Khan no longer on Sky - Thoughts?

First topic message reminder :

Update: Not on Sky at all

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12183_6864054,00.html

Scottrf wrote:Sky set up Khan with a PPV date without an opponent, that's where it went wrong. How can you do that and then blame it on the undercard? When do Sky usually care about an undercard? The undercard for Haye vs Valuev had far less interest than this for British fans (look it up, terrible), it's always been the main event that sells. Lets hope lessons are learnt.

I think the Haye fight had naturally more appeal to part time boxing fans as it was a heavyweight contest and the added freakshow interest.

If the Khan fight is over in a couple of one sided rounds (as I think it will be) and only the Hatton Promotions lot padding out the undercard it would be hugely disappointing and leave the next Sky PPV, DeGale et al, a much harder sell.

It’s been fairly badly managed all round, they should have put more effort into the chief support when Matt Macklin fight fell through, but I do give Sky some credit for pulling it.

God knows what they will do with all the prefight documentary footage they have been filming, since it was announced.

Scottrf wrote:Sky set up Khan with a PPV date without an opponent, that's where it went wrong. How can you do that and then blame it on the undercard? When do Sky usually care about an undercard? The undercard for Haye vs Valuev had far less interest than this for British fans (look it up, terrible), it's always been the main event that sells. Lets hope lessons are learnt.

Hevayweight boxing sells the general publiuc but into it. Agree try to promote a fight with no opponent is madness but for Khans team to to bring in McCloskey and hope for it to still be PPV and people to pay £15 is hopeful. A good undercard would have swayed a lot of boxing fans to but the fight but casual fans would have stayed away so it would probably have did poor figures anyway.

Other thing to remember is whatever you think of Haye he can't half sell a fight, appears on pretty much any show that will have him and whilst some of his antics may turn off the hardcore fans he tends to come across as controversial or charismatic.

Whilst I think Khan sometimes gets a bad rap on forums like this, charismatic is not a quality even his staunchest supporters could attribute to him. Think for a PPV to be a real success when the match up isn't great this is absolutely necessary as you need to hook in as many casual fans as possible.

But its not anout the PPV.

The fight isnt even on TV at all now.

Someone messed this whole thing up and I blame Ricky Hatton.

Sheng is on Primetime apparently.

shenglong1983 wrote:But its not anout the PPV.

The fight isnt even on TV at all now.

Someone messed this whole thing up and I blame Ricky Hatton.

How is it Ricky Hattons fault he has put on the best card he can. Macklin pulled out and Matthew only fought last month so he was down his 2 biggest names from a reletively new camp as it is.
It will probably be on primetime but their has been no announcement yet. Premier sports has been mentioned but that's not a PPV channel it's an extra monthly subscription channel.

This does all seem a little amateurish to be honest. Given Khan is with Golden Boy could an arrangement not be made to tie this up with a big card in the states or to import a couple of overseas fighters to boost the undercard. Think there has been a serious amount of arrogance or complete delusion on Khan's teams part if they genuinely believed him and McCloskey was sufficient to carry a PPV on its own

Reborn-DeeMcK-Reborn wrote:

Soldier_Of _Fortune wrote:

Michaels, Sean wrote:

prettyboy1304 wrote:

Reborn-DeeMcK-Reborn wrote:Not really worried about the 15 quid anyhow as it cost me 210 for the flights travel and hotel.

Looking forward to the atmosphere the most, but unfortunately have to stay in Liverpool.

Can't wait to get out of the s#it country for the weekend!

I love Liverpool great weekend down their and the accent on a woman is hot.

You've got to be kidding. Scouse women make me sick.....

Bet the think the same about you aswell.

Just too add, I am not having a pop at staying in Liverpool Soldier, just terrible having to get the train straight after the fight.

Gonna call up and see me old pals in Edge Lane, from the glory days!

Coming from Liverpool i would just like to add that the quality of women we have here is very good indeed.

..also was impresses with the Newcastle night life when visiting on a stag weekend.

shenglong1983 wrote:But its not anout the PPV.

