Jake Paul’s fight with Mike Tyson is the latest proof that these are lucrative times in sport whatever your age or experience, writes Ed Warner. Too much money chasing too few goods spells inflation. In the madcap pursuit of novel sporting ventures it is the athletes whose prices are swelling.
Dazzled though they (and their agents) might be, the stars must surely recognise the inherent craziness of many of the schemes currently being touted. Even so, it’s hard to blame those with time-limited careers who chose to cash in on their celebrity. A peak of 65m households are said to have tuned in live on Netflix to watch young influencer Jake Paul and aged former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson shuffle their way through a short-form boxing bout.
The streaming broadcaster won’t have been thrilled by the reviews of the fight but was quick to bruit its viewing figures. A reported $20m better off as a result of the contest (before his entourage’s cut), it’s little wonder that the well-beaten Tyson declined to say that he would now slip back into retirement: “I don’t know. It depends on the situation.
” Forget the gentle fun of charity football matches starring retired players who can’t all now bend down to lace their boots, or exhibition tennis tournaments with former champions relying on muscle memory and crowds wallowing in nostalgia. The economics of sport are being transformed by deep pools of private wealth and broadcasters scrambling for audiences. Supersta.