There are four . . . pay them out, end up with one and have one world champion in each division. Boxing would be 10 times bigger.”
Hearn said: “It’s an opportunity to be a game changer. But without correct decision-making, it could be nothing.”
Hearn, 39, added: “When we started in the UK, boxing was nonexistent. We’ve done the job here but now we’ve got to do it in a different market.”
It is understood Parker banked $8 million after his fight against Joshua in Cardiff in April and that he will earn $1.3 million for the Whyte fight. And, should things go to plan, the 26-year-old father of two could be about to get even wealthier.