Amir khan Snubs sky

Amir khan vs zab Judah will be on primetime tv, not sky box office. Because of sky pulling out of the khan-mcclosky card, Amir khan decided to shift to primetime and looks to stay with them. Khan-mcclosky broke primetime records with 60000 buys and they are expecting to get +100000 buys. Although that is great numbers for pimeime, I cant help think that with sky the fight could sell to over 500000 easily. Sky seem to be really promoting UK boxing to the public. SSN has been really advertising Carl froch and Amir khan can be promoted the same way. Khan seems to be open to losing UK fans. I don't know how many buys khan-maidana did but khan is more ppv worthy since then. Primetime aren't big enough imo for when khan gets to world class opposition and with little support in the UK he loses a large income stream.

What do you think of this, I hate it personally as I think he is entraining in fights and I'm not going to subscribe to primetime.

All i can think is Sky weren't going to offer him the PPV platform

Think the cold hard facts are that Khan just doesn't sell on PPV, the figures that have been mooted for past fights have been nothing short of shambolic when you compare that to the likes of Hatton, Haye and to an extent JC

Sadly he's beyond arrogant, he doesn't realise he needs a profile in this country and is only going to sell himself down the drain when it comes to Bradley.

Khan can shove his arrogance up his pokey-hole. His hangers-on are making him and his team look like absolute amateurs.

There goes his bargaining power with Bradley

if you think he entertaining then you will pay to watch no matter what channel its on no?

the ppv for khan-mccloskey was on at a reasonable time in the UK. bad move from khan if he goes with primetime @ 4am

it's a bum fight anyway couldn't give a damn to be honest.

Khan has never done huge numbers, he has a loyal but modest fanbase. If he'd stuck with Sky and let them put the farcical McCloskey fight on SS3 the Judah fight would be on box office. In business you sometimes have to endure short term pain for long term gain, and you certainly never bite the hand that feeds you. I said all this at the time and that khan would suffer for his actions with the McCloskey fight. He's surrounded by an amateurish team and is being badly advised. Sky have Haye and now Froch, plus prizefighter and the domestic scene sewn up - khan now seems somewhat surplus to requirements for now. He may make decent ish money on PrimeTime but his bank balance and profile will never be as big as if were to have stuck it out with Sky, and that's a cold hard fact of life.

Khans problem is he believes his own hype - he's signed to GBP, has an alphabet strap and trains at the wild card. He's chummy with Pacquiao but I think he believes he's on the same level in terms of his star power (he even copy's mannys banging the gloves together thing - except he does it then runs away whereas manny does it and starts fighting back!). The facts are he's not a name in the US, and without Sky backing him he'll become less of a name in the UK.

Sugar boy, you're bang on the money, and unless he eats a bit of humble pie and stops acting like such an arrogant, petulant numpty I really won't be bothered if he's ever back on UK screens. Like you say, it seems very likely he's shot himself in the foot. Sod him.

I'm not going to sign up to that joke channel.

Amir Khan's welcome has been truly worn out.

Hopefully Super Zab manages to finish him off.

And to think after the Maidana fight i actually wanted him to do well.

marcellus wallace wrote:if you think he entertaining then you will pay to watch no matter what channel its on no?

Not if you havent already signed up to primetime, and from what i have been told it is a pain.

Is alot easier to just watch a stream online for free guys

Not like any of my mates will be frothing at the japs eye to all stay up to watch him fight Zab not so super anymore Judah.

Alarm set for 3.30am and a dodgy myp2p stream will do me just fine

I get the impression Khan and GBP know something we dont and his move away from Sky is based on something other than spite.

Khans market in the UK has never been massive for starters so its not like Hatton ditching Sky and truckloads of ppv buys. His fight with McClosky was a test the waters fight domestically and it didnt work out on almost every front. Maybe he thinks its not worth it.

These tv networks and deals are alot more complex than perhaps we fans know. Behind the scenes we dont really know whats going on. The networks can have a huge say in who you fight and when you fight (as we saw with Haye) so maybe Khan feels long term hes better off ditching Sky and sticking with America and looking to secure deals with Showtime/HBO etc where the PPV market far exceeds the UK.

