“Overcharges customers” – Boxing fans blast ‘rights holders’ as Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk’s 20 million illegal streams causes brutal financial damage

More than 20 million people watched the fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk live using illegal streaming services.

“Overcharges customers” – Boxing fans blast ‘rights holders’ as Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk’s 20 million illegal streams causes brutal financial damage

Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk (image credit- Marca)

The fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk was a very significant bout for the boxing world. The heavyweight division fights tend to get a lot of attention. Furthermore, since this was the first undisputed heavyweight fight in 24 years it got even more attention. Unbelievably, 20 million viewers were able to watch the epic match-up between Fury and Usyk live on an illegal streaming service.

The main three broadcasters of the fight were Sky Sports Box Office (UK), TNT Sports Box Office (US), and pay-per-view (PPV). Hence, they purchased the broadcast rights for the huge match-up in Saudi Arabia. Subsequently, fans had to pay £25 to see Fury v Usyk live on pay-per-view, but an estimated 20 million people viewed the match via an illegal streaming service.

According to the report, TV rights holders lost £95 million due to the illegal streaming of the heavyweight match. Subsequently, the number of people watching Fury v. Usyk illegally is likely to be much higher than 20 million. This is because the analysis is based on only one person watching each stream.

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The rematch is also expected to be watched illegally by fans, and that number could be close to 20 million or even higher, given the magnitude of the fight. According to the report, 45% of illegal streaming originated in Europe, while 25% originated in North America, and 16% originated in Asia.

Fans react to 20 million people using illegal streaming services

The fight was a massive success especially since it was hosted in Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, it did lose a lot of revenue because of illegal streams. Most fans are not against this because they believe that the pricing for such fights is unfair. As such, the majority of boxing fans would rather opt to watch the fight via these methods instead of purchasing PPV. This became even more apparent from the fan reactions on social media:

Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk
Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk (image credit- Boxing Scene)

“Are you gonna “arrest” those 20M then or are you gonna accept the facts that @SkySports and @tntsports overcharges customers huh??”

All the fan reactions justified how the events are priced too high, and fans would be wasting their money by buying the PPV. However, fans believe that it is better than being ripped off.

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