150,000 Watch Mundine v Green on Facebook without paying

I’m 100% in favour of the protection of broadcast rights – but in this day and age, you have to make your content available to everyone who wants it, wherever and however they want it – Tonight’s Anthony Mundine and Danny Green boxing rematch is a clear-cut example of how promoters and broadcasters are living in the past.

With tens of thousands of fans at Adelaide Oval, hundreds of thousands packed into Pubs and Clubs across the country there was only one way for Australian’s to watch the Mundine v Green fight.  Have a Foxtel Subscription and be at home.

If you’re like me – and have a valid Foxtel subscription, but you’re interstate – there was no option to pay for Main Event and stream it via the Foxtel Go App.

As a result, I did what thousands of others did – started searching online.  I found numerous Periscope streams and several Facebook.

Brett Hevers from the Central Coast of NSW attracted the most attention, gaining in excess of 150,000 viewers – 155,000 at the peak.

His Foxtel service then gave an error and the stream was lost.

Remarkably, it was resumed shortly after.

What does this all mean?  Are we a nation of scabs not willing to pay for a pay per view sporting event?

No.  We’re a nation of sports lovers who were given no option.

Main Event, the event promoters and Foxtel together did nothing to offer the event to a newer audience.

Remember, only 30% of Australian homes have Foxtel.  What did anyone involved in the event do to cater to the 70% of non-Foxtel homes.  Nothing.

At worst, it cost them $8,000,000.  But let’s be honest, those 150,000 users wouldn’t have paid the $60 premium for the event.

If just 20% of them did, and the price was lower for “streaming only” with no ability to AirPlay or Chromecast, say $40 – the income potential would have been over $1,000,000.

This is not pocket change. Yes, offering a lower price service might have also cost Main Event some subscribers – but only at a lower rate of fee.

Whatever way you look at it, the decision by promoters and broadcasters not to offer a legal online stream is a massive oversight, both in broadcast innovation and potential revenue.

I would have thrown down $60 without question quite frankly, and as a Foxtel Subscriber that’s the most disappointing thing.

Calls for a GoFundMe page for Brett the illegal streamer are probably going to gain traction – but the fact is what he did was illegal, and anyone would know that.  Sadly, Foxtel and Main Event should be the ones taking a good hard look at themselves.