I think Khan is thinking big and intends to establish himself as a US based fighter with a US audience. With GBP backing him and being part of the Wildcard gym with Pacquiao and Roach I think as long as he does the business in the ring he wont really regret leaving Sky too much in the future and Sky may even be the ones who come crawling back to him. Especially in the very real possibility Froch and Haye lose their next fights and CLeverly struggles to put together decent cards.

I watched the Froch vs Dirrel fight and was appaulled by the quality of Primetime's coverage.

Add to that it was PPV and that is just insult to injury.

If Khan isn't popular enough for PPV, then so be it. How dare he punish his fans.

I'm guessing i'm the only person who will be subscribing then?

Sky would have definitely validated the Judah fight as PPV worthy, it's a unification clash against a 'name' fighter, albeit was bigger a few years ago.

I wasn't impressed with the Primetime coverage of Froch vs Abraham, the commentators were poor and didn't get you interested.

It's probably sour grapes from Khan's side and probably gets a better cut per PPV but undoubtedly will sell far less.

Valero's Conscience wrote:Sky would have definitely validated the Judah fight as PPV worthy, it's a unification clash against a 'name' fighter, albeit was bigger a few years ago.

I wasn't impressed with the Primetime coverage of Froch vs Abraham, the commentators were poor and didn't get you interested.

It's probably sour grapes from Khan's side and probably gets a better cut per PPV but undoubtedly will sell far less.

Definately? Really? Or maybe because they'd probably already informed his team they didn't see the point of putting him on PPV @ 4am against a guy that isn't going to draw in any more PPV subscriptions than Khan has already achieved?

So you're saying team Khan has "sour grapes" and has turned down a more lucrative option (arguably as they're the much much much bigger outfit and platform) just because his toys are out the pram?

For me personally it's Sky realising the effort to put on a PPV show for a 4am fight isn't worth it (from a business sense) as Khan has sold eff all PPVs.

Keep thinking your reasoning is definative, is probably wrong though.

coxy0001 wrote:

Valero's Conscience wrote:Sky would have definitely validated the Judah fight as PPV worthy, it's a unification clash against a 'name' fighter, albeit was bigger a few years ago.

I wasn't impressed with the Primetime coverage of Froch vs Abraham, the commentators were poor and didn't get you interested.

It's probably sour grapes from Khan's side and probably gets a better cut per PPV but undoubtedly will sell far less.

Definately? Really? Or maybe because they'd probably already informed his team they didn't see the point of putting him on PPV @ 4am against a guy that isn't going to draw in any more PPV subscriptions than Khan has already achieved?

So you're saying team Khan has "sour grapes" and has turned down a more lucrative option (arguably as they're the much much much bigger outfit and platform) just because his toys are out the pram?

For me personally it's Sky realising the effort to put on a PPV show for a 4am fight isn't worth it (from a business sense) as Khan has sold eff all PPVs.

Keep thinking your reasoning is definative, is probably wrong though.

Do you always go on a forum to look for a argument coxy?...Is Valero not allowed a opinion...I dont think sky would put it on ppv purely due to the fact that Haye vs Klitschko is on the same month.

Correct me if im wrong but didn't sky say they don't do 2 ppvs in a month?...Sky would put Khan on ppv because after Haye, Khan is next marquee fighter.

Am I the only one that thinks Primetime is ok? Although it isnt a HD channel, at least they dont have ad's after every round. I am a big Khan fan - I dont care what channel he is on. Why would I - he is on TV live. What difference does it make what channel number I press??

I support Khan the boxer - not his hangers on. If I followed a fighter because of everything else they do - I would dislike 99% of boxers - including Mayweather who is my fav boxer.

Khan seems to get over analysed more than most. I like his fights - he is entertaining. I dont care about the rest and I dont care how much he earns - thats his business and I couldn't give a damn. I support him for his boxing - not his business acumen.

The genius of PBF wrote:

coxy0001 wrote:

Valero's Conscience wrote:Sky would have definitely validated the Judah fight as PPV worthy, it's a unification clash against a 'name' fighter, albeit was bigger a few years ago.

I wasn't impressed with the Primetime coverage of Froch vs Abraham, the commentators were poor and didn't get you interested.

It's probably sour grapes from Khan's side and probably gets a better cut per PPV but undoubtedly will sell far less.

