Triller’s Evander Holyfield vs. Vitor Belfort event tanked in buys

According to Dan Rafael, Triller Fight Club’s Sept. 11 pay-per-view event between Evander Holyfield vs. Vitor Belfort was a financial bust. 

Triller Fight Club’s Sept. 11 pay-per-view boxing event headlined by Evander Holyfield vs. Vitor Belfort drew loud criticism from boxing fans and pundits.

Initial reports are that it was also a financial failure.

Boxing writer Dan Rafael Tweeted in the morning of Sept. 16 that Holyfield vs. Belfort flopped big time in terms of pay-per-view buys. According to his sources, Holyfield vs. Belfort only generated 150,000 buys.

“Per sources, #HolyfieldBelfort event totaled about 150k PPV buys between linear & digital platforms, which would make it a massive $ loser for Triller,” read Rafael’s tweet. “At 150k it would gross about $7.5M from ppv, not remotely close to covering even the purses, not to mention rest of expenses.”

TMZ reported that Triller paid former President Donald Trump millions to do the alternative commentary for the fight. It’s also estimated that Triller paid Holyfield millions to fight Belfort. They also had to pay all the other fighters on the card and all the peripheral expenses from advertising, PR, and production costs.

TrillerVerz shows may be doing well, but the damage done from Holyfield vs. Belfort badly damaged the Triller band

Assuming that Rafael’s sources are on the money, then Triller is massively in the red. In the last several days, Triller has taken it on the chin. EAG Sports Management, a PR company that worked with Triller, recently sent out an email to press members stating they were no longer working with Triller.

NYFights.com also reported that boxing manager Peter Kahn resigned from his role as Chief Boxing Officer of Triller. A specific reason wasn’t given, but the awfulness of allowing a 58-year-old Holyfield to get pummeled in the ring, along with the silliness of having Trump offering commentary, may have something to do with it.

Later in the day, on Sept. 16, Triller sent out a press release boasting about its viewership for its TrillerVerz II event. They claim that their mixed music and boxing event, which featured Fat Joe vs. Ja Rule, drew in over 5 million viewers.

That’s an impressive number, but the musical showdown from two major rap artists might have more to do with it than the boxing bout between Danielieto Zorrilla and Pablo Cesar Cano. Zorilla scored a round 2 KO victory.

Things are well in the TrillerVerz, but Triller can’t be doing well after the reported financial windfall of Holyfield vs. Belfort.