The fight isnt even on TV at all now.

Someone messed this whole thing up and I blame Ricky Hatton.

Very harsh on the hitman...

http://www.boxingscene.com/team-khan-on-sky-sports-split-sky-says-no-bradley--37995

looks like sky have pulled out of showing khan fights all together... they dont seem to be very good businessmen... now sky say they dont want the bradley fight....

I wonder whether Sky are really that petty, but to be honest I couldnt get my head around them shafting Haye v Klitschko in April in order to leave a slot open for a routine Khan fight.

Maybe they were just dishing out some punishment to Haye for the Harrison farce which drew so much negativity.

I support Skys stance that the fighters have to show value for money in order to justify PPV and Khan v McCloskey is not PPV worthy.

But to turn their back on a Khan v Bradley fight and the fact they jeopordised the entire Haye v Klitschko fight, not to mention their failure to get Froch on board ages ago would suggest that something is not quite right there.

sweet_pea wrote:http://www.boxingscene.com/team-khan-on-sky-sports-split-sky-says-no-bradley--37995

looks like sky have pulled out of showing khan fights all together... they dont seem to be very good businessmen... now sky say they dont want the bradley fight....

Khan's mate kissing his bum there. It's not PPV because McCloskey aint PPV and Khan isn't big enough that it doesn't matter who he fights. Sky have enough talent from Warren, Matchroom and Hayemaker to get along fine without him.

Team Khan tried to get the fight on ITV "but they've got the football on".

"The football" finishes at half seven, so they didn't try that hard did they.

Still chasing the £££ from Primetime.

Lesson, it appears, not learned.

Think Khan's people would do well to take a bit of a step back and allow for some cooler heads in this one. The end of the day no matter what the rights and wrongs in this one Sky are the biggest game in town and the only organisation with the facilities and financial muscle to do massive PPV's at the minute in the UK.

If Khan is serious about securing mega fights down the line, beyond Bradley and is serious about facing guys like Mayweather further down the line he has a far better chance of doing this and getting well paid for doing it with Sky on his side. Think had he accepted this downgrading it would have made him some friends with Sky and long term have to think this would have paid off.

If Khan has any sense - he'd take the hint and drop the ppvs.

Pick up a following and then charge them for something "big" later. Lets say he fights Bradley and that shows for free in the UK.

He then beats Ortiz at 140, after Berto beats him. He then beats Morales - then go ppv for a fight at welter. That's 3 fights on freeview - which with decent hyping could build himself a decent following.

Young fighters are made ppv far too early these days. PPV was designed for fights like manila. Not for rubbish like McCloskey.

oxring wrote:If Khan has any sense - he'd take the hint and drop the ppvs.

Pick up a following and then charge them for something "big" later. Lets say he fights Bradley and that shows for free in the UK.

He then beats Ortiz at 140, after Berto beats him. He then beats Morales - then go ppv for a fight at welter. That's 3 fights on freeview - which with decent hyping could build himself a decent following.

Young fighters are made ppv far too early these days. PPV was designed for fights like manila. Not for rubbish like McCloskey.

Whatever about McCloskey being freeview but asking Khan to take on Bradley at freeview is a bit much in this day and age.

Spot on Oxring, think Khan is still suffering from the Prescott fiasco which as an old 606er you will know created a lot of hostility towards him amongst fans. Think he could seriously do with a shot in the arm PR wise and accepting this downgrading with good grace and saying it will be nice for fans to be able to see him for free and playing up the positives of this could have seriously worked in his favour.

He should also not lose sight of the fact that the same guy who owns Sky also owns the largest selling paper in the country and on the back of this he does run the risk of a world title fight in his own country passing off virtually unnoticed particularly as it is up against the cup semi finals.

manos de piedra wrote:

oxring wrote:If Khan has any sense - he'd take the hint and drop the ppvs.

Pick up a following and then charge them for something "big" later. Lets say he fights Bradley and that shows for free in the UK.

