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Duco's played a clever game over the pay-per-view (PPV) pricing for Joseph Parker's WBO heavyweight title fight with Andy Ruiz.
In recent weeks, several media outlets quoting well-placed sources suggested boxing fans would have to pay between $70 and $100 to watch the biggest fight of his young career on TV. The predictions were met with stunned outrage, but slowly, there seemed to be an acceptance that this was where the price point would lie.
So when Duco CEO Martin Snedden finally revealed this week that $59.95 was all it would cost to watch the fight at home, fans who'd been bracing for the worst seemed pleasantly surprised. The feedback from fight fans on Twitter was "a fair price", "better than expected. Will buy", and "that doesn't seem unreasonable".
And it doesn't when you place it in the context of what we were being told to expect, and the $49.95 viewers were asked to pay to watch Parker fight Carlos Takam. This fight with Ruiz is Kiwi sporting history, a step up in quality, and a better undercard. Makes sense.
But then came the reaction from fight fans in the UK.
"we don't know how lucky we are"
"Jeez! and people will pay that???"
Now I'm wondering - are we being ripped off?
To provide some perspective, British boxing fans will Pay £16.99 (NZ$30) to watch Anthony Joshua - the IBF world champion, and the most marketable man in boxing - in his next fight against Eric Molina. Of course, the population base in the UK means Joshua's promoters can pull in huge TV numbers and set the PPV price lower, but that much lower?
The fact Parker's fight is being staged in New Zealand certainly has an impact on production costs, and the PPV price. But how much of it should be passed onto the consumer?
I suspect that for a lot of fans here, $59.95 will be enough to change their plans to watch the fight. They'll watch with mates, share the cost... but they'll still watch. There's something about boxing and a heavyweight world title that draws the interest of the casual fan. David Tua's world title fight with Lennox Lewis remains one of the most-watched events in New Zealand television history. Mind you, we watched it live - and for free - on TV3.
Times have changed. $59.95 isn't cheap to watch a single sporting event. So what happens if Parker wins this fight? How much will we have to pay to watch his next fight? That same? More? What if he ultimately gets a shot at Joshua? How would you feel knowing that you'll pay at least double what they're paying in the UK?
Everyone has a limit, so how much is too much to watch the sporting event of the year?
Newshub.