His Excellency Turki Alalshikh had demonstrated his commitment to making boxing more accessible. Recently, he made his intentions clear on reducing the pay-per-view prices of the Riyadh Season events. Now several news reports revealed the PPV price set for the September 21 Wembley showdown between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois. It seems US-based viewers need to spend just $19.99 to view the title clash now!

Expectedly, the step has generated considerable buzz on social media. The Joshua-Dubois fight comes just a week after the much-anticipated bout between Canelo Alvarez and Edgar Berlanga. But to view the Mexican superstar’s fight, fans may have to spend $89.99 per PPV! Similarly, fans of UFC’s ‘Noche UFC’, scheduled for the same date at ‘The Sphere’ will need to pay $69.99. The latest update sparked a spontaneous reaction from fans and followers.

HE Turki Alalshikh: Deliver on commitments

“The USA PPV price for Anthony Joshua vs. Daniel Dubois on Sept 21st will be $19.99, PPV.com has revealed,” read the post from Michael Benson. It’s been some time since fans have been voicing concerns over the high PPV prices. Then reports of roughly 20 million illegal streams done for the Tyson Fury-Oleksandr Fury ‘Ring of Fury’ rang alarm bells.

Thus, with the objective of handling the twin issues of high pricing and curbing illegal streaming, HE Turki Alalshikh, in an interview with talkSPORT, made it clear. “I dream of a PPV with a good price to make the fans happy and subscribe and get them to watch it legally,” he said. He pointed out how when they come across a high PPV price, some followers often drift towards illegal streaming. It hurts the sport in the long term.

He further added, “What I will try to push is to have our Riyadh season shows at less than £20 in England and less than $20 around the world,” said the Chairman, General Entertainment Authority, Saudi Arabia. Ryan Garcia joined several fans in appreciating the decision to lower PPV prices. “I can respect Turki for lowering the prices; let’s see if it improves sales and overall success all around,” said ‘KingRy’.

For the UK fans as well, the PPV price for the Joshua-Dubois future has been fixed at £19.95. The next show under the Riyadh Season banner will be the October 12 Artur Beterbiev versus Dmitry Bivol square-off. So it is fair enough to assume that the PPV prices for the light heavyweight duel will also feature Shakur Stevenson’s title defense to follow in Wembley’s footsteps.

Way to Affordable Access

Most of the fans were happy with the news and thanked HE Alalshikh for the constructive change. Let’s take a look at what a few of them had to say.

This fan couldn’t hide their excitement. They found it unbelievable that a major boxing event such as one featuring Anthony Joshua could be viewed with more affordable prices. “No wayyy, finally, a big fight costs less than $69.99.”

The news certainly elated the following fan as well. They sounded excited about the lower pay-per-view price for the Joshua-Dubois card. However, they seem to suspect whether a similar discount would be provided for another upcoming event featuring Shakur Stevenson. The New Jersey-born southpaw will face Joe Cordina on October 12 at the Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol card in Riyadh. The fan said, “NOW THIS IS WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT, Not the Shakur Cordina card, haha, LFG TURKIIIIII.”

The trimmed prices motivated the following user. But they hoped that other franchises, such as UFC or ESPN, could follow HE Alalshikh and his team’s example and adopt similar pricing strategies. “The @ufc, @espn, and @danawhite should all take a page out of their book,” said the user.

The fair pricing impressed this user. They hoped that the move might turn out to be a positive one since it would attract more followers. They said, “Wow! More than a fair deal, and I bet the numbers will show people appreciate it.”

Expressing a similar sentiment, the next fan also stated that affordable pricing would lead to more following. For the sake of better viewing, the fans would be more than happy to shell out money for a reduced PPV rate rather than rely on unreliable streaming facilities. “This is what boxing needs. Much more likely to spend 20 bucks and enjoy the full card on a stable platform rather than hop on a laggy, illegal stream just in time for the main event,” the fan said.

It will be interesting to see how the overall landscape reacts. Riyadh Season stays put with its decision to keep the PPV prices down and affordable.

The Anthony Joshua-Daniel Dubois fight could be viewed through the pay-per-view of DAZN and PPV.com. Besides the heavyweight clash for the IBF title, the show will feature other bouts as well. Anthony Cacace will take on Josh Warrington for the IBF super featherweight. Then Joshua Buatsi and Willy Hutchinson will fight for the WBO light heavyweight championship (interim).

What is your take on the slashed prices of the pay-per-view services? Do you feel other franchises and organizations should follow Riyadh Season’s example.?