You should already be feeling the heat of this coming event. The event has it all. Exciting fighters, check. Mouthwatering clashes, check. Fights with the gold on the line, check. So, the event featuring the headliner of Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol has spread out the table for a fans’ feast. However, it might still fall short of the expectations. Why?

Beterbiev, 39, and Bivol, 33, will fight it out for all the marbles at 175 on October 12 at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, as His Excellency Turki Alalshikh has weaved one of his most ambitious cards to date. A stacked card only adds to the charm of the event along with the festivities. But a concern has popped up among the fans, which could hamper the event and how it will be streamed in the US.

The pay conundrum for Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol

It’s not sure how it came to be. But there is increasing confusion among the fans about the event’s PPV, and you can point out Top Rank and Matchroom Boxing and their differing ties to their broadcast partners. Interestingly, the supporting act of Shakur Stevenson vs. Joe Cordina, as well as the rest of the undercard will make its way to the US through DAZN, whereas the main event of Beterbiev vs. Bivol will be live on ESPN+. How is that happening?

You can bifurcate the undercard and the main event in two parts—where the whole of the undercard will be available on DAZN. Then, for the headliner, you have to switch to ESPN+. This is because the Beterbiev-Bivol main card is being organized by Top Rank whereas the rest of the card by other promoters like Matchroom Boxing. Why is that an issue? Well, Top Rank has a long-standing deal with ESPN where all Top Rank events can only be streamed in the US through ESPN. The same kind of deal exists between Matchroom and DAZN as well. Thus, the two distinct streams for a single event.

Therefore, fans have to pay the DAZN PPV price, yet to be decided, to watch Stevenson vs. Cordina, Skye Nicolson vs. Raven Chapman, Fabio Wardley vs. Frazer Clarke, and the rest of the undercard. And if you are a subscriber to ESPN+, then you can catch it for free. But if you are not, then there are chances you might have to pay twice to watch the complete card.

This confusion has subsided among the fans and puzzled them, and it might not be a stretch to claim that it will affect the business. After all, Stevenson, 27, doesn’t have a crowd-friendly style, and the fans still remember how the home crowd booed him, as he fought Artem Harutyunyan and produced a snoozefest in his last fight. Despite the likes of Chris Eubank Jr, Jai Opetaia, and Ben Whittaker coming as part of the deal, Stevenson, at 22-0, will top off the event in the US. That might put off fans, as it will eventually boil down to the PPV price.

But these many A-listers don’t come cheap, do they? If the promoters and DAZN keep their finances as their priority, the price could be steep. Because if they don’t, they will suffer huge losses. Many in the US have been eagerly looking forward to Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol, therefore a PPV card that lacks it may deter fight fans from paying twice for the entire event. As a result, the fans find themselves sandwiched between the promoters’ desire to rack up profit and the fighters’ heavy payroll demand.

There are other issues to pay heed to and for that, you have to look at the recent fights organized by HE Turki Alalshikh.

The past fights numbers: a lesson from Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury

When the Saudi adviser made his debut on American soil, with the Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov event, it didn’t turn out to be a resounding success in terms of PPV revenue. The subsequent reports soon shunned sell-out claims and also disclosed the dismal PPV numbers, despite putting on a stacked card. The fans could also recall what happened to Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury. Even 1.5 million PPV buys couldn’t save the event, as it still ended with a negative balance of $27 million, as reported by ESPN. What affected its success was illegal streaming and it could happen again.

The boxing world is still coming to terms with the Saudi influence on it and the shift of the fight capital to Riyadh from Las Vegas. When you factor in the confusion about the two distinct PPV streams, non-marketability of Stevenson as the co-main event, steep PPV price, recent failure of HE Turki Alalshikh to amass profit on events, and illegal streaming, it could be another boxing event heading to falling into the category of a flop event.

What do you make of this coming event featuring Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol and Shakur Stevenson vs. Joe Cordina? Do you believe it will be a blockbuster event? Let us know in the comments below.