Several months after Saudi General Entertainment Authority (GEA) chairman Turki Alalshikh and streaming service DAZN announced their plans to eliminate pay-per-view (PPV) for The Ring and Riyadh Season events starting November this year, an underlying plot to feature PPV fights as part of an expensive package from DAZN suggests the public did not get the full picture of what would occur.

As a streaming service, DAZN came into the sports world boldly proclaiming to stream events without customers needing to pay extra for PPVs, though these plans soon evaporated when PPV shows were introduced in 2022 with the Canelo Alvarez vs. Dmitry Bivol fight becoming DAZN’s inaugural PPV event ― while further requiring buyers to be subscribed to DAZN.

Having already proven to be deceitful in their approach, it’s best to remember that a fool can be fooled thrice as DAZN’s joint plans with Turki Alalshikh now appear to have been just another trick everyone fell for.

More specifically, the claim of The Ring and Riyadh Season shows becoming PPV-free for DAZN subcribers doesn’t appear to be the entire truth.

As boxing analyst and insider Steve Kim made a point to note in a recent article, there are indicators of a new kind of model being introduced, alluding to an interview Alalshikh did months ago with The Ring where he voiced ideas on introducing various subscription packages that could include a more expensive package that allows subscribers to view all shows including PPV events.

According to US business-focused newspaper City AM, Alalshikh’s earlier stated ideas will be coming to fruition in November ― the same month The Ring or Riyadh Season PPV events were set to become freely accessible to DAZN subscribers, and indeed feature options for subscribers to buy an all-inclusive PPV package:

“We will be launching a new product in November for pay-per-view,” DAZN’s CEO of their ‘Growth Markets’ department, Pete Oliver, confirmed to City AM.

“We haven’t given all the details yet, but there will be an option for customers to buy a subscription which gives them access to all the pay-per-views included.“

DAZN’s current structure allows every non-PPV boxing show [as well as other sports] to be available to subscribers, while PPV events need to be separately bought from regular events but still require a subscription to be purchased.

The new structure will see PPV events become available as part of an optional subscription package that can further become a sustainable alternative towards paying for every PPV that gets put out.

However, the manner in which DAZN has gone about revealing their actual plans only draws concerning their lack of transparency and puts their credibility as a streaming service further under pressure.