Former world heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury, has signed a deal with United States sport broadcast network, ESPN, worth £80 million, a report has said.
According to BBC Sport, the deal, which is understood to cover Fury’s next five fights, will see him broadcast on ESPN in the US, while remaining on BT Sport in the UK.
The report said Fury believes the deal makes a rematch with Deontay Wilder “more makeable”, though both are yet to agree on a date.
But it also added that Fury, Wilder and IBF, WBA and WBO champion, Anthony Joshua, who now work with rival US broadcasters, could make future negotiations more difficult.
Fury’s December draw with WBC world heavyweight champion, Wilder, was aired on BT Sport in the United Kingdom, as well as Showtime, who broadcast the American’s fights in the US.
Now that Fury has his own US broadcaster, agreements will have to be reached between ESPN and Showtime over the airing of a rematch in America.
Meanwhile, Joshua is signed to the DAZN streaming service in the US.
Frank Warren, Fury’s promoter, pointed to the size of ESPN’s subscription base when he said his fighter was now on “a bigger platform”.
When asked about negotiations For fights with other biggest names in the heavyweight division, Warren said: “They will now have to come to us.
“This ESPN situation for him is probably one of the biggest things to happen to a British sportsman. It’s something special.”
Part of the new deal is that Fury will be promoted by both Warren and Top Rank CEO, Bob Arum, in the US.
Arum, 87, has promoted the likes of Muhammad Ali and Floyd Mayweather, and he believes that Fury is “a generational heavyweight talent at the peak of his powers.”
The deal is considered as an indication to how Tyson Fury’s stock has risen in the United States after his performance against Deontay Wilder last December, especially in his dramatic last-round recovery.
You Must logged in to add comments. Login
