Saturday’s Errol Spence-Terence Crawford fight delivered a big punch for the pay-per-view boxing category by drawing an estimated 600,000 to 700,000 buys, industry sources said. 

While the July 29 event will most likely fall short of the industry standard 1 million PPV buys, the fight — which Crawford won with a convincing ninth-round TKO of the formerly undefeated welterweight champion Spence — is expected to finish as the second-biggest PPV boxing event of the year so far, following Showtime’s April Tank Davis-Ryan Garcia bout, which drew a reported 1.2 million buys.

Despite Crawford’s one-sided win, the two fighters could meet later this year in a rematch. After the loss, Spence indicated that he would look to exercise a rematch clause in the contract that could put the fighters back in the ring as soon as December. A rematch would likely be fought at the 154-pound junior middleweight division, which is seven pounds heavier than Saturday's welterweight division fight.

Prior to Saturday’s event, Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoza said he thinks the Spence-Crawford bout will boost the PPV appeal of both fighters. “These two gutsy fighters will emerge as bigger stars [after the fight] then they are going into the fight,” he said.

The PPV boxing category will now turn its attention to the August 5 event between YouTube star Jake Paul and former UFC champion Nate Diaz. The DAZN-distributed event will stream on DAZN PPV, ESPN Plus and PPV.com

The pay-per-view boxing category will look to continue its strong 2023 campaign Saturday (July 29) with the much anticipated Errol Spence-Terence Crawford fight from Las Vegas. 

The Showtime-distributed welterweight unification bout is the seventh major event for the PPV boxing category this year, with Showtime’s April 22 Gervonta Davis-Ryan Garcia event setting the mark as highest-performing fight the year so far with a reported 1.2 million PPV buys.

Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoza said the Spence-Crawford bout pits two of boxing’s most popular and best pound-for-pound fighters together in a rare unification championship fight. The event, which retails for a suggested $84.99, is expected to finish among the top-performing PPV boxing events of the year, although Espinoza would not predict a specific buy number. 

“It will be one of the two or three biggest PPV events of the year,” he said. “This is a bigger fight than anything else we've seen in the sport and should be one of the biggest [PPV] fights of the year.”

While Spence-Crawford may not break PPV records, industry observers said the fight will continue to boost the appeal of the category that still has several more big events scheduled.  

“Davis-Garcia was certainly about what was going to happen in the ring but was also about the social media circus that preceded the fight, which helped its performance,” In Demand and PPV.com senior VP of programming and marketing Mark Boccardi said. "The Spence-Crawford fight will sell itself on what happens in the ring as opposed to a lot of other pay-per-view events that are sold during the marketing and promotional period leading up to the fight.”

As for what's next, the PPV boxing category will be back in play on August 5 with a fight featuring YouTube star Jake Paul and former UFC mixed martial arts champion Nate Diaz. In September, Canelo Alvarez will put his undisputed super middleweight championship on the line against former champion Jermell Charlo in a blockbuster PPV boxing event. 

The pay-per-view boxing category’s already strong 2023 campaign will get a major boost in July as Showtime will distribute the much anticipated welterweight boxing match between champions Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford.

The fight, for the undisputed welterweight championship, will take place in Las Vegas and will pit the undefeated WBC, WBA and IBF 147-pound champion Spence Jr. against WBO champion Crawford. Both fighters have headlined PPV boxing cards, and industry observers believe that the fight could surpass the industry standard 1 million PPV buys.

“Spence vs. Crawford is the type of matchup that will demonstrate boxing’s enduring popularity – a marquee event to bring the sports world to a halt with all eyes on the center of the ring in Las Vegas,” Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoza said. “This fight will be talked about alongside all of the legendary welterweight and undisputed world title bouts throughout history.”

The fight is the seventh major PPV fight card in 2023 and fourth for Showtime. The network’s April 22 Gervonta Davis-Ryan Garcia fight is the highest-performing fight of the year thus far, generating a reported 1.2 million PPV buys.

Most recently, DAZN’s May 6 Canelo Alvarez-John Ryder bout drew a reported 450,000 PPV buys.

With Saturday's Canelo Alverez-Gennady Golovkin fight officially in the books, the pay-per-view boxing category is in the process of finalizing it's fall schedule, which could include a lucrative Errol Spence Jr.-Terence Crawford welterweight unification bout. 

