Hearn Wants DAZN To Charge $50 Per Month For Subscriptions

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How much would you pay to watch your favorite combat sports stars like Anthony Joshua and Canelo Alvarez?

I don’t want to claim to be Thornton Melon or some other business-savvy genius, but I can tell you I’m not going to tolerate a massive price increase for the same goods and services I’m already paying for, simply because the provider wants more money.

Oh wait…

Okay, maybe you can slip one by me if the increase is within reason and reflects a rising cost to do business, but does boxing promoter Eddie Hearn really think anyone is going to pay $50 per month to stream sports on DAZN?

“Joshua-Ruiz was three times what Joshua got on Showtime. Even in America, it’s approaching a million audience,” Hearn told SI Boxing with Chris Mannix (via Boxing News 24). “That’s a huge number. One of the problems we had recruiting fighters in the early days was, ‘Oh, no one is watching DAZN.’ They are. More people are watching. We’re getting bigger audience numbers than Showtime.”

“I do believe in the product of DAZN for the value for a fight fan,” Hearn continued. “I’m actually going to say to DAZN, ‘I think you should bump the monthly fee up.’ It’s $19.99 a month. Make it $50 a month. We don’t want you to come and go. We want you to stay and be a part of this community, learn more about boxing, digest the fighters, and grow with us.”

I’m not sure hemorrhaging subscribers qualifies as “growth.”

As a subscriber I can say that DAZN has a quality product with bankable stars, but it’s also up against some pretty stiff competition in the form of the much-cheaper ESPN+. In addition, every network is exploring streaming options in the $10/month range, which could leave consumers with two choices: pay hundreds of dollars a month for streams or pick and choose the best value.

One DAZN vs. four (or more) other services? Not a tough choice.