iOS-exclusive Periscope torpedoed Mayweather-Pacquiao PPV sales, promoter says
Even after shattering pay-per-view records, at least one person involved in the "fight of the century" believes it could have been even bigger without the availability of illegal video streams through Twitter's iOS-exclusive Periscope app.
"We'll have to pursue any people who are allowing people to distribute something that is behind a proprietary wall," Top Rank president Todd DuBoef told the Los Angeles Times. "We'll have to challenge those technology companies that are facilitating it and we're going to have to take a legal position against them."
Top Rank, owned by legendary boxing figure Bob Arum, promotes Manny Pacquiao's fights.
Thousands of people tuned in to Saturday's event -- which featured a matchup between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. -- via Periscope after fans who did order it up on pay-per-view used the app to stream video of their televisions. Some streams climbed to as many as 10,000 viewers before being shut down or turned off.
This has been a recurring problem for televised sporting events essentially since internet-based live video became practical, though it's not clear how many of those who watched the decidedly low-quality Periscope versions would have spent the money to buy the fight in the first place. Viewers in the U.S. were asked to spend as much as $100 for the privilege of watching Mayweather "win" by decision.
Twitter said that it closed 30 streams after receiving 66 reports of copyright infringement during the bout, according to ESPN.
DuBoef promised legal action not only against Twitter, but also against individual users, though it remains to be seen if Top Rank will be allowed to acquire that information. It's also unclear whether Periscope streams would be covered under the safe harbor provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which would absolve Twitter of responsibility.
"When we start finding out more about it and identify the people who are posting on social media we'll know their names and we'll definitely go after them," DuBoef said.
"We'll have to pursue any people who are allowing people to distribute something that is behind a proprietary wall," Top Rank president Todd DuBoef told the Los Angeles Times. "We'll have to challenge those technology companies that are facilitating it and we're going to have to take a legal position against them."
Top Rank, owned by legendary boxing figure Bob Arum, promotes Manny Pacquiao's fights.
Thousands of people tuned in to Saturday's event -- which featured a matchup between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. -- via Periscope after fans who did order it up on pay-per-view used the app to stream video of their televisions. Some streams climbed to as many as 10,000 viewers before being shut down or turned off.
This has been a recurring problem for televised sporting events essentially since internet-based live video became practical, though it's not clear how many of those who watched the decidedly low-quality Periscope versions would have spent the money to buy the fight in the first place. Viewers in the U.S. were asked to spend as much as $100 for the privilege of watching Mayweather "win" by decision.
Twitter said that it closed 30 streams after receiving 66 reports of copyright infringement during the bout, according to ESPN.
DuBoef promised legal action not only against Twitter, but also against individual users, though it remains to be seen if Top Rank will be allowed to acquire that information. It's also unclear whether Periscope streams would be covered under the safe harbor provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which would absolve Twitter of responsibility.
"When we start finding out more about it and identify the people who are posting on social media we'll know their names and we'll definitely go after them," DuBoef said.
Comments
We should all band together(studios etc) and do something about this.
That's okay, the Nevada Gaming Commission will recoup Pacquiao's bag of money since he didn't check the box on the form asking him if he was injured before the fight.
Huh? We are quickly entering an age in which anything digitized and connected is subject to hacking and theft, exacerbated by invasive spying techniques that filter down to easily acquired tools for the general public.
If you want complete security, get off the grid and isolate yourself.
every dying industry needs a scapegoat. ppv...meet periscope and meerkat.
Huh? We are quickly entering an age in which anything digitized and connected is subject to hacking and theft, exacerbated by invasive spying techniques that filter down to easily acquired tools for the general public.
And we're also in the age where middle class college level jobs deal exclusively with information and intellectual property. Good luck when your livelihood gets stolen.
It's not an easily solved problem, to be sure.
Wasn't the start of the fight delayed because there were so many PPV requests it was overloading the system? So it seems like they probably did ok.
I'd like to see the NSA hack OS9. Especially if you drag the TCP/IP stack to the trash.
Greed knows no end. Record breaking PPV profits and these people are still crying. Whatever clown said the studios need to ban together is clueless. I know for a fact that there were so many multi-million dollar private jets in Vegas for the fight, they couldn't park them all at the airport (they were diverting them to other local fields). Many of those jets belonged to the studios and entertainment industry. So, in fact, Periscope is NOT hurting them. You guys that are all complaining about livelihoods being effected and the industry being ripped, off have NO idea just how little impact it actually has. You can't blame technology for this. Technology is what made all the entertainment execs into millionaires.
Boxing matches are a gamble. If there was a first round knockout that's just part of the risk as a viewer.
Mayweather's money should be recouped for doing this..
When my friends asked me if I would be watching the boxing match, I said no. I asked them how much money the loser was going to be paid and was there any chance the weaker boxer would win. For me there was no reason whatsoever to watch the match since I already had the answers to my questions.
When my friends asked me if I would be watching the boxing match, I said no. I asked them how much money the loser was going to be paid and was there any chance the weaker boxer would win. For me there was no reason whatsoever to watch the match since I already had the answers to my questions.
You have to have the setup for a couple rematches, after all
I planned to watch it once it came to regular HBO (signed up for HBO Now at the end of April). Looks like they'll premiere it there mid-May. Glad to know I'll get to see a lot of Mayweather hugging and clinching. After that comment, I recall seeing previous fights and it always seemed he did a lot of that.
They can charge whatever they want. It was their event.
See how easy that was?
Movies are ok - but live sports are well, pretty much hopeless here in NZ.
Even from the big players like Sky who have a live stream showing as well as normal broadcast - slow, laggy, resolution drops to a blur.
Pretty much unwatchable for me if there's a big demand for a game. (I'm rural sooo - pretty much the end of the pipe lol)
I watched this fight at my local. The pub paid $1500 to Sky to put it on - big crowd in to watch.
Sky were charging $50 for ppv at home.
It's a lot of money for a redistributed feed.