Alvarez, the undisputed super middleweight champion, won a close but unanimous decision against Golovkin in the third bout between the two boxers. While PPV buys for the fight were not available, the event is expected to rank among the top performing PPV boxing events of the year. The fighters’ 2017 fight, which ended in a draw, and their 2018 bout – won by Alvarez in a disputed decision – drew a combined 2.4 million viewers, according to industry sources. 

Following Alvarez-Golovkin, the PPV boxing category is hoping for a mega welterweight unification fight between WBC, WBA and IBF champion Spence and WBO champion Crawford. The fighters have agreed to terms for a November 19 bout, but no contracts have been signed, according to ESPN.com.

Spence last appeared in the PPV ring this past April, defeating former welterweight champion Yordenis Ugas by TKO. Crawford last November defeated Shawn Porter in an ESPN-distributed PPV event. 

The fall PPV fight schedule also includes Fox Sports’ October 15 fight between former heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder and Robert Helenius, as well as Showtime’s Oct. 29 bout between YouTube sensation Jake Paul and former UFC mixed-martial arts champion Anderson Silva.■

The pay-per-view boxing schedule for the second half of 2022 is starting to take shape with a number of high-profile fights set and one blockbuster bout in the wings. 

DAZN on Saturday (July 16) will kick off the schedule with a lightweight fight involving contenders Ryan Garcia and Javier Fortuna. Consumers purchasing the $34.99 fight via ppv.com will receive a free month of DAZN, according to the online PPV distributor. 

Showtime will showcase YouTube star Jake Paul as he continues his boxing career in an August 6 PPV fight against Hasim Rahman Jr., the son of former heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman. Paul’s last PPV bout was a December 18 knockout of Tyron Woodley in a rematch of their August 2021 PPV event. 

The event will also feature a women’s championship fight between featherweight titleholder Amanda Serrano and Brenda Carbaja.

“Jake clearly moves the needle like no one else, and we at Showtime are proud to be in business with him and he’s clearly bringing the sport to a new audience,” Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoza said. “The same can be said of Amanda Serrano, who inspires multitudes of young girls every time she fights. We’re proud of our history with women’s boxing and proud to have Amanda back for a fifth time.”

Arguably the biggest fight scheduled so far is the September 17 Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin trilogy fight, which pits two of the PPV industry’s biggest draws against each other. The first two Alvarez-Golovkin fights in 2017 and 2018 generated a combined 2.4 million PPV buys, according to industry sources. 

Also in September, Fox Sports will offer a Labor Day weekend PPV fight card with a main event bout matching up heavyweight title contenders Andy Ruiz Jr. and Luis Ortiz.

On the horizon is a potentially lucrative PPV welterweight unification bout between Terrence Crawford and Errol Spence. Industry sources say Showtime is in negotiations to bring the fight to pay-per-view this fall, although a deal has yet to be reached. ▪️

Showtime hopes to give a big promotional punch to Saturday’s Errol Spence Jr.-Yordenis Ugás welterweight championship pay-per-view fight by showcasing a live fight card on the premium channel and on YouTube leading into the PPV event. 

The premium network enters the pay-per-view boxing ring for the first time this year with its Spence-Ugás event, which will retail at a suggested price of $79.99. The fight, a unification of three welterweight titles, pits arguably the sport’s pound-for-pound champion in Spence against Ugás, who defeated Manny Pacquiao last August. Spence was initially scheduled to fight Pacquiao, but had to pull out of the fight with an eye injury. 

Showtime Sports & Event Programming President Stephen Espinoza said Spence is also among the sport’s biggest PPV draws, having pulled in nearly 500,000 buys for his last fight, a 2020 win against Danny Garcia. His return to the ring after the eye injury should drive boxing fans’ interest in the fight. 

“We have a long history with Spence going back to his pro debut, and this matchup falls right within our wheelhouse of us trying to provide elite matchups at the highest level of the sport,” he said.

Showtime will support the fight with a live, two-fight boxing event that will air on the premium service Saturday night prior to the PPV event. Espinoza said the fight card -- which features the Radzhab Butaev-Eimantas Stanionis welterweight bout as well as the Brandun Lee-Zachary Ochoa super lightweight match -- is also one of the main highlights of the network’s current subscriber acquisition campaign offering Showtime free to non-subscribers for 30-days. The Showtime fight card will also be offered for free on the network’s YouTube page. 

