The pay-per-view prices for boxing events have been really painful for fans. These expensive pay-per-view prices forced an increase in illegal streams, which in turn cost a lot of money in lost revenue. Like, for the first undisputed heavyweight title, which lost close to $100 million in pay-per-view revenue thanks to illegal streams. After the catastrophe, His Excellency Turki Alalshikh announced a lower PPV price for all of his Riyadh Season cards, and fans were joyous.

He even fulfilled the promise by pricing the Anthony Joshua vs. Daniel Dubois fight at £19.95. His Excellency then vowed that he would “try to push to have our Riyadh Season shows at less than £20 in England and less than $20 around the world…” However, it now looks like the upcoming rematch between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk will once again break that $20 barrier and as expected the fans are not happy.

Tyson Fury-Oleksandr Usyk to cost how much?

According to a post by Boxing Kingdom, the DAZN pay-per-view price for the upcoming rematch for the unified heavyweight championship will be $39.95 in the USA and £24.99 in the UK. The Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury 2 will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on December 22.

The fight might have exceeded the $20 mark promised by His Excellency. However, it is far cheaper for the US fans than their first clash on May 18. For the fight, DAZN had charged £24.99 for new users and £23.99 for an existing user in the UK. However, the US audience had to pay $69.99 for the PPV and the move completely backfired.

According to the reports, 20 million people illegally streamed Usyk’s coronation as the undisputed heavyweight champion. It resulted in more than $95 million in lost revenue. However, 18% of illegal streamers were from the UK, so setting the rematch at the same price is quite a risky move.

Well, the fans are furious and feeling betrayed by these prices and reminded HE Turki Alalshikh of his promise of lower pay-per-view costs.

Promise Broken? Fans Feel Betrayed

A user wrote, “Whatever happened to promise from Turki Alalshikh to lower PPV prices………….” reminding His Excellency of the promise he made. However, this is not the first time that DAZN and its marketing team have made a confusing marketing decision for a Riyadh Season card. The fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol was offered for free to ESPN+ subscribers in the US. However, DAZN premiered the undercard as a separate PPV at $19.99. Which resulted in the undercard generating less than 1000 PPV buys in the US.

Another user wrote, “Poor undercard but what’s the price in Europe.” The undercard in the Kingdom Arena will feature several intense bouts but severely lack a big name. Isaac Lowe and Lee Mcgregor will open the PPV in a featherweight match. Other fights on the undercards are Moses Itauma vs. Demsey McKean, Johnny Fisher vs. Dave Allen, Dennis McCann vs. Peter McGrail for the European Super Bantamweight title, and Serhii Bohachuk vs. Israil Madrimov. Other than the Madrimov vs. Bohachuk and the main event, there is really nothing exciting on the card that attracts the fans. This has made the price of the PPV even more infuriating.

Another user, not a fan of the prices, said, “Too Expensive!” Once again, it is quite shocking to see the price difference between the US and the UK. The UK crowd will have to pay around $31 (£24.99)for the fight, whereas the fans in the US will have to pay $39.95. 

Another user, quite appalled by the decision, wrote, “Dazn is garbage. As bad as netflix.” Netflix came into scrutiny after the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson event streaming issues, which ruined fans’ experience. 

A fan, meanwhile, wrote, “Usyk by stoppage incoming,” predicting the result of the fight. According to him, Oleksandr Usyk will successfully defend his unified title, and that too via a knockout victory.

Only time will tell whether this increase in PPV price will affect DAZN and Riyadh Season or not. However, the decision has left the fans furious and has taken away a bit of excitement from the Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk rematch.

What are your views regarding the new PPV prices? Do you think the pay-per-view is too expensive? Let us know your thoughts down below.