Definately? Really? Or maybe because they'd probably already informed his team they didn't see the point of putting him on PPV @ 4am against a guy that isn't going to draw in any more PPV subscriptions than Khan has already achieved?

So you're saying team Khan has "sour grapes" and has turned down a more lucrative option (arguably as they're the much much much bigger outfit and platform) just because his toys are out the pram?

For me personally it's Sky realising the effort to put on a PPV show for a 4am fight isn't worth it (from a business sense) as Khan has sold eff all PPVs.

Keep thinking your reasoning is definative, is probably wrong though.

Do you always go on a forum to look for a argument coxy?...Is Valero not allowed a opinion...I dont think sky would put it on ppv purely due to the fact that Haye vs Klitschko is on the same month.

Correct me if im wrong but didn't sky say they don't do 2 ppvs in a month?...Sky would put Khan on ppv because after Haye, Khan is next marquee fighter.

I'm just gonna start ignoring you, do you read my posts? Do you not see words such as "probably" "arguably", i'm saying i think his "definitive" approach to his opinion is wrong - i'm allowed to disagree with peoples opinions as much as they're allowed to post them - is it really that hard to understand?

And what's going to serve Khan better in the long run in terms of fanbase? Fighting on SS1 or Primetime? When he does come back to Sky it's totally dependant on his oppo selling the whole fight rather than just on Khan's name - something that Hatton and Haye did/do extremely well.

I think his team are more business saavy then people think. I dont think this is just a rash decision to move away from sky based on personal feelings. Money talks for most of these boxers.

Most people, including me, were critical of his decision to force the McCloskey fight onto ppv rather than air it on regular sky. The assumption being he would make less shot term but it would pay in the long run. However I think the decision was probably more calculated and his team had made up their mind then that they were not interested in Sky in the long term. Thus a short term ppv was better than regular sky.

Sky is great is you are someone like Haye who entire fanbase is basicaly just the UK, or Hatton who can do huge numbers. But Khan is young and has his sights set on cracking into the U.S ppv scene. I dont think he sees the domestic market as his future as he has never done massively well here. If he decided to base himself in the UK and fight here regularly to build up a bigger fan base then he would stick with Sky but I think he clearly feels its not a long term thing.

Its obviously a risk, but a calculated one. Beneath the surface I think the issue is far more complicated than simply spite or bad business. Money talks in boxing and it would be highly unusual for a boxer to make decisions that cost him money like that deliberately.

I wonder how much extra attention Khan would have actually got from moving the McCloskey fight to Sky? Probably not much.

Some of his early fights were getting 4 million + viewers, an extra couple of hundred thousand on Sky compared to Primetime wouldn't have made much difference.

Plus, judging by Froch, Primetime doesn't exclude you from an ITV rerun. A repeat of the Sky broadcast will be more expensive to them.

coxy0001 wrote:

The genius of PBF wrote:

coxy0001 wrote:

Valero's Conscience wrote:Sky would have definitely validated the Judah fight as PPV worthy, it's a unification clash against a 'name' fighter, albeit was bigger a few years ago.

I wasn't impressed with the Primetime coverage of Froch vs Abraham, the commentators were poor and didn't get you interested.

It's probably sour grapes from Khan's side and probably gets a better cut per PPV but undoubtedly will sell far less.

Definately? Really? Or maybe because they'd probably already informed his team they didn't see the point of putting him on PPV @ 4am against a guy that isn't going to draw in any more PPV subscriptions than Khan has already achieved?

So you're saying team Khan has "sour grapes" and has turned down a more lucrative option (arguably as they're the much much much bigger outfit and platform) just because his toys are out the pram?

For me personally it's Sky realising the effort to put on a PPV show for a 4am fight isn't worth it (from a business sense) as Khan has sold eff all PPVs.

Keep thinking your reasoning is definative, is probably wrong though.

Do you always go on a forum to look for a argument coxy?...Is Valero not allowed a opinion...I dont think sky would put it on ppv purely due to the fact that Haye vs Klitschko is on the same month.

Correct me if im wrong but didn't sky say they don't do 2 ppvs in a month?...Sky would put Khan on ppv because after Haye, Khan is next marquee fighter.

I'm just gonna start ignoring you, do you read my posts? Do you not see words such as "probably" "arguably", i'm saying i think his "definitive" approach to his opinion is wrong - i'm allowed to disagree with peoples opinions as much as they're allowed to post them - is it really that hard to understand?