“There’s a lot of value in this offering,” Espinoza said. “We’re trying to make it as easy for subscribers and non-subscribers to enjoy a great day of boxing as possible.”

Espinoza wouldn’t predict how many buys Spence-Ugás would generate, but he did say that he expects the fight to do very well. “This is as tough of a fight as Errol has had arguably in his career, and with the stakes of three championship belts on the line, there’s a lot to attract the boxing fan," he said. "Errol has a pretty well established track record of over 300,000 pay-per-view buys in his past fights – we certainly see that as a floor with the potential for more than that.”

Spence-Ugás is the first of at least four PPV boxing events Showtime is planning to distribute in 2022. The network already has scheduled a May 28 Gervonta “Tank” Davis-Rolando Romero PPV fight. Espinoza said Showtime will use the PPV platform only for big PPV events featuring the top fighters in the sport.

“Pay-per-view is a useful tool to help finance fights that wouldn’t otherwise happen without the pay-per-view revenue mechanism,” he said. “Our core business remains programming for Showtime – we have the deepest and highest profile schedule of any network in the sport – but occasionally we have to use that mechanism to allow fights to happen.” ■

Lightweight boxing champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis will headline a May 28 pay-per-view boxing card on Showtime, part of an extensive network lineup of televised boxing shows over the next four months.

Davis will defend his title against Rolando Romero on a pay-per-view fight card distributed by Showtime. The fight follows the network’s April 16 PPV boxing event featuring welterweight champions Errol Spence and Yordenis Ugas.

Other high-profile fighters set to appear on Showtime through July include middleweight champion Jermall Charlo, super middleweight champion Jermell Charlo and former champion David Benavidez, said the network. 

“When you consider the competitive nature of these fights, the star power of fighters like Errol Spence Jr., ‘Tank’ Davis, David Benavidez, the Charlo brothers, and the youthful vitality of Stephen Fulton Jr., Jaron Ennis and Brandun Lee, it’s never been clearer that Showtime is the destination for the most compelling fights and will be for years to come,” Showtime Sports & Event Programming President Stephen Espinoza said in a statement.   

Also: Errol Spence, Tyson Fury, Canelo Alvarez to Step into PPV Boxing Ring This Spring

Showtime's upcoming TV boxing schedule featuring main event fights is as follows:  

• March 26: Tim Tszyu-Terrell Gausha, super welterweights. 
• April 9: Erickson Lubin-Sebastian Fundora, super welterweights. 
• April 16 (PPV): Errol Spence Jr.- Yordenis Ugas, welterweight championship unification. 
• May 14: Jermell Charlo-Brian Castano II super welterweight championship unification. 
• May 21: David Benavidez-David Lemieux, super middleweights.
• May 28 (PPV): Gervonta Davis-Rolando Romero, lightweight world championship. 
• June 18: Jermall Charlo-Maciej Sulecki, middleweight world championship.
• July 9: Mark Magsayo-Rey Vargas, featherweight championship. 

The spring pay-per-view boxing calendar is set to rumble with the recent announcement of three marquee boxing cards on tap beginning in April. 

On April 16, World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. will return to the ring to fight World Boxing Association welterweight champion Yordenis Ugas in a PPV unification fight distributed by Showtime. Spence, who will enter the ring for the first time since 2020 when he defeated Danny Garcia, was scheduled to fight Manny Pacquiao in August 2021 but had to withdraw after suffering an eye injury.

Ugas replaced Spence in the fight and defeated Pacquiao by unanimous decision.  

“The welterweight division has always been boxing’s glamour division … this is a three-belt unification fight and exactly the kind of fight that Showtime has become known for,” said Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoza during Tuesday’s press conference to announce the fight. 

A week later, current WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury will defend his title against contender Dillian Whyte. The fight, which will be distributed by ESPN PPV, will mark Fury’s first fight since his 11th round knockout of Deontay Wilder in their October 2021 trilogy fight. That fight reportedly generated around 600,000 PPV buys.

Super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez will enter the PPV ring a month later, moving up in weight to face light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol in a May 7 PPV event distributed by DAZN. If Alvarez wins, he has already committed to fight former champion Gennady Golovkin in a highly anticipated third bout between the two in September. 

