Is YouTube the new "Free TV" for Boxing?

[puffineater]

Many times the average boxing fan will complain that the promoters of today are too old and no longer able to properly utilize the technology of today in order to properly promote their events.

The fragmentation of the media and their lack of boxing coverage has been touted for years now.

However... with every negative, there's a positive.

In my opinion, the fact that the U.S. based promoters violently lack in terms of innovation and fundamental understanding of the internet also helps the boxing fan due to their inability to fight piracy online.

Some of the biggest events including the Mayweather and Pacquiao fights are available in High Definition on YouTube literally 15 minutes after the fight takes place. Obviously YouTube eventually shuts the video down but usually months later, a full version shows up and HBO and the promoters forget about even attempting to fight it.

Another interesting factor is the fact that YouTube has a large viewership especially concentrated with the younger demographics.

I believe that YouTube allows accessibility and exposure for the sport in unofficial ways that can help the sport immensely especially compared to the UFC. Due to Zuffa's competence in the technology space, it actually hampers the ability for their sport to grow due to the pay-walls in place such as DVD, PPV, and cutting edge piracy fighting.

It's an interesting time to be a boxing fan especially when watching the sport grow literally from the ground up.


Perfect Example... Kirkland-Angulo is free for world-wide viewing right here: Alfredo Angulo vs James Kirkland 720p - YouTube

 

[VooDooCHild]

it's pretty much "free tv" for everything. news, sports, tv shows it's all up on youtube.

 

[puffineater]

Not for UFC fights...

They have ripped everything down from there in order to sell DVD's. Hahahahah! How 90s of them.

 

[Corleone187]

They can already charge to watch PPVs on Youtube.

All they have to do is make a call to set it up.

Anyways videos can already be ID before they even go live through a digital fingerprint without even taking a look at the video so pirated vids would have no chance of making it through IF they are set up to be ID'd.

It doesn't matter if something is after the PPV i think because in all honesty if someone is not gonna pay $50 for a PPV then they simply are not gonna pay. Its an even tougher sell after the event. If they can't find it on YT they will go somewhere else anyways.

Focus should just be made on the LIVE event and setting up a PPV on YT which should take a few days to set up at the most. The model has already been setup the past year or 2 that anyone can charge for viewing their videos if they wanted to. But older events I think it's just a waste of time

 

[puffineater]

I'm referring to accessibility.

Free on YouTube is key.

PPV is a broken model.

 

[XCuTioNeR]

Yes, Hatton broadcasts his cards on there live.
Same with the WSB.

 

[puffineater]

I'm not referring to live streams.

I'm merely referring to the fact that you can basically "YouTube" 99 percent of many boxing fights from all over the world compared to UFC bouts that are 100 percent GONE on YouTube.

Boxing inadvertently makes itself very accessible on YouTube.

 

[Andrei Orlovski]

Bellator has put up Chandler vs Alvarez in HD , it has over 225k views now. I think it's not a bad idea , I bet tons of those people who watched haven't seen a single Bellator fight before aka being UFC fans only.

 

[puffineater]

That's exactly what I'm referring to.

Even if it's not live persay, YouTube affords massive exposure that 90 percent of the world has "free" access to.

 

[Blue Mercury]

Not for UFC fights...
.

There are UFC fights on YT just that they are uploaded as Unlisted.

 

[Golden Age]

I get what you're saying, but your point is only in contrast to the UFC who are notorious for not allowing even a little bit of a fight to be seen for free. They dont even allow people to use their stuff in highlights where they're showing how great UFC is.

 

[Marc A]

I get what you're saying, but your point is only in contrast to the UFC who are notorious for not allowing even a little bit of a fight to be seen for free. They dont even allow people to use their stuff in highlights where they're showing how great UFC is.

I hope that was hyperbole

HL are used every time on YouTube

link to just Jon Jones alone jon jones highlight - YouTube

also videos of full ufc cards can be found all over YouTube and other sites. I do agree that Boxing can benefit from the large library on YouTube.. just how does one make money?

 

[puffineater]

I get what you're saying, but your point is only in contrast to the UFC who are notorious for not allowing even a little bit of a fight to be seen for free. They dont even allow people to use their stuff in highlights where they're showing how great UFC is.

My point is in contrast to large conglomerates that "fight" with YouTube.

Boxing is overly fragmented and too old to even know how to fight.

 

[TheStudent]

lol so what you're saying is boxing promoters and broadcasters are unaware and/or incapable of dealing with people uploading the videos on to youtube?


orr Maybe these crazy old guys aren't all so out of touch with the world after all, and would rather have previous events for free on youtube to generate more interest rather than use their resources to block it off just so that they can sell a couple of DVDs.

