Oleksandr Usyk‘s historic world heavyweight championship victory over Tyson Fury last weekend was watched by at least 20 million using illegal streams costing TV rights holders around £95m in lost revenue.
Analysis conducted by online intelligence company Yield Sec for Mail Sport has uncovered evidence of over 2000 different streaming locations broadcasting the fight from Riyadh, with 18 per cent of those watching illegally doing so from the UK.
Sky Sports, TNT Sport and DAZN all bought the rights to broadcast the first undisputed world heavyweight clash for 25 on their pay-per-view channels, but millions of boxing fans chose to avoid paying the 25pound fee and instead watched the fight illegally.
Almost four million people viewed an illegal stream of Usyk’s split points decision victory on Saturday in the UK.
Yield Sec’s analysis shows that 45 per cent of the illegal streaming took place in Europe, with 25 per cent in north America and 16 per cent in Asia.
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Oleksandr Usyk beat Tyson Fury to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999
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Usyk won the fight by split decision after an entertaining clash between the two heavyweights that saw both enjoy periods of dominance in the ring
Many of the illegal streams are funded by advertisements for gambling and/or crypto schemes, while some charge a small fee averaging less than £1.
The number of people watching the fight illegally is likely to have been far higher than 20 million, as Yield Sec’s analysis is based on the assumption that only one person is watching each stream.
The company define one illegal stream view as more than 90 seconds spent watching the fight.
The figures for illegal viewing of Usyk v Fury are among the highest ever recorded for any sporting event, with 36 times more people watching than for the Anthony Joshua v Ngannou heavyweight clash in March.
A DAZN spokesman told Mail Sport: ‘Sports piracy is theft. DAZN invests a significant amount in combatting it, using technology to monitor the activity of users, and educating fans about the risks.
‘It may seem a victimless crime, but most illegal feeds are provided by criminal networks or carry the risk of phishing and identity theft. Our advice is don’t risk the sport you care about, or your own data, by using illegal feeds.’
