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The two major reasons DAZN must break promise with Pay Per View fees

If you signed up for DAZN, you had a promise that Pay Per View would get abolished in the future. As 2021 comes to a close, this is no longer the case.

A humungous u-turn, not the first on the DAZN landscape, has been applied. It comes after an admission by Eddie Hearn that the paid platform is needed to compete in the growing market.

Now, there are two significant reasons for that. They are pound for pound king Canelo Alvarez and former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.

Canelo’s move to Showtime for a PPV gig with Caleb Plant and Joshua’s contract with Sky Sports Box Office running out are two heavy burdens to bear for DAZN.

Their ten-fight, $365 million deal got severed after a short period in favor of a fight-by-fight basis arrangement. The Mexican superstar then took off to see if the grass was greener elsewhere.

DAZN wants him back. And they know the only way to do that is to mimic Showtime’s ability to offer Pay Per View.

If they don’t, they risk losing the sport’s biggest star to their rivals time and again. It would only take one successful jaunt with Showtime for DAZN to get left in the lurch after promising fans they’d have Canelo on the service long-term.

As for Joshua, his tenure with Sky Sports Box Office ended in September when he lost to Oleksandr Usyk with a whimper.

Sky Sports Box Office could move to extend the deal again. However, Hearn would love to have his top UK asset on DAZN. And bring his hundreds of thousands of loyal British PPV subscribers with him.

That seems to be the plan for the Usyk rematch as we witness things pan out over the coming months.

Both Canelo and Joshua need that fee-based platform to go with their profile. Hence, DAZN is breaking its promises time and again.

Anthony Joshua Canelo Alvarez in the gym

NO PAY PER VIEW

DAZN entered the sport with a fanfare business model to be “The NetFlix of Boxing.” Sadly, within months of inception, their initial blueprint and several since had to alter.

From charges of $9.99 doubling within a short space of time to this latest decision to bring in Pay Per View, nothing has been a smooth ride for the streaming service.

Unless they evolve further and do what many saw evident from the start, they know Canelo will move on. Joshua would also have to stick with Sky in the UK.

This scenario was always on the cards.

The views expressed in this article are opinions of Phil Jay.

Phil Jay – Editor of World Boxing News since 2010 with over one billion views. Follow WBN on Twitter @WorldBoxingNews.