British promotion Boxxer and Sky Sports were reportedly set to end their longstanding partnership last month, forcing the promotion to look for a new broadcaster to air their fights on. That new broadcaster now appears to be BBC, yet despite the UK-based media company having a well-situated sports division (BBC Sports), reports of Boxxer’s being in negotiations with the less affluent BBC iPlayer denotes a significant regression of the promotion’s bargaining power and ability to compete with other promotions.

Neither Sky Sports or Boxxer have yet to officially confirm the end of their partnership that was said to conclude on June 30, which would make it four years since the two companies first joined up together in 2021.

With roughly three weeks having passed since the reported conclusion of the contract both parties, Boxxer has reportedly been active in searching for a new broadcasting partner and appears to have found their safe haven; the British Broadcasting Company (BBC), one of the UK’s most prevalent media conglomerates.

The rumor was initially started by iFL TV journalist Corm McGuigan who revealed on July 16th that Boxxer’s chairman, Ben Shalom, was set to announce “groundbreaking news” on a broadcasting agreement with an unsubstantiated broadcaster.

Later unconfirmed reports indicated this broadcaster would be the BBC through their BBC iPlayer video-on-demand service, though no official statements have yet confirmed this transition.

If valid, Boxxer would find themselves on a platform that would leave it unable to compete with top British promotions Queensberry Promotions and Matchroom who currently exclusively broadcast their fights on streaming service DAZN.

First launched in 2007, BBC iPlayer serves a similar purpose as HBO Max does to HBO, offering its customers the ability to view BBC programmes online including livestreams.

With a customer base estimated to be in the millions, iPlayer appears both a potential windfall and detriment to Boxxer who would be competing against the more dedicated and prevalent DAZN which has recently announced plans to feature Riyadh Season and The Ring events on a new subscription service called “The Ring Pass”.