And what's going to serve Khan better in the long run in terms of fanbase? Fighting on SS1 or Primetime? When he does come back to Sky it's totally dependant on his oppo selling the whole fight rather than just on Khan's name - something that Hatton and Haye did/do extremely well.

Amir Khan already has a fanbase, won olympic silver...the general public know who he is...Khan will probably earn more money on primetime then SS1.

Sky will have him back they know how big Khans potential marketing wise is. Im not getting into another argument with you coxy...Please do ignore me

Some good points there Manos. I think when it comes to PPV - everyone else gets compared to Hatton - where 80% of his fans were crossover fans from football.

Nowadays if someone hasn't done PPV numbers anywhere near Hatton - they automatically get (unfairly) labelled as unmarketable. Hatton should not be used as a measure for successful PPV - he was a one off. And probably will be for quite some time.

Heavyweight PPV will always do decent numbers due to them being the marquee division. This has always been the case with boxing. The big lads always get the most attention - particularly from casual fans.

Scottrf wrote:I wonder how much extra attention Khan would have actually got from moving the McCloskey fight to Sky? Probably not much.

Some of his early fights were getting 4 million + viewers, an extra couple of hundred thousand on Sky compared to Primetime wouldn't have made much difference.

Plus, judging by Froch, Primetime doesn't exclude you from an ITV rerun. A repeat of the Sky broadcast will be more expensive to them.

I would say a decent bit more had the fight been on regular sky - I think it was mooted for SS3 though which less people might have. But the reaction would not neccessarily have been great given it was a poor fight with a weak ending.

I dont think Khan is interested in playing the "long term" game with Sky and to be fair short term thinking is pretty much what boxing is founded on so he is by no means unique.

Sky and his potential ppv take there with them are small fry compared to the U.S (if he makes it there) and its also worth remembering that they also have a big say in the fighters career then. Indications seem to be they are taking a firm line with boxers now and demands are increasing.

If you look at somehow like Haye, he is basically completely at their mercy. I believe part of the reason why the Klitschko fight is coming off now is that Sky took a firm line with Haye after the Harrison farce and he had exhausted his credit with them. I dont think they were going to accept a mandatory or small name and slap it on Box Office. So Haye had to basically find an opponent and a date to suit Sky.

Khan isnt as married to Sky as Haye and unlike Haye has the potential to crack into the U.S (hes made a good start). I jut dont think he intends to play ball with them when he has a bigger picture in mind. Plus his ppv figures with them dont justify a strong relationship.

Haye could well be gone in 6 months either through defeat or retirement. Froch will have his big moment with Ward but could easily be sidelined in 6 months also by a defeat. After that Sky dont really have any ppv material and Khan will be in a much stronger position (assuming he wins).

Depends who pulls the strings at Sky. My hope would be that they have someone who has a good background knowledge of Khan's history or is at least prepared to listen to someone who does.

Maybe someone says, "Yeah, we could put this guy on PPV but he'll try pull our pants down over it and it's just not worth it"

Chances are that, whilst Khan is young and has a bright future, he simply wants to make as much money as he can and then calls it a day in the next couple of years then Sky are back to square one!

khan wont have any decesion which channel he fights on, that will be made by his team, who are hurting his credibility imo

DAVE667 wrote:Depends who pulls the strings at Sky. My hope would be that they have someone who has a good background knowledge of Khan's history or is at least prepared to listen to someone who does.

Maybe someone says, "Yeah, we could put this guy on PPV but he'll try pull our pants down over it and it's just not worth it"

Chances are that, whilst Khan is young and has a bright future, he simply wants to make as much money as he can and then calls it a day in the next couple of years then Sky are back to square one!

It's all Adam Smith now. He's the head of boxing at Sky.

Eddy, i somehow think a fighter makes a choice based on what his team come back to him with. The fighter is the one in charge of everything - he has a team of ants to do his dirty business work but he is the one who pays their bills and will be the one who has the final choice. He won't suddenly wake up and go "Barry, why am i on Primetime and not Sky PPV you bloody idiot".... will he now?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!??!?!!!?!!?!?!?!?

