BOXXER’s partnership with Sky Sports proved fruitful over the Bank Holiday weekend as the boxing promotion’s Easter Sunday bout between Fabio Wardley and Frazer Clarke scored record views.
The heavyweight fight, which ended in a draw after a hard fought contest across 12 rounds at the London O2 Arena, gained a peak audience of 746,000 for the main event, an average audience of 438,000 across the four hour event and a reach of 1.7 million.
This makes the bout the fifth most-watched boxing match on Sky Sports in the last 10 years, and the biggest for a heavyweight match. The top four most-watched were Eubank vs Williams, Shields vs Marshall, Khan vs Vargas and Taylor vs Catterall.
Ben Shalom, BOXXER Founder and CEO, said: “What we witnessed on Sunday was one of the greatest British heavyweight fights of all time. At BOXXER, we are committed to growing the sport to new audiences and giving our fighters the biggest possible platform to perform.
“The numbers are incredible. It shows the huge potential and appetite for boxing in the UK and Ireland. We’ve had an amazing start to the year and we look forward to delivering more massive nights with unmissable action in 2024.”
BOXXER’s partnership with Sky Sports dates back to 2021, with the UK broadcaster also signing a deal with Bob Arun’s promotion, Top Rank. Despite competition from other OTT platforms, notably DAZN, Sky remains a key player in the UK boxing broadcasting scene.
In an interview with Insider Sport earlier this year, Shalom emphasised the significance of the Sky Sports partnership to BOXXER’s growth in recent years. Sky’s experience in boxing, accumulated over decades, has been vital to this, he explained.
On the Wardley-Clarke fight, Rob Selmes, Sky Sports Director of Rights, added: “It was great to see such a thrilling fight for the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles, immense bravery from both fighters and huge numbers tuning in to watch.
“A compelling card was part of a fantastic weekend of live sport on Sky Sports, with millions of sports fans enjoying our coverage and being taken closer to all the action.”