Dont forget, HBO itself puts up some full fights for free on youtube (Mayweather/Marquez, Cotto/Margarito, etc.)

 

[mozfonky]

I love youtube, I never watch tv, never so youtube is a godsend, boxing is about the only thing good about cable anyway. Moreover, unless it's being strictly looked over, I can see a fight hours after it's happened, you can't beat that if you're broke as I usually am. Now, I can hear discussions about a fight like Pac-Marquez and give my opinion just as fast as I can watch it.

 

[Golden Age]

My point is in contrast to large conglomerates that "fight" with YouTube.

Boxing is overly fragmented and too old to even know how to fight.

But you're coming at it from the standpoint of you're used to UFC never letting you see past fights for free, so because UFC does it, you're under the impression that everyone does it, but because boxing is old, they don't know how to take them off of YouTube.

That's not the case. If anything, it's UFC that's the odd man out in terms of letting people see their past fights for free.

And boxing doesn't let people see their fights on YouTube because they're too lazy or ignorant to know how to take them down. In most cases, the promoter themselves put the fights up on YouTube.

Here's full fights on YouTube, and notice the uploader. HBO themselves uploaded them.

Cotto/Margarito - Boxing Classics: Miguel Cotto vs. Antonio Margarito (HBO) - YouTube

Mayweather/Marquez - HBO Boxing Classic: Mayweather vs. Marquez (2009) (HBO) - YouTube

Pacquiao/Cotto - Boxing Classics: Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto (HBO) - YouTube

 

[puffineater]

But you're coming at it from the standpoint of you're used to UFC never letting you see past fights for free, so because UFC does it, you're under the impression that everyone does it, but because boxing is old, they don't know how to take them off of YouTube.

That's not the case. If anything, it's UFC that's the odd man out in terms of letting people see their past fights for free.

And boxing doesn't let people see their fights on YouTube because they're too lazy or ignorant to know how to take them down. In most cases, the promoter themselves put the fights up on YouTube.

Here's full fights on YouTube, and notice the uploader. HBO themselves uploaded them.

Cotto/Margarito - Boxing Classics: Miguel Cotto vs. Antonio Margarito (HBO) - YouTube

Mayweather/Marquez - HBO Boxing Classic: Mayweather vs. Marquez (2009) (HBO) - YouTube

Pacquiao/Cotto - Boxing Classics: Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto (HBO) - YouTube

Ummm... out of the 100,000 or so fights uploaded to YouTube, what percentage is uploaded by the promotional company?

I'd say less than 1 percent.

Your "most cases" is probably one of the most uninformed statements I've read this year.

 

[ZroC]

I don't think boxing promoters are too much into DVD sales. Outside of closing downs streams on ppv night it wouldn't serve them much purpose to spend time going around closing down youtube vids.

 

[Golden Age]

Ummm... out of the 100,000 or so fights uploaded to YouTube, what percentage is uploaded by the promotional company?

I'd say less than 1 percent.

Your "most cases" is probably one of the most uninformed statements I've read this year.

No reason to be a jerk, man.

And it's probably not a good idea to say someone has the most uninformed opinion you have heard, then proceed to pull a random number out of thin air to support your a subjective point you're trying to make. Just a heads up.

I know that because you're used to UFC never putting any fights or showing any finishes on ESPN or sports highlights for free, it's hard to understand how any other fights from other combat promoters could make their way onto YouTube without being taken down the way UFC's fights are always taken down, but most big time promoters do put their own fights up for free. UFC is actually one of the only big promoters who doesn't.

Go to Bellator's YouTube page and you will see they upload their fights to their YouTube page, including the Fight of the Year candidate, Alvarez vs Chandler from a couple weeks ago.

BellatorMMA's Channel - YouTube

Just because UFC doesn't let anyone see their product for free doesn't mean you should be surprised that others do. Even HBO replays their PPV's on the HBO channel a week later. They realize people already bought the event and there probably isn't a single person in the world who after the event already happened, is going to say, "Man, I forgot about that fight last weekend! I'm going to drop $60 to watch it a week late!"

UFC is different because they're not really pushing a sport, they're pushing a brand. So if they give "UFC" fights for free, people will start getting used to seeing UFC fights for free and will stop purchasing them.

 

[CardinalAqua]

You can find a MASSIVE amount of boxing on youtube
I love just kicking back and picking out a fight and watching it for free
good times