Fox Sports kicked off the 2022 PPV boxing schedule with its February 5 Keith Thurman-Mario Barrios welterweight event. Given the marquee fighters on the PPV boxing cards and live sports' continued appeal to viewers, April and May’s lineup of fights could punch up some significant PPV revenue numbers for the category. ■ 

The highly anticipated Aug. 21 Manny Pacquiao-Errol Spence pay-per-view fight is officially off after Spence was diagnosed with an eye injury, according to Fox Sports.

Pacquiao will instead fight World Boxing Association welterweight champion Yordenis Ugas in the PPV event, according to Fox. Ugas was scheduled to fight on the undercard of Pacquiao-Spence, but his opponent Fabian Maidana recently suffered a sparring injury and had to pull out of the fight, according to ESPN.com. 

Spence was diagnosed with a retinal tear to his left eye during a recent medical exam. In an Instagram post the undefeated welterweight champion expressed his disappointment in having to pull out of the fight but vows to return from his injury.

The Pacquiao-Spence fight is the latest PPV boxing event in recent months to be altered due to fighter injury/sickness. The scheduled July 24 Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder trilogy fight was postponed to Oct. 9 after Fury tested positive for COVID-19. The June 19 Teofimo Lopez-George Kambosos lightweight championship PPV fight was postponed after Lopez was diagnosed with COVID. The fight has yet to be rescheduled.

Read Also: Fury-Wilder III PPV Fight Rescheduled for Oct. 9

As the TV sports world continues to recover from the pandemic, few sports are in a position to experience a greater renaissance than boxing -- particularly on the pay-per-view event platform.

The addition this week of the July 24 Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder trilogy fight to an already stacked summer PPV boxing schedule creates a dream lineup that could generate significant revenue for the PPV industry.

The PPV boxing industry was poised to have a strong 2020 after the second Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury heavyweight championship fight in February of that year drew a reported 1.2 million PPV buys -- the first fight to break the industry standard mark since 2018. With potential fights being lined up featuring the top draws in the sport including Manny Pacquiao and Canelo Alvarez -- as well as up and coming PPV draws such as Gervonta Davis and Errol Spence Jr. -- the category in 2020 was well positioned to generate significant revenue. 

Also Read: Tyson Fury Defeats Deontay Wilder in Big Heavyweight PPV Fight

Then COVID-19 hit and nearly all of the proposed big PPV events fell by the wayside. Showtime and Fox Sports jump started the category in late 2020 with PPV fight cards headlined by champions Jermall Charlo, Davis and Spence that averaged around a reported 220,000 buys across three fights. But it was a November exhibition fight between Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. that proved that boxing could still deliver significant PPV purchases and revenue.  

That event, distributed by social media company Triller and featuring musical performances alongside traditional fights, drew more than 1.6 million PPV buys -- finishing among the top 10 biggest PPV events ever -- and set the category in motion to create in 2021 one of the more impressive stretches of PPV fights in recent memory. 

The June 6 Showtime-distributed exhibition fight between all-time PPV revenue champion Floyd Mayweather and YouTube sensation Logan Paul is one of three PPV fights scheduled over the next three months that have a puncher’s chance of hitting the 1 million PPV buy mark. 

The Wilder-Fury trilogy fight as well as the Aug. 21 Pacquiao-Spence Jr. welterweight unification fight -- Spence is arguably among the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport and Pacquiao is the second-biggest PPV revenue draw ever behind Mayweather -- could provide the industry its first year of three or more 1 million PPV buy events since 2017 when Mayweather-Conor McGregor, Alvarez-Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., and Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin II all surpassed the mark.   

Also Read: Manny Pacquiao-Errol Spence PPV Fight Set for August

Also on the summer PPV boxing schedule is Triller’s June 19 Teófimo López-George Kambosos Jr. lightweight championship PPV event and Showtime’s June 27 Mario Barrios-Gervonta Davis junior welterweight title PPV fight.

And that’s all before the fall when iconic fighters Oscar De La Hoya, Evander Holyfield and Tyson potentially return to the ring in PPV exhibition fights.

"2020 was incredible for PPV - we didn’t think we could top it but we’re on our way," said In Demand SVP programming and marketing Mark Boccardi. “2021 is shaping up to be a great year for PPV with a heavyweight title at stake, the return of Floyd Mayweather, possibly Manny Pacquiao’s last fight which will be against superstar Errol Spence, crossover social media fights, and still more to come.”

