Eddie Hearn On PPV’s Future: Why Big Fights Still Need Pay-Per-View Despite Free Riyadh Season Events On DAZN

Eddie Hearn says he still intends to put on PPV cards because he needs to for him to make the big fights. He’s pleased that Turki Alalshikh has chosen to make his Riyadh Season events for free on DAZN. That’s not going to change anything for his events. He’ll continue to sell the bigger ones that involve Anthony Joshua, Conor Benn, and Chris Eubank Jr.

Hearn’s PPV Strategy

“I think PPV is important to make big fights, but I think there are too many fights that are on pay-per-view,” said Eddie Hearn to Fight Hub TV, reacting to Turki Alalshikh announcing his Riyadh Season events will be free on DAZN as part of the regular subscription for that platform.

The events that will be shown on PPV on DAZN now are going to have to be ones that fans are interested in paying for. They’re not going to be eager to see just any event that the promoters put on. Placing Anthony Joshua’s fights on PPV is questionable because he’s washed up and hasn’t beaten a good heavyweight in years.

Value for Fight Fans

“I think last Saturday’s show. Should that have been PPV, or should that have been part of your subscriptions? Different fights in different places and different time zones,” said Hearn. “I think it’s great for DAZN and the subscribers because they’re now going to get more PPV fights as part of their subscription, which means the fight fan will receive more value.”

Last Saturday’s PPV card, headlined by Edgar Berlanga vs. Hamzah Sheeraz, was worthy of being placed on pay-per-view. The only issue was the running order.

Berlanga-Sheeraz should have been placed three or four deep on the card. Shakur Stevenson vs. William Zepeda was the real main event, and David Morrell vs. Imam Khaev the true co-feature. That fight stole the show. That was easily the best of the entire night in terms of drama.

“Will PPV still exist? Absolutely. Will it still exist for us? Absolutely. But a lot of our shows, we don’t do a lot of PPV shows away from Benn-Eubank, Joshua, and stuff like that. We want shows like Saturday, those big fights, to be a part of your subscription for DAZN,” said Hearn.

Anthony Joshua doesn’t bring in big numbers from U.S fans in his events. Now that the rematch between Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr. is off, that’s one less PPV event that Hearn will have the opportunity to put on.

“PPV is not dead on DAZN, that’s for sure. DAZN will continue to do PPV, but there will be more bigger shows as part of your subscription, which I think is fantastic,” said Hearn.

Turki Alalshikh: Free DAZN Impact

What Hearn might not realize is that the PPV events that are shown on DAZN will bring in fewer buys because fans will be spoiled by the many free events that Turki Alalshikh is putting on. He tends to load his cards with excellent fights. Hearn and the other promoters who choose to place their events on PPV may suffer from fewer buys.