Triller look set to be disappointed in their bid to change the Pay Per View game with events headlined by Oscar De La Hoya and Teofimo Lopez.
The streaming service revealed they expected to surpass 4 million PPV buys for the remainder of the year. That was before the De La Hoya pulled out.
A subsequent Evander Holyfield headliner opposite Vitor Belfort then reportedly bombed at the box office.
In a show Triller held high hopes for this month, Holyfield got knocked out in 109 seconds by UFC star Belfort. Along with De La Hoya, Triller stated their intentions to gain tremendous views from their two upcoming shows during fight week.
“Triller has sold over 2,500,000 Pay-Per-Views to date. Triller expects to exceed 4,000,000 Pay-Per-Views buys for the year. These figures make it the largest league, eclipsing even the UFC, who’s dealing with ESPN, provides $350,000,000 a year for 2.500,000 Pay-Per-Views buys.
“Triller has already exceeded it this year,” they said.
OSCAR DE LA HOYA
It seems the Oscar De La Hoya withdrawal cost the broadcaster dearly.
Forced to scrap a plan just days before is never a good thing. But having to move it entirely because one of your competitors cannot get a license is another scenario that must be compensated for before a card is confirmed.
Announcing expectations before an event gets completed can never be a good idea. It now begs the question, ‘what are their expectations now?’
Sitting on 2,650,000 sales, if you believe the reports from the Holyfield debacle, Lopez vs. George Kambosos Jr. is up next.
The undisputed lightweight title fight will have to sell over one million if Triller hits its dizzy heights.
Maybe they can squeeze in another Pay Per View event before the end of the year? – Even then, it would have to be a massive one to rebuild its already fragile reputation.
Whatever happens, bringing nearly sixty-year-old legends out of retirement has to be removed entirely from longer-term thinking.
The views expressed in this article are opinions of Phil Jay.