Even as the country begins to open up this summer and show signs of returning back to some sense of normalcy, the PPV boxing category is set to keep millions of fight fans glued to their TV screens over the next few months

Boxing legend Manny Pacquiao will step into the pay-per-view boxing ring in August to challenge undefeated Errol Spence in a welterweight championship fight.

Pacquiao, who announced the fight in a Tweet Friday night, has generated the second most PPV revenue ever behind Floyd Mayweather. Pacquiao’s 2015 fight against Mayweather remains the biggest PPV event ever, generating 4.6 million PPV buys.

Pacquiao will fight for the first time since defeating Keith Thurman in 2019. Spence, the WBC and IBF welterweight champion, last fought in December, defeating Danny Garcia. The Pacquiao-Spence fight will take place in Las Vegas, according to ESPN. 

The fight is arguably the biggest PPV boxing event announced so far in an already crowded late spring/early summer schedule of PPV fights. Mayweather will fight a Showtime-distributed June 6 PPV exhibition fight against YouTube star Logan Paul; Triller will distribute the June 19 Teófimo López-George Kambosos Jr. lightweight championship PPV event; and Showtime will offer the June 27 Mario Barrios-Gervonta Davis junior welterweight title PPV fight.

Also Read: Showtime Sets June Floyd Mayweather-Logan Paul PPV Exhibition Fight

The TV sports lineup for the first weekend of December will feature some of the top ranked college football and basketball teams as well as a major pay-per-view boxing event. 

College football will enter the final leg of its regular season with several key matchups, including a primetime matchup between top-ranked Alabama and LSU (CBS) and afternoon games featuring fifth-ranked Texas A&M at Auburn (ESPN), fourth-ranked Ohio State (pictured) at Michigan State (ABC), and third-ranked Clemson at Virginia Tech (ABC).

Boxing will once again take center stage in the pay-per-view combat sports ring with Fox Sports’ Errol Spence-Danny Garcia welterweight championship fight. The fight, which will retail at $74.95, will pit two of the top welterweight fighters in the sport.

The NFL will look to complete its week 13 Sunday schedule without any major COVID-19-related postponements outside of moving its Baltimore Ravens-Dallas Cowboys Dec. 3 Thursday Night Football game to Tuesday (Dec. 8) and Sunday's Washington Team-Pittsburgh Steelers games to Monday (Dec. 7.)  NBC’s primetime Sunday Night Football game features an AFC West matchup between the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs.

College basketball will feature an early matchup of top-ranked teams as number one Gonzaga plays second-ranked Baylor Saturday afternoon (CBS), while 12th-ranked Villanova travels to play 17th-ranked Texas (ESPN). 

NBC and NBCSN will continue its coverage of Premier League soccer games on Saturday and Sunday, while ESPN on Sunday will televise the Sakhir Grand Prix Formula One auto racing event.

Fox Sports this Saturday will step in the pay-per-view boxing ring for the first time in 2020 with the much anticipated Errol Spence Jr.-Danny Garcia welterweight championship fight card from AT&T Stadium in Dallas. 

The Premier Boxing Champions-promoted fight card -- which was moved to Dec. 5 from its original Nov. 21 date to allow fans to attend the event -- is the fourth PPV boxing event for the industry since the pandemic virtually shut down all sports programming this past March, and features two of the biggest names in the sport. The fight, which will retail for a suggested price of $74.95, is the third straight PPV fight for Spence, who has reportedly averaged more than 350,000 buys for his March 2019 fight with Mickey Garcia and his Sept. 2019 bout with Shawn Porter. 

Fox Sports executive VP and head of programming and scheduling Bill Wanger recently spoke to Multichannel News senior content producer, programming R. Thomas Umstead about the big fight and outlines Fox Sports’ boxing plans for 2021. An edited version of the interview appears below.

Does the fight’s date change to December help or hurt the event’s PPV buy potential? 

I don’t think there’s a difference in terms of buys between late November and early December -- I think we’re in early enough before the huge holiday crush. I do think that this PPV event represents the two of the best of the best. They are both great fighters, and Errol -- with the storyline of him coming back after his horrific [October 2019] car accident.-- taking on the former champion in Danny represents a fight in which viewers will see sparks fly.

Are you concerned that the current economic environment that we’re in given the pandemic could dampen PPV buys? 

Of course, we’ve very cognizant of the fact that there’s unemployment, however we do feel that with this fight at this time of the year and people not traveling as much, this could offer a bit of an escape for people, and allow some families to get together and watch. We also feel confident that we’re giving the consumer a great product.

