An app-etite for Joshua fight card
ENGLISHMAN Anthony Joshua will defend his multiple heavyweight titles against Alexander Povetkin in front of more than 80,000 people at Wembley Stadium in London on Saturday night in an important showdown with major implications going forward.
Joshua (21-0, 20 KOs) holds the WBA, WBO, IBO and IBF belts, while Povetkin (34-1, 24 KOs) of Russia is hoping to spoil a potential mega-fight between Joshua and WBC Champion Deontay Wilder in 2019.
“We both have a big heart and we can dig deep,” Joshua said, “so that always turns out for a good fight. The one who’s toughest will come out victorious.”
The fight isn’t the only noteworthy event taking place. The card, promoted by Matchroom Boxing, only can be seen in the United States through the DAZN app. It’s the first fight in a reported eight-year $1 billion deal between UK-based Matchroom Boxing and DAZN, a live and on-demand sports streaming service that’s available for $9.99 a month after a onemonth free trial. Saturday’s card begins at 1 p.m. ET with the main event expected around 5 p.m.
“This fight is the first meat on the bone as to what this thing actually is,” said Joseph Markowski, DAZN senior vice-president for North America. “Up until now there hasn’t been a product to point to and say this is DAZN. You’ll start to see it’s a clean app, a beautifully put together piece of technology with a smooth user experience.”
The boxing landscape has been changing lately with some promoters aligning with broadcast and digital partners, while breaking away from long-term deals with premium and cable networks. Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc. signed a lucrative deal with ESPN to put its fighters on their ESPN+ app, which recently announced it had acquired one million subscribers in just over five months.
DAZN (pronounced DAZONE) is quickly building its own combat sports alliances, partnering with Matchroom, the World Boxing Super Series, and MMA promoters Bellator and Combate Americas.
“This is an interesting time,” Markowski said. “When you break it all down, looking at sports media as a whole, the battlefield is boxing. You’re seeing all these alliances being formed. Everyone assumes we’re aligned with Eddie. We have a relationship with Eddie, but it’s not an exclusive one. We want to acquire the best fights and we have the funds and marketing machine to do that.”
DAZN, whose parent company is Perform Group, is available on 97 percent of all connected devices, including televisions, smartphones, tablets, game consoles and computers. The app is already available in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Japan, Canada, and Italy.
DAZN spent 18 months preparing to get into live streaming of sporting events after watching it succeed with music, movies and other forms of entertainment.
“We looked at what Netflix has done as asked what is sport doing?” Markowski said. “Sports is five years behind. Who knows how long it will take for the shift to happen. All I know is every other entertainment genre [has] gone that way.”
The impact of DAZN and ESPN+ is already being felt. Fighters are beginning to see themselves as free agents open to the highest bidders. Brooklyn middleweight Daniel Jacobs signed with Matchroom Boxing with an eye on DAZN, while welterweight Terence Crawford signed a long-term deal with Top Rank. Hall of Fame announcer Michael Buffer has also signed an exclusive deal with DAZN.
“It’s not like we’re living in a legacy world where the old ways of doing things is the way it’s going to continue,” Markowski said. “Things are changing at such a pace and we’re able to react to that in quite an effective way.”
Matchroom has contracted with DAZN for 16 fights in the United States beginning Oct. 6 in Chicago, where welterweight Jessie Vargas takes on Thomas Dulorme in the main event of a card that will also feature heavyweights Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller against Tomasz Adamek.