TV price set for Parker v Joshua
The New Zealand pay-per-view price to watch Joseph Parker take on Anthony Joshua will be $49.99.
That’s a drop of $10 from the price for the Kiwi’s fight against Andy Ruiz Jr in 2016, but for that bout Duco Events needed to recoup the extra costs of staging the fight.
For the upcoming fight at Principality Stadium in Cardiff on March 31, which is undoubtedly a bigger event, they have dropped the cost to a more boxing-fanfriendly price.
‘‘It’s about elasticity of demand,’’ Duco boss David Higgins told NZME.
‘‘Sometimes you can make more by setting the price a bit cheaper. It’s all about finding the right spot.
‘‘We have copped criticism in the past, I think unfairly, because people don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes.
‘‘Sometimes we’re making losses or no money at all.
‘‘Those people who are buying the pay per view are effectively funding Joe’s journey. They’ve made a contribution. The others are haters who will flog you no matter what.’’
With the Parker v Joshua fight having worldwide appeal, organisers will have a battle on their hands controlling illegal streams of the fight appearing online.
However, Higgins hopes this fight could break the New Zealand record for the biggest pay-per-view audience.
That record is the reported 88,000 who bought the 2009 all-Kiwi boxing clash between David Tua and Shane Cameron, believed to be a world record on a per-capita basis.
Meanwhile, Joshua has had a weight check six weeks out from the fight, to ensure he’s on the right track.
The British fighter intends to come into the fight lighter than Parker and this week weighed in at 111kg.
When he fought Carlos Takam in October he was at 115kg, which was the heaviest he’d been at for a fight in his career. Parker’s usual fighting weight is 112kg, but there were reports he’d put on weight over the Christmas period.