He then beats Ortiz at 140, after Berto beats him. He then beats Morales - then go ppv for a fight at welter. That's 3 fights on freeview - which with decent hyping could build himself a decent following.

Young fighters are made ppv far too early these days. PPV was designed for fights like manila. Not for rubbish like McCloskey.

Whatever about McCloskey being freeview but asking Khan to take on Bradley at freeview is a bit much in this day and age.

That's not what I read - I saw that Sky refused this as ppv but would still have shown Khan-Bradley. Khan threw his toys out the pram and wanted Sky sports 1. Sky said no. Amir then broke contract and went to primetime. So really - this is the natural response from Sky - if you're not going to keep faith with them, they won't with you, however "big" you think you are.

Khan needs sky more than sky need khan

Could all this palaver distract Khan, and maybe give McCloskey a chance?

rowley wrote:Spot on Oxring, think Khan is still suffering from the Prescott fiasco which as an old 606er you will know created a lot of hostility towards him amongst fans. Think he could seriously do with a shot in the arm PR wise and accepting this downgrading with good grace and saying it will be nice for fans to be able to see him for free and playing up the positives of this could have seriously worked in his favour.

He should also not lose sight of the fact that the same guy who owns Sky also owns the largest selling paper in the country and on the back of this he does run the risk of a world title fight in his own country passing off virtually unnoticed particularly as it is up against the cup semi finals.

Absolutely agree. So many people now have access to sky - you can't afford to rock that boat.

Unless you like swimming against the tide, of course.

Khan needs sky more than sky need khan
________________________________________________________

Think that hits the nail on the head. Khan needs to only look to Froch to see what being on the outside with Sky can do, fighting consistently good opposition and normally in entertaining fights and is virtually unknown outside of the hardcore fans

Ridiculous move by team Khan which I don't understand really, he just has to look at Froch who probably is Britains premier fighter but receives no exposure tucked away on Primetime.

I must say I don't like fighters having there own promotional team it seems they just simply try and get every single penny, cant imagine for one second if Khan was still with Warren he'd have upped sticks and spat out his dummy and moved Khan to a obscure channel.

Sky could really be quite stubborn in the future and leaves Khan's big fights in limbo.

Cheers
Rodders

Its not really gonna make a bad difference to Khan's bank account IMO.

The biggest piece of damage all this is gonna do is prevent Khan from ever wanting to fight in the UK again.

He has made a big statement in America so my guess is with the likes of HBO throwing money at him, he will fight the rest of his career out there.

He doesn't really need sky when fighting in America

First off, if your on Sky its not for free, you obviously all still live with your parents. Last time I checked I had a subscrition fee for my Sky?

Secondly perhaps Sky are afraid of showing the Live death of Amir Khan when dudey smashes him to bits?

I think there has to be blame on both sides. Sky should have said from day 1 that Khan v McCloskey would not be ppv. Pulling it from ppv at a couple weeks notice is a bit unprofessional if Khan had been banking on it being ppv. Its too short notice.

On principal, it should never have been considered ppv. But once Sky did go with it as ppv then you have to sympathise to some extent with Khan then suddenly being told hes being relegated to SS3 at a couple of weeks notice. Im all for networks demanding value for money but they have to do it the right way and not change their mind halfway through.

Britain currently has a big 3 with Khan, Haye and Froch. Haye will be gone soon, Froch may never end up on Sky and has a tiny following by comparison so if they lose Khan too then it is a pretty big deal for Sky as Khan is the biggest star of the 3 at present and has as prescence with Golden Boy and the U.S. Im not sure its wise for either side to burn bridges.

People were quick to defend Haye v Harrison on financial grounds so with that in mind I think Khan is entitled to be somewhat aggrieved.

Union Cane wrote:Could all this palaver distract Khan, and maybe give McCloskey a chance?

I think it would take alot more palaver then this for McClosky to have a chance.

As someone who slated Haye Harrison from day one I feel I can defend Sky slightly. For me a lot will depend on what was discussed with Khan and his people from the start. If when Khan mooted McCloskey as an opponent if Sky said they would need a decent undercard to justify it, fair play it was then down to Khan and his promotional team to deliver.