Any projections of how many buys the fight will generate?

No, but I would say that with the reported figures for some of the earlier PPVs that the category has had, I feel like the PPV industry is right where it was pre-pandemic in terms of number of buys in relation to the fights. We’re expecting this fight to do what some of the other Errol Spence [PPV] fights have done. 

Have you changed any specific marketing tactics to help drive buys for the fight? 

Our marketing tactics in general are similar to what they were pre-pandemic. What I would say is that on our digital platform we’re making it easier for people to buy the fight. We’re offering more of a one-click option like Apple Pay and PayPal versus entering your credit card. So in that aspect we are trying some new things that will benefit the consumer.

How do you see the business evolving in 2021?

I think for us we’ll see our normal load of about 10 Fox fights and maybe 12 FS1 fights, and I see us doing four to five PPV events. I do think there are a few interesting things out there within the boxing industry -- will [Tyson] Fury and [Deontay] Wilder fight each other again? What will happen to [middleweight champion] Canelo Alverez after his next fight? I think we’ll see some clarity in 2021 that will create some exciting matchups that viewers will want to see. 

As Major League Baseball, the NBA and NHL gear up for fall postseason runs, boxing is quietly putting together a robust lineup of pay-per-view events to run over the next four months.

Three PPV boxing cards combined from Showtime and Fox Sports, as well as the scheduled November return of former PPV boxing champ Mike Tyson to the squared ring, will look to put boxing on the TV sports map in the fourth quarter.

“It’s a crowded fall boxing line-up, which is great for sports-starved consumers,” Mark Boccardi, senior VP of programming for PPV event aggregator In Demand, said.

Showtime recently launched an ambitious eight-fight fall boxing schedule which includes two major PPV events: a Sept. 26 card featuring world champion brothers Jermall and Jermell Charlo fighting in separate bouts, and an Oct. 24  Gervonta Davis- Leo Santa Cruz championship unification event, said Showtime officials.

The Sept. 26 card would be the first major PPV event for the category since the Feb. 22 Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder II heavyweight championship fight, and the first being held amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Showtime is holding all of its fights with no fans at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.

Fox Sports will step into the PPV boxing ring on Nov. 21 with the Errol Spence Jr.-Danny Garcia welterweight championship fight. It's the undefeated Spence's first fight in more than a year after suffering serious injuries in an Oct. 19 car crash. 

A week later, former heavyweight champion Tyson is expected to enter the ring for the first time in 15 years when he fights another former heavyweight champion Roy Jones Jr. in an eight-round PPV exhibition fight. The event, distributed by multi-media company Triller, is reportedly expected to also feature musical performances as part of the PPV event.

In the wings is a scheduled Dec. 19 Fury-Wilder trilogy fight, although reports say that the fight could be moved to 2021.

While it’s too early to predict whether boxing fans will support PPV events in today’s difficult economic environment, the industry has to be somewhat encouraged by PPV performance numbers from mixed martial arts outfit UFC’s recent PPV events. The UFC’s Aug. 15 UFC 252 event drew around 400,000 buys according to Sports Business Daily, the third best performance for a UFC PPV event since the pandemic began. The May 9 UFC 249 -- its first and top performing PPV event since the pandemic -- drew more than 700,000 buys, according to SBJ.

Boccardi is confident that boxing fans will gravitate to the upcoming PPV fights, especially given the number of high-profile fighters stepping into the ring. 

”This fall’s PPV boxing line-up is going to be major, probably the biggest and most exciting one in recent memory," he said. "Since a lot of traditional fall sports, including some of the biggest conferences in college football, have sadly been postponed, we’re happy to be able to offer PPV customers the opportunity to support this incredible boxing season."

Fox Sports on Saturday will enter the pay-per-view boxing arena for the third time this year with its Errol Spence-Shawn Porter welterweight championship fight card.

Fox Sports, along with boxing promotion company Premier Boxing Champions (PBC), is hoping its aggressive marketing push for Spence-Porter will deliver strong PPV buys that could match or surpass the approximately 300,000 buys for its March Spence-Mikey Garcia PPV event and the reported 500,000 buys for its July Manny Pacquiao-Keith Thurman fight.

