BOXXER are set to sign a bumper extension with Sky Sports in the coming weeks, talkSPORT.com understands.
The four-year deal Ben Shalom’s promotional outfit signed with Sky in June 2021 is set to come to an end in just over three months’ time.
GettyBen Shalom’s BOXXER are set to renew their deal with Sky Sports[/caption]
There was significant speculation on social media that Sky would not be renewing their contract with BOXXER, which is worth a reported £8million.
However, a source with knowledge of the deal has told talkSPORT.com that an extension has been signed, with an announcement set to be made in ‘the next 30 days’.
This comes after Matchroom Boxing CEO Frank Smith told Seconds Out: “I struggle to see on what planet Sky would renew their deal [with BOXXER].
“If I were a television executive looking at where my money is being spent, you have to look at the BOXXER stable.
“Don’t get me wrong, they have done some great fights over the last three or four years but they have been paid a lot of money.
“They have had a huge investment both financially and PR from the Sky machine.
“I don’t think they have built any stars that you would be looking at to say, we must renew this deal.”
BOXXER signed with Sky Sports after Eddie Hearn‘s Matchroom Boxing left the broadcaster for streaming service DAZN in a lucrative nine-figure five-year deal in 2021.
Their inaugural event under the Sky Sports banner was a WBO middleweight title fight between Savannah Marshall and Lolita Muzeya on October 16, 2021, at the Utilita Arena in Newcastle.
This was followed by BOXXER’s first major card on Sky Sports: the long-awaited dust-up between Amir Khan and Kell Brook in February 2022.
The event was a raging success with Shalom informing talkSPORT that the pay-per-view numbers were ‘monstrous’, even going as far as to suggest they were ‘very close to Anthony Joshua figures’.
Other major shows BOXXER and Sky Sports have put on together include the Chris Eubank Jr vs Liam Williams grudge fight, which was watched in more than one million households; Jack Catterall vs Josh Taylor; Claressa Shields vs Savannah Marshall; and Eubank Jr vs Smith.
Last year, BOXXER signed a partnership with Saudi powerhouse Riyadh Season to get their fighters on the big Middle Eastern bills.
Martin Bakole, Joshua Buatsi, Eubank Jr and Chris Billam-Smith are among those who have benefited from the deal, while Sky has had television rights for all of Turki Alalshikh’s blockbuster cards.
Leading up to the renewal of their deal with Sky, BOXXER has three cards coming up in their calendar.
An all-British welterweight unification clash between Natasha Jonas and Lauren Price pencilled in for March 7; the much-anticipated rematch between Ben Whittaker and Liam Cameron booked for April 20; and a co-promotional grudge match between Eubank Jr and Conor Benn on April 26.