If such a conversation didn't take place Manos raises a valid point and Khan can perhaps feel a little aggrevied. However still think he would have been wise to take this one on the chin and try to rebuild his relationship with Sky which was already damaged after taking Malignaggi to ITV.

manos de piedra wrote:I think there has to be blame on both sides. Sky should have said from day 1 that Khan v McCloskey would not be ppv. Pulling it from ppv at a couple weeks notice is a bit unprofessional if Khan had been banking on it being ppv. Its too short notice.

On principal, it should never have been considered ppv. But once Sky did go with it as ppv then you have to sympathise to some extent with Khan then suddenly being told hes being relegated to SS3 at a couple of weeks notice. Im all for networks demanding value for money but they have to do it the right way and not change their mind halfway through.

Britain currently has a big 3 with Khan, Haye and Froch. Haye will be gone soon, Froch may never end up on Sky and has a tiny following by comparison so if they lose Khan too then it is a pretty big deal for Sky as Khan is the biggest star of the 3 at present and has as prescence with Golden Boy and the U.S. Im not sure its wise for either side to burn bridges.

People were quick to defend Haye v Harrison on financial grounds so with that in mind I think Khan is entitled to be somewhat aggrieved.

I do agree, I know if I was in the Khans camp I would be furious at the loss of revenue and sudden down grading of the fight.

But, I can’t help agreeing with Alex Ariza, that Khans family are not the best people to be managing him as they seem to deal with things with a lack of professionalism and grace, they could have accepted they where going to take a hit financially and done the best thing for the public and Amir’s long term popularity.

Sky has now set a precedent as to what deserves PPV billing. Although the Clev, DeGale, Grooves card is a lot more attractive proposition (then Khans) do any of them have the profiles to warrant PPV.

I guess Sky didn’t think people would pay out for 2 average PPV’s in the space of a month.

Duncan wrote:

manos de piedra wrote:I think there has to be blame on both sides. Sky should have said from day 1 that Khan v McCloskey would not be ppv. Pulling it from ppv at a couple weeks notice is a bit unprofessional if Khan had been banking on it being ppv. Its too short notice.

On principal, it should never have been considered ppv. But once Sky did go with it as ppv then you have to sympathise to some extent with Khan then suddenly being told hes being relegated to SS3 at a couple of weeks notice. Im all for networks demanding value for money but they have to do it the right way and not change their mind halfway through.

Britain currently has a big 3 with Khan, Haye and Froch. Haye will be gone soon, Froch may never end up on Sky and has a tiny following by comparison so if they lose Khan too then it is a pretty big deal for Sky as Khan is the biggest star of the 3 at present and has as prescence with Golden Boy and the U.S. Im not sure its wise for either side to burn bridges.

People were quick to defend Haye v Harrison on financial grounds so with that in mind I think Khan is entitled to be somewhat aggrieved.

I do agree, I know if I was in the Khans camp I would be furious at the loss of revenue and sudden down grading of the fight.

But, I can’t help agreeing with Alex Ariza, that Khans family are not the best people to be managing him as they seem to deal with things with a lack of professionalism and grace, they could have accepted they where going to take a hit financially and done the best thing for the public and Amir’s long term popularity.

Possibly Duncan, remember Naseem Hamed having similar problems when his brothers got involved, I can see why fighters do it, but for all there faults King,Arum and Warren are good businessmen and rarely put a foot wrong in terms of exposure for the premier fighters.

Cheers

Rodders

rowley wrote:As someone who slated Haye Harrison from day one I feel I can defend Sky slightly. For me a lot will depend on what was discussed with Khan and his people from the start. If when Khan mooted McCloskey as an opponent if Sky said they would need a decent undercard to justify it, fair play it was then down to Khan and his promotional team to deliver.

If such a conversation didn't take place Manos raises a valid point and Khan can perhaps feel a little aggrevied. However still think he would have been wise to take this one on the chin and try to rebuild his relationship with Sky which was already damaged after taking Malignaggi to ITV.