Just quietly, why are threads getting locked without explanation now? I thought we were being behaved on the Ortiz thread.

coxy0001 wrote:

Valero's Conscience wrote:Sky would have definitely validated the Judah fight as PPV worthy, it's a unification clash against a 'name' fighter, albeit was bigger a few years ago.

I wasn't impressed with the Primetime coverage of Froch vs Abraham, the commentators were poor and didn't get you interested.

It's probably sour grapes from Khan's side and probably gets a better cut per PPV but undoubtedly will sell far less.

Definately? Really? Or maybe because they'd probably already informed his team they didn't see the point of putting him on PPV @ 4am against a guy that isn't going to draw in any more PPV subscriptions than Khan has already achieved?

So you're saying team Khan has "sour grapes" and has turned down a more lucrative option (arguably as they're the much much much bigger outfit and platform) just because his toys are out the pram?

For me personally it's Sky realising the effort to put on a PPV show for a 4am fight isn't worth it (from a business sense) as Khan has sold eff all PPVs.

Keep thinking your reasoning is definative, is probably wrong though.

Fair enough Coxy, but i "think" it's more from Khan's side because Sky would also make a lot of money from the fight which i think they would be able to promote well but you're right in that maybe Sky have pulled out.

I truly think the Judah fight is PPV worthy though, Judah is exciting and has fought many big names over the years and offers Khan some real potential problems for the first half of the fight IMO.

I was critical of his decision to leave Sky and am still sceptical. For me only sky have the marketing budget and such like to do a PPV well. However as others have said nobody really knows what is going on behind the scenese. We do not know if Primetime are going to increase their budget, introduce HD coverage or any such things, if they are this could be a good move.

However if this is not the case personally I don't think burning your bridges with the biggest and best boxing company in town is particularly in Khan's interests.

I think Sky are trying to acheive the right balance. The boxing market here is not big enough to support ppv fights on a regular basis and Sky want to pitch it between showing decent live boxing with the right amount of ppv.

At present Britain has potentially 4 ppv sources - Khan, Haye, Froch, Warrens cards feat Cleverly, DeGale, Gavin etc. I think Sky feel thats too much for the general fanbase to support regular ppv which is why you saw the McCloskey fight downgraded.

Initially Sky backed Khan, to the point of ruling out an April date for Haye. However the the quality of opponent and card was not sufficient to warrant ppv and to be honest its a fair while since Sky have had a genuine ppv winner.

On the other hand all the fighters will want every fight on ppv which Sky realise isnt feasible. Khan v McCloskey, Haye v Harrison, Froch v Johnson arent ppv material.

Both the fighters and the network are trying to make the most money possible. If Khan feels he will make more elsewhere long and short term then thats what he will do.

coxy, maybe and he could say something, but since early on when khan was fighting on ITV after the olympics i've always get the impression that his dad and his uncle make any decesions for him.

Classic line from Zab: "It's good to see Alex Ariza back with Team Khan, I hope he has good locks on his hotel door!"

also would imagine with the big splash froch has created as of late he will be getting the ppv ahead of khan (well deserved imo).

Maybe Khan feels that regardless of what he does a lot of people in the UK won't like him, which to be fair seems the case.

So if he has 100k fans that will get a PPV and Sky aren't that keen on these figures for a PPV fighter he has gone to his only option. Afterall most of his loyal fans will watch him wherever.

Maybe Primetime are prepared to offer him a 'single fight' deal rather than tying in longer term and Khan feels that in a couple of fights time Sky will be offering a better deal (if he's a unified champ). So why sign a five fight deal now rather than in a couple of fights time.

If it was any other fighter everyone would probably be glad that Sky has competition.

huw wrote:Maybe Khan feels that regardless of what he does a lot of people in the UK won't like him, which to be fair seems the case.

So if he has 100k fans that will get a PPV and Sky aren't that keen on these figures for a PPV fighter he has gone to his only option. Afterall most of his loyal fans will watch him wherever.

Maybe Primetime are prepared to offer him a 'single fight' deal rather than tying in longer term and Khan feels that in a couple of fights time Sky will be offering a better deal (if he's a unified champ). So why sign a five fight deal now rather than in a couple of fights time.

If it was any other fighter everyone would probably be glad that Sky has competition.

