It appears the Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder 2 pay-per-view did not do as well as expected.
The fight was a highly-anticipated one, since their first bout ended in a controversial draw back in December of 2018.
Since their first fight, both picked up two wins and had their rematch this past weekend. There, it was Fury who got the job done via seventh-round TKO. It was a dominating performance by the Englishman who dropped Wilder twice and forced his corner to throw the towel in.
Although the fight was entertaining and it was hyped up, the PPV numbers were not as high as the promoters thought. The PPV apparently did did around 800-850 thousand buys according to Mike Coppinger of The Athletic.
Sources: The rematch between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury generated in the neighborhood of approxmately 800,000 to 850,000 pay-per-view buys in North America. Best performance – by far – for a heavyweight title fight since Tyson-Lewis in 2002. Wilder-Fury 1 sold around 325K buys
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) February 27, 2020
“Sources: The rematch between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury generated in the neighborhood of approximately 800,000 to 850,000 pay-per-view buys in North America. Best performance – by far – for a heavyweight title since Tyson-Lewis in 2002. Wilder-Fury 1 sold around 325K buys,” Coppinger reported.
Although the numbers were high, Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated and DAZN says that the event fell below the break-even point for.
This is more or less what I’m hearing, too.
Digital buys—ESPN-plus, Fox Sports App—overperformed.
Traditional cable, DTV did not.
Privately, officials hoped for 1 to 1.1 millions, effectively break even numbers. https://t.co/c2Z1OIjgZW
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) February 27, 2020
“This is more or less what I’m hearing, too. Digital buys – ESPN-plus, Fox Sports App – overperformed. Traditional cable, DTV did not. Privately, officials hoped for 1 to 1.1 million, effectively break-even numbers,” Mannix reported.
Both Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder were expected to make around $28 million for the event. But, how this will impact that pay is unknown. Reports also came out that illegal stream was a major factor in the event not getting the 1-1.1 million buys they expected.
Regardless, Fury and Wilder are expected to have their trilogy fight later this year after the American triggered his rematch clause. He also blamed the loss on his costume that weighed 40-pounds.
What do you make of Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder 2 PPV buys not reaching the break-even point? Sound off in the comment section, PENN Nation!
This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 2/27/2020.