Since early September, the Fox broadcasting and FS1 networks combined have aired more than 10 hours of fight-themed programming in and around live NFL, Major League baseball and college football game telecasts. The content included a four-part documentary series, PBC Fight Camp: Errol Spence Jr. vs. Shawn Porter, the finale of which aired this past Sunday on Fox and drew a series-high 1.7 million viewers, according to Nielsen.  

Fox Sports executive vice president and head of programming Bill Wanger talks about Fox Sports’ run of PPV boxing events as well as the marketing push for the Spence-Porter event, which will retail at a suggested price of $74.99. Wanger also looks ahead at Fox Sports' PPV boxing plans for the remainder of 2019 and into 2020.

How do you see this fight shaping up compared to Fox Sports’ previous two PPV boxing events in terms of potential performance and overall awareness of the event?

They are all a little different. This one has the distinct advantage of being in the fall and being promoted throughout our various high-profile sporting events, including the NFL, Major League Baseball and college football. [Last Sunday] there was a good amount of integration of the boxing promotion inside of our NFL programming. I also think this fight has the benefit of a great co-feature event with (Super Middleweight World Champion) Anthony Dirrell against David Benavidez, which should be a great battle. So overall I think it's a really good card.

What are your PPV performance expectations for Spence-Porter?

We’re not in the business of projecting buys, but we think it will be robust.

Were you satisfied with the buys for the first two fights?

Yes. We had some growth from fight one to fight two, and that was great considering fight two was in the summer. We think in general with the UFC moving to ESPN+ that there’s an opportunity in the PPV market for the PBC and Fox to do well, because we’re the only game in town.

Will you look to do another PPV fight event in 2019, and will you remain aggressive in the PPV boxing category in 2020?

Yes, there’s some room to do a fourth fight this year but we’re not in a position to announce anything. I would look for a couple of PPV events in the first quarter -- we’re bullish on the category and we’ll keep moving forward.

How would you describe Fox Sports’ experience thus far in the PPV event business?

I think we, along with the PBC, have built good relationships with the traditional MVPD’s, and you can really see that when you look at the marketing, banners and other promotion for the fight. From a digital perspective where we actually sell the PPV event on our Fox Sports and Fox Now apps, we’ve seen some good growth and we expect it to continue to grow. 

Veteran welterweight boxing champion Manny Pacquiao turned back the clock to beat former undefeated champion Keith Thruman in a split decision during Fox Sports’ second pay-per-view boxing event.

The 40-year old Pacquiao knocked down Thurman in the first round and controlled the pace for much of the 12-round fight to run his record to 62-7-2. Thurman’s first loss dropped his record to 29-1.

In the aftermath of the fight, Pacquiao said he most likely would not fight again until 2020. Pacquiao could next face the winner of the Sept. 28 Errol Spence Jr.-Shawn Porter welterweight unification PPV fight, which Fox Sports and Premier Boxing Champions announced Saturday.

The undefeated Spence fought Mikey Garcia on Fox Sports' inaugural PPV boxing event in March, drawing more than 330,000 PPV buys, according to the company. 

RELATED:Fox Sports Takes Second Jab at PPV Boxing with Pacquiao-Thurman

On Saturday Fox Sports will distribute its first pay-per-view boxing event featuring the Errol Spence Jr.-Mikey Garcia welterweight championship fight.

The PPV fight card, which will take place at AT&T Stadium in Dallas and retail at a suggested retail price of $74.95, is the second PPV boxing event for the industry in 2019, following Showtime’s Jan. 19 fight between Manny Pacquiao and Adrien Broner, which garnered a reported 400,000 PPV buys.

RELATED: Showtime, ESPN+ Land Big Punches With Competing Premium Ring Sports Events

Fox Sports’ fight coverage will begin at 8 pm with FS1’s live coverage of several undercard fights before the PPV event launches at 9 pm. More than 3.1 million viewers have already sampled shoulder programming surrounding the Spence-Garcia bout, according to Fox officials. 

I recently spoke to Fox Sports executive vice president of live operations and research Bill Wanger about Fox’s decision to jump into the pay-per-view boxing ring with Spence-Garcia as well as performance prospects for the fight.

Why did Fox Sports choose this fight as its inaugural foray into the PPV boxing arena?

This is a unique fight. You have two of the top pound-for-pound best fighters on the planet, so we think it’s can’t miss TV. Plus, we have the intrigue of Mikey Garcia going up two weight classes to face a bigger Errol Spence. They are both undefeated and world champions

Areyou confident that the name recognition of the two fighters is strong enough to attract both hardcore and casual boxing fans?

