PROMOTER Barry Hearn has opened up on Matchroom's dramatic split from Sky Sports. The company signed with DAZN in June 2021, ending a three-decade boxing partnership with the broadcasting giants. Hearn's son Eddie was instrumental in negotiating the five-year, £100 million deal.
The lucrative contract cemented the relationship between Matchroom and DAZN, which already held exclusive rights to show the promoter’s fights in the rest of the world. Two-time heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua was exempt from the deal as he already had a contract signed with Sky. On his podcast The Barry Hearn Show , the 76-year-old dived into the financial thinking behind the move.
Hearn said: "We're all influenced by money. "The only danger as promoters, especially like us, is we tell the truth. "If someone wants something, and they are prepared to pay.
.. "We left Sky after 30 years of boxing.
Why? We had a great relationship with them. BEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERS "But a new player [DAZN] came in and gave us the chance to take the sport to the levels we believe it is capable of." Hearn added that DAZN "paid several times more than their incumbent broadcaster.
" He continued: "It was Sky who made the decision not to compete. "And I don't say it was the wrong decision, it was their decision. "But in my world, my job is to expand my sports and the commercialisation of those sports.
"So that I do well, the company does well, and my sportsmen and women earn rewards that used to be o.
