Davis vs Garcia PPV Buys: SURPRISINGLY LOW Number Would Be Satisfactory For Showtime Sports Head
Expectations Have Already Been Exceeded In Terms Of Tracking Numbers For Davis vs Garcia PPV Buys But A Lower Buy Rate Than The Consensus Would Not Surprise Stephen Espinoza
Ryan Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs) and Gervonta Davis (28-0, 26 KOs) collide in what can only be described as a modern-day super fight this Saturday, April 22 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas live on DAZN in the UK and DAZN PPV in the US.
No belts, no P4P rankings, just two of boxing’s young, undefeated stars putting it all on the line in their 136-pound catchweight clash. One of the most anticipated fights of recent times, Tank vs Garcia has really captured the imagination of not only the hardcore boxing fan but the general sports fan alike.
In his most recent bout in January, Davis stopped Hector Luis Garcia after eight rounds when Garcia complained he could not see. A devastating puncher, Tank has all but two of his wins inside the distance and has seen the power carry as he has moved up the weight classes.
Garcia forged his Jan tune-up after two successful comeback fights in 2022 as he sat out the majority of 2021. 12 frustrating rounds with the very negative Emmanuel Tagoe in April were followed by a mightily-impressive display over Javier Fortuna which led to a KO-6, with several of the punches too quick for even the cameras to capture in real-time.
Davis vs Garcia could represent a positive shift in boxing as two young stars, marketable in their own right, are risking it all against each other. A cross-promotional bout between PBC and Golden Boy plus rival networks DAZN/SHO working together to put on the best and biggest matchups in the sport.
Stephen Espinoza On Davis vs Garcia PPV Buys
The majority of people think that Saturday’s fight will achieve somewhere in the high six digits in terms of domestic PPV buys with one of the promoters of the event, Oscar De La Hoya, predicting as high as 2m.
Stephen Espinoza, the head of Showtime Sports, has taken a much more conservative view of the potential buy rate.
“The biggest thing we’ve seen since Mayweather McGregor was the 800k that Canelo Plant did. Wilder-Fury was a little bit below that. Basically, that’s been the high watermark, there are plenty of reasons for that, but the biggest has been piracy. No question that is definitely depressing the number of sales.” Espinoza told IFL TV
PPV buys have been plummeting due to how easy it has become to steal events and the saturation of high-priced PPVs is turning away customers, especially in the US, with fighters like Deontay Wilder and Andy Ruiz hitting mid-five-digit numbers for their respective PBC PPVs.
“If we were anywhere in that ballpark (800k), I’d be absolutely thrilled. If we exceeded that, then I’ll be shocked.” Espinoza’s expectations of the event have already been increased through early PPV buys, and numbers generated from the promotion, which have surpassed his more moderate estimates.
“If we were even at 4-500,000 buys domestically, that’s still bigger than just about anything other than the top 4/5 fights we’ve seen in the last 5 years. Given where these guys are in their careers, I’ll be perfectly satisfied if we ended up sort of in that mid-range.”
Espinoza concludes by saying that he’d even be satisfied with as little as 400,000 buys for what is considered a mega event as it would leave the fighters with multiple times their career-high paydays but he is obviously hoping for more buys.
A 4-fight main card which features WBA super middleweight champion David Morrell, a rematch of the 2021 ‘Knockout of the Year’ and more is scheduled to begin at 1:00 am BST (8:00 pm ET, 5:00 pm PT) as part of the regular DAZN subscription in the UK and on DAZN PPV in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Main Event Ring Walks will occur at approximately 04:00 am BST (11:00 pm ET, 8:00 pm PT). Stay tuned to NoSmokeSport.com for more details about the undercard, running order, and fight week updates as they happen.