I think that’s where our marketing and PR teams come in, and they are working hard to promote this fight. We have the power of Fox behind this, so we think it will attract the casual boxing fan. We’ve been airing quite a bit of shoulder programming to help promote the fight that’s run on Fox broadcast, and that’s been a great way to capture the interest of the sports fan. We’re also using all of our cable channels, including Fox News and FX, to promote the fight. We also have an extensive media buy outside of the Fox family to promote the fight across all platforms.

Will the fight be available on a digital streaming basis?

Yes, the fight will be available for purchase on FoxSports.com where you could watch it on any device. History tells us that [online buys] fall in the neighborhood of 8% to 10% of the overall buys typically.

Having said that, do you have any general predictions on the PPV performance of the event?

We don’t generally comment on potential sales figures for pay-per-views.

How many PPV boxing events are you looking to do this year?

We’re going to have approximately four to five pay-per-view events a year. They’ll be an announcement shortly on our next PPV card.

In general, how important is boxing to the Fox Sports brand?

I think you can see by all the marketing that we’ve been doing since we started our new deal with [Premier Boxing Champions] in December that the sport is important to Fox. We felt that some of these great fighters, particularly in the glamour divisions like heavyweight and welterweight, were really underexposed. We felt that with the power of Fox and the Fox Sports brand we could elevate these great PBC fighters. We’ve already had a couple of fight cards on the broadcast network that have done over two million viewers. We’re very invested in Premier Boxing.

ESPN will throw its hat into the pay-per-view boxing ring in April when it teams with boxing promoter Top Rank Inc. for the Terence Crawford-Amir Kahn welterweight championship fight.

The April 20 Crawford-Kahn fight marks the first time ESPN and Top Rank have co-promoted a major PPV boxing card since the two reached a distribution agreement in 2017. It’s unclear how much the fight will cost consumers, or how viewers will be able to access the PPV event.

“Showcasing Crawford-Khan as the first pay-per-view event under the Top Rank on ESPN banner is truly a cause for celebration. Crawford is a world champion, a global phenomenon and perhaps the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport and Khan is a fighter that everyone wants to see every time he steps in the ring,” said ESPN executive vice president, programming and scheduling Burke Magnus in a statement. “This is what boxing needs, more big-name showdowns, and this fight is a perfect example of the vision that we had when we teamed up with Top Rank.”

The Crawford-Kahn fight is the third PPV boxing match scheduled thus far in 2019, following this Saturday’s (Jan. 19) Showtime-distributed Manny Pacquiao-Adrien Broner fight and Fox Sports’ March 16 Mikey Garcia-Errol Spence Jr. fight. 

After a slow 2018, the pay-per-view boxing category is expected to come out swinging in 2019.

Already two fights are positioned to vie for boxing fans’ dollars in the first quarter of next year, which would match the number of marquee fights distributed in all of 2018. Fox Sports will join the ranks of PPV distributors when it offers its first ever PPV event in March.

Fox and fight promoter Premier Boxing Champions will distribute the March 16 welterweight championship fight between current titleholder Errol Spence Jr. and four-division world champion Mikey Garcia, part of 10 televised fight cards to be carried by Fox Broadcasting and FS1 in the first three months of 2019. Fox and PBC announced the fights -- part of a recently signed, four-year agreement between the two companies -- during a Tuesday afternoon press conference. 

Fox Sports’ PPV distribution of the Spence-Garcia PPV fight is significant for a category that will lose one of its most dependable partners in HBO Sports, which after a 45-year run will stop airing live boxing matches beginning in 2019. If successful, Fox’s first PPV boxing event could set up the possibility of future big ticket PPV events featuring some of the top fighters in the sport, including welterweights Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia and Shawn Porter; and middleweights Anthony Dirrell, Jermall and Jermell Charlo.

The Spence-Garcia fight is expected to be preceded in the PPV arena by a proposed,  Showtime-distributed fight between current PPV boxing champion Manny Pacquiao and former four-time champion Adrien Broner. The fight would mark the return of Pacquiao -- the second-most lucrative PPV fighter in history behind retired boxer Floyd Mayweather – to the PPV ring in more than two years.

The fight would also mark Showtime’s second PPV bout in as many months, following its scheduled Dec. 1 Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury heavyweight championship fight.