Teofimo Lopez has predicted the demise of DAZN is imminent and that promoter Eddie Hearn will soon be shown the door out of the United States.
Like many, the two-weight world champion reacted to a recent Spring schedule announcement by Matchroom Boxing and DAZN. Teo believes the sports app is on the downturn following what he sees as a budget cut.
Lopez claims Hearn has less money to work with than the alleged billion-dollar pot he burned through between 2018 and 2023. Proving his dislike for Hearn, Lopez added that he’d be happy when the Briton was chased out of promoting across the pond.
Teofimo Lopez burns DAZN and Eddie Hearn
Responding to Dalton Smith vs Jose Zepeda in England, Lopez said: “Yeah, makes sense why DAZN cut your budget!
“You guys will be done soon enough. You best believe boxing is looking forward to it! Including myself.” He then hashtagged ‘EddieGoByeBye’ for good measure.
Yeah, makes sense why @dazngroup cut your budget! You guys will be done soon enough. Best believe Boxing is looking forward to it! Including myself 👏📉 #DAZN #EddieGoByeBye https://t.co/IEPAg3Bpv4
— Teofimo Lopez (@TeofimoLopez) January 24, 2024
It’s not apparent exactly what the beef is between Lopez and Hearn. However, the latter does have a history of airing strong views against fighters before he eventually works with them.
A similar thing happened with Canelo Alvarez and Devin Haney as Hearn promoted his own boxers to the hilt, as some would argue should be the case.
DAZN has plowed a massive amount of money into becoming a success quickly. Many comments by disgruntled fans on social media wouldn’t shine a completely good light on the app’s one hundred percent appreciation.
The same could be said for ESPN, Amazon Prime Video, or any of the others. However, DAZN constantly seems to be in the gripe column due to price rises and a lack of top-quality United States cards.
Price rises at DAZN
That disdain will only be compounded by recent price hikes and reports of another on the way. According to some on social media, DAZN plans to increase the price to $30 monthly in 2024.
If this happens, there could be a massive revolt despite other promoters working with the app.
Salita Promotions, Wasserman, and Golden Boy are all on board with DAZN, adding to the Matchroom roster. This means many who purchased the app moving forward will be looking at an almost complete schedule of 52 weeks per year for boxing events.
Some would argue that $30 monthly is a good deal for that output. However, when fans can purchase ESPN+ and Prime Video together for a fraction of that price, boxing supporters can argue against paying for sports they don’t watch.
DAZN has rights to the NFL to budget for alongside its boxing coverage. It might be an idea for DAZN to section off separately and only charge subscribers for what they watch.
Who knows, that could be the future.
Phil Jay is an experienced boxing news writer and has been the Editor of World Boxing News since 2010.
