MMA Knockout

Boxing News: DAZN Reacts to Fans Who Did Not Pay For Fury-Usyk: 'Piracy is Theft'

DAZN released a statement after 20 million people illegally streamed Fury-Usyk.

Zain Bando

Oleksandr Usyk lands a punch on Tyson Fury inside the Kingdom Arena in Saudi Arabia.
Oleksandr Usyk lands a punch on Tyson Fury inside the Kingdom Arena in Saudi Arabia. / (via Nick Potts/PA Wire)

Despite the success of Oleksandr Usyk's split decision against Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia, it's news outside of the ring that has pay-per-view distributor, DAZN, on-edge.

According to The Daily Mail and confirmed by Boxing News, reports surfaced that Fury vs. Usyk, which was shown by numerous broadcasters, including ESPN+, DAZN, and Sky Sports on pay-per-view (with subscriptions included), was viewed in unconventional ways.

It was revealed that at least 20 million non-paying customers used illegal streams to watch the fight, resulting in a significant financial loss of $120 million. A spokesperson for DAZN said the actions of these customers would not be tolerated and that work would be done to prevent this issue from occurring again.

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DAZN Puts Streamers in Their Place

“Sports piracy is theft."

- From DAZN statement

Despite that statement being true, it isn't the first time a major fight has had the attraction to make fans not pay for an event and still watch it live. A prime example is ahead of UFC 257, which saw Dustin Poirier KO Conor McGregor in Jan. 2021. UFC CEO Dana White was blunt regarding one unnamed streamer's intention to air the fight on his service, but it never happened.

Regarding Fury-Usyk, the event was $69.99 in the U.S. and lasted eight hours despite only a smaller undercard. This included sometimes upwards of 30 minutes to an hour of commentary between fights, thus adding to the broadcast's length entirely. Some fans even had trouble purchasing the fight, which arguably added to the event's piracy demand.

With streaming sports content at the center of the media landscape, it's safe to assume that this incident isn't the last time illegal streaming will arise, but only time will tell.

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Zain Bando
ZAIN BANDO

Zain Bando is a writer for MMA Knockout, part of the Sports Illustrated/Minute Media umbrella. He has covered combat sports since 2019 for notable outlets BJPenn.com and FanSided MMA. He also co-hosts a podcast called "The MMA Outsiders," part of the Empty The Bench Podcast Network, which airs Tuesday nights at 7:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. PT. A Chicago suburban native, Bando has been enthralled with MMA since 2006 and has been fortunate to attend some of the most high-profile events in the sport's history, both as a fan and media member, including UFC 264, Bellator 297 and Kayla Harrison's PFL MMA debut. He is excited to take the next step in his combat sports writing journey and looks forward to continuing his following of the fight game for years to come. Bando can be reached via email at zainbando99@gmail.com or by social media @zainbando99

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