I agree it depends what was said betwoon the two parties.

Sky had obviously reserved a spot for Khan. If Khan failed to deliver an undercard as requested by Sky and agreed upon then thats fair enough. But if Sky were happy with the undercard and withdrawals outside Khans control occured then who to takes the hit? The fighter? The network? The fans? Its not really anyones fault.

I kind of feel that while Khan should just pipe down and take the hit for his own reputation, Sky have come out of this looking like they dont know what they are doing. For starters they told Haye April was a no go in order to accomodate a Khan fight which hadnt even been set up. Once the opponent was McCloskey then they should have decided to either run with it or reject it as ppv worthy. Certainly not wait until 2 weeks before the fight and expect Khans team to take the news well.

As an aside has anybody ever tried to negotiate with someone of Pakistani heritage?

Why couldnt they have reached a compromise and still made it PPV but at a lower price - say £7.99

That way, he would still get money in, and fans would not feel so robbed etc.

Hobo wrote:Why couldnt they have reached a compromise and still made it PPV but at a lower price - say £7.99

That way, he would still get money in, and fans would not feel so robbed etc.

As i alluded to in my post above, my experience with Pakistani's in a sporting context is that thay are not willing to talk or negotiate. I think evidence shows they have issues with being reasonable in a lot of differing contexts

Hobo wrote:Why couldnt they have reached a compromise and still made it PPV but at a lower price - say £7.99

That way, he would still get money in, and fans would not feel so robbed etc.

That could have worked.

Sky probably felt that might have started a trend and customers might start questioning each PPV. Like this shouldn't be £14.99 as the card isnt good enough. Then customers who would have usually just forked out for the £14.99 start to question the value.

Khan should have just taken the hit. As of now, I won't be buying a Khan PPV.

Could they have got around it by bundling it together with the degale package for £20?

Hobo wrote:Could they have got around it by bundling it together with the degale package for £20?

I was thinking that, but I guess would have meant renegotiating with Frank Warren and im sure he wouldn’t have been up for that, just to help Amir out.

Michaels, Sean wrote:As i alluded to in my post above, my experience with Pakistani's in a sporting context is that thay are not willing to talk or negotiate.

Please, Sean, do share your experiences with us.

So its officially on Primetime now, does anyone know if I can get it on Virgin.

(Cue, lots of having a prime time on virgin’s jokes)

Yes Dunc

Michaels, Sean wrote:As i alluded to in my post above, my experience with Pakistani's in a sporting context is that thay are not willing to talk or negotiate. I think evidence shows they have issues with being reasonable in a lot of differing contexts

Nice mate real classy. Because people of white British heritage are never unreasonable? Where is this evidence please share.

I once tried it on with a Pakistani girl. Have to say she was most inflexible in her refusal to even entertain the idea. Think that says quite a lot to be honest.

Scottrf wrote:Yes Dunc

Where can't see it anywhere?

Not read anyone elses comments yet but seems this is going on primetime, nice of Khan to put the fans first for a change and give us a free night of boxing, he can ram it up his bum the money grabbing idiot.

On demand, live events? Think you can only book it on the day. Alternatively give them a ring.

rowley wrote:I once tried it on with a Pakistani girl. Have to say she was most inflexible in her refusal to even entertain the idea. Think that says quite a lot to be honest.

1 woman knocks you back and all of a sudden a full race is greedy and in capable of negotiating? I went out with a girl from Liverpool once and never got any so why are they all call slags?

He was being sarcastic mate.

The Galveston Giant wrote:Not read anyone elses comments yet but seems this is going on primetime, nice of Khan to put the fans first for a change and give us a free night of boxing, he can ram it up his bum the money grabbing idiot.

Easy pretty boy, I was joking and attempting to mock the previous post and where the thread was going. I'll also have you know I have been knocked back by countless women, not one

Scottrf wrote:On demand, live events? Think you can only book it on the day. Alternatively give them a ring.

Ah ok, its an on demand thing, thanks!