Also - he gets a hefty wedge from HBO/Showtime. Probably more than Sky would give him over here. I think the UK PPV isnt that much compared to the money american broadcasters and GBP give him.

coxy0001 wrote:Just quietly, why are threads getting locked without explanation now? I thought we were being behaved on the Ortiz thread.

Although I didn't lock it - you (plural) were getting out of hand. Half of you baiting YT whilst YT responded with aggression. Some banter OK. Continuous sniping not.

Good on you Oxy, if these kids won't behave when given the velvet glove give em the iron fist instead.

After Kahn "beat" mcclosky he disgraced all claims of a rematch, claiming he was in another class to the Irish challenger yet he still expected us boxing fans to spend our hard earned cash to watch him fight such "inferior" opposition. I used to think amir was a great British prospect, but have had my concerns for a long time now, since prescot ko'd him and he started to refer to himself in the 3rd context (an early sign of delusion) he has lost touch with the fans (including me) that once held him in such high regard. He hasn't got a god given right to my ( or your) hard earned wages. He isn't even close to a p4p fighter yet, so why is it he thinks he automaticly qualifies for pay per veiw status? Amir is 1 defeat away (like James degale) from being a promoters nightmare and realy needs to get his feet firmly back on the ground before it's too late

1weight1champ wrote:After Kahn "beat" mcclosky he disgraced all claims of a rematch, claiming he was in another class to the Irish challenger yet he still expected us boxing fans to spend our hard earned cash to watch him fight such "inferior" opposition. I used to think amir was a great British prospect, but have had my concerns for a long time now, since prescot ko'd him and he started to refer to himself in the 3rd context (an early sign of delusion) he has lost touch with the fans (including me) that once held him in such high regard. He hasn't got a god given right to my ( or your) hard earned wages. He isn't even close to a p4p fighter yet, so why is it he thinks he automaticly qualifies for pay per veiw status? Amir is 1 defeat away (like James degale) from being a promoters nightmare and realy needs to get his feet firmly back on the ground before it's too late

Good point, Sky didn't think he was good enough for PPV in that fight so were going to put it on Sky Sports. Khan obviously thought it was PPV worthy, or he was PPV worthy, and so went PPV with primetime. But then he tells us McCloskey is nowhere near the same class as him but we've still to pay him.

Good point, Sky didn't think he was good enough for PPV in that fight so were going to put it on Sky Sports. Khan obviously thought it was PPV worthy, or he was PPV worthy, and so went PPV with primetime. But then he tells us McCloskey is nowhere near the same class as him but we've still to pay him.
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Fair play to sky, this fight is an absolute sham and why should they take it? , Froch's fight with Johnson wasn't great but a normal sky fight. A shot fighter with a huge mouth against a young up and comer, its no different to the Barrera set up imo, however they have to stick with it, unless your fighting Bradley, Maidana again do us all a favour and don't ask us to pay £15 then cry about it, moneygrabbing idiot imo.

all on skysports around that time, after
Sturm v Macklin (normal sky better fight)
Murray v Mitchell (normal sky better fight)
Mayweather v Ortiz (normal sky better fight)

Interesting to know that in the local paper in Bolton Kahn is reported as saying that he and Golden Boy promotions are upset because they are being snubbed by Sky for the Judah fight. Indeed they report that one of the Golden Boy executives will be meeting with sky as soon as possible, to iron out the situation with the reported threat that anybody snubbing Khan is also snubbing Golden Boy Promotions.

So who is snubbing who? Sky or Khan?

Eddie Hearn wants Brook v Khan, sky will be interested in that

Truth is that Khan v Judah isn't really a big fight. Judah brings a belt to the table and that's it. A vacant belt he won by beating Kaizer Mabuza. It's over 5 years since Zab fought Mayweather and he was considered past his best then!

When are team Khan going to learn that they need to attract fans by showing fights like this for free, so that when they do go PPV these new fans will pay for it.

Truth is that Khan v Judah isn't really a big fight. Judah brings a belt to the table and that's it. A vacant belt he won by beating Kaizer Mabuza. It's over 5 years since Zab fought Mayweather and he was considered past his best then!

When are team Khan going to learn that they need to attract fans by showing fights like this for free, so that when they do go PPV these new fans will pay for it.
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I'll second that. Kell Brook would destroy Judah now as well, he should be fighting the Brook's, Bradley's'