복싱의 비즈니스: 투쟁과 성공

### 복싱의 재정적 현실: 아마추어에서 프로까지
* 🥊 엘리트 복싱은 **경기당 수천만 파운드의 수입**을 올리는 최고의 복서들이 있을 정도로 엄청난 수입을 올릴 수 있는 잠재력을 가지고 있지만, 이는 일부 소수에게만 해당되는 이야기입니다.
* 🎓 영국 대표팀 복싱 프로그램은 아마추어 복싱 선수들이 잠재적으로 수익성 있는 프로 선수로 활동할 수 있는 플랫폼을 제공하며, **올림픽에서의 성공은 복싱 선수의 인지도를 크게 높여줍니다.**
* 💰 영국 프로 복싱 선수의 **10% 미만이 복싱을 통해 전업으로 생계를 유지**하는 등 프로로 전향한다고 해서 금전적인 성공이 보장되는 것은 아닙니다.
* 🎟 영국 복싱 공연의 **95%를 차지하는 스몰홀 복싱**은 **티켓 판매에 크게 의존**하며, 선수들은 종종 **직접 티켓을 판매**하기도 합니다.
* 📊 타이슨 퓨리, 올렉산드르 우시크 같은 톱 선수는 경기당 **수천만 달러의 수입**을 올리는 반면, 다른 선수들은 **수천 달러에 불과한 수입**을 올리는 등 복싱 선수들의 수입은 매우 다양합니다.
* 🏛 에디 헌과 같은 주요 프로모터는 **티켓 판매, TV 계약, 스폰서십**을 통해 파이터들의 수익을 창출하는 등 격투기 재정 생태계에서 중요한 역할을 담당합니다.
* 📲 소셜 미디어는 복싱 선수의 재정적 성공에 점점 더 중요해지고 있으며, **강력한 온라인 존재감**은 프로필을 높이고 스폰서를 유치하는 데 도움이 됩니다.
* 🌍 특히 **사우디아라비아와 같은 국가에서 복싱에 새로운 자금이 유입**되면서 복싱의 재정적 환경이 변화하고 있으며, 잠재적으로 **모든 수준의 복싱 선수들에게 더 많은 기회**가 창출될 수 있습니다.

수익성이 높지만 도전적인 스포츠인 복싱은 많은 프로 복서에게 자기 홍보와 재정적 어려움을 요구합니다.

Elite boxing is flush with cash. When you look at
boxing, it's red hot. Socially, boxing is huge. Huge. Top boxers are among the highest
paid athletes in the world. Some could earn tens of millions
of pounds for a single fight, whatever the outcome. With the Saudi
arrangement, it's really going to be the best
fighting the best. But this is one sport
where turning pro doesn't always bring big bucks. They still need to work to
be able to fund their life. Not many reached that pinnacle. You can be as talented
as you want to be, but if you're not getting
yourself out there, it's hard. And making it as a
boxer is about much more than winning in the ring. A lot of boxing is pretty
much the Wild West. It's a blood sport. It's a prize fighting. Sometimes, pedigree
and past results aren't the be all and end all.

This gym in Sheffield is home to the team of boxers set to compete for Great Britain in the biggest tournament on the amateur boxing calendar. Around the world, boxers are using programs like this as a springboard to potentially lucrative professional careers. I do have aspirations of turning professional, and an Olympic medal really changes that. There's no denying it. Your stocks rise considerably if you win an Olympic medal, slash win an Olympic gold medal. So there would be a lot of interest in me. My name is Lewis Richardson. I'm a Team GB boxer, and I'm off to Paris '24 Olympics. I've got onto the GB boxing team, and I been on six years now, and it's been it's been a hell of a journey and one that I'm very, very grateful for. You have to earn your way onto the program. And I just feel like, from a natural sort of progression point of view in amateur boxing, Team GB is the greatest.

thing you can achieve. I feel like the Olympic games is
the pinnacle of amateur boxing, and very few people reach that,
and I've reached that now. I'd love to achieve big things
in the professional ranks, become financially secure. It's a business, a
professional side, so I'd like to have some
financial security from it, and also, yeah,
win major titles. Currently, we have
about 50 boxers. It's normal for us
to have a surplus. A lot of boxers that leave
after an Olympic cycle will turn professional. Robert McCracken, performance
director for GB Boxing. The programme is really designed
to give boxers an opportunity at GB Boxing to go to the
Olympic games and have the possibility of travelling
the world and learning and being supported and fulfilling
your potential, really, in amateur boxing. Lewis has a good shot at
becoming an Olympic champion, but even that doesn't
guarantee a well-paid living.

as a professional fighter. In the UK, there are around
1,100 active licensed professional boxers, but less
than 10 per cent of those are making a full-time
living from the sport. Boxing is the only
sport that I know of where professional status
is not really professional because you're not being paid. It's not truly professional
until you reach TV level. My name is Steve Goodwin. I'm a professional
boxing manager looking after over 70
UK boxers that also does some promotional events. The glitz and glamour
shows of TVs that you see is a minuscule part of
the boxing industry. Small-hall boxing
accounts for probably in the region of 95 per
cent of all boxing shows that take place in the UK. Small-hall boxing is basically
boxing without any TV revenue or external revenue. The only revenue you get
from small-hall boxing is from ticket
sales at the door.

Turning pro isn't complicated. Fighters have to pass
a medical evaluation and have amateur
fighting experience. Giant arenas and
big pay cheques are open to anyone with a
professional licence. But almost all pro boxers
fight their battles in town halls, leisure
centres, and nightclubs around the country. When a fighter starts
off on the small hall, to me it's no different
than an electrician that goes out and makes the coffee
and does all the little bits and learns his trade and
gets paid very little and he's an apprentice and
he's learning his trade. With boxing, to me,
everybody, I say to them all: you're all serving
your apprenticeship. And what we're trying to find
here is, are you good enough? Because many of them aren't. With no cash coming in from TV
deals, which provide the largest income stream at the big shows,
the opportunity to make money

is slim, and the responsibility
for selling tickets is on the fighters. So you can earn money
out of small hall, but you have to be a big ticket
seller to earn that money. I always say to a boxer
when they come to me, your job isn't fighting. You have two jobs. You have to fight and
be a good fighter, but you have to market yourself. One without the
other is no good. If you're a good fighter,
but you can't sell tickets, you really shouldn't bother. Doing a show, for example,
at York Hall in London, will cost you around £20,000
without paying any boxers at all. So anybody that's crazy enough
to promote a show starts off minus £20,000. The venue may be £4,500. Security may be
£2,500 to £3,000. Four doctors will
cost you £2,400. Two ambulances, £1,300.

Hire of the ring, £700. You've then got any production
that you put in, a DJ, the people working the corners,
the costs of printing tickets, etc., etc., etc.... They then try and recoup
that by ticket sales. And the promoter might
say to them, right, you need to sell 50 or 60
tickets at £50 a ticket. And then if you go
over the 50-60 tickets, then the next so many tickets
you can keep as your money. I've known fighters
that have ended up fighting but not
selling enough tickets and putting their own
money in to fight. It's a tough time
for some of them. A tough time. When you turn pro,
everything has to be on point learning the
business of the game, getting your social
media on point. So it's not just the
fight that people see. There's so much before. They just see the
glitz and the glam.

but people don't see the
tears, or the driving, or being exhausted, or the money that's
gone into it, or the money that you're getting paid. They just see the highlights. For pro boxers, the
big financial rewards come when they sign up
with major promoters and broadcasters, but the
need to generate sales isn't just for
small-hall boxing. You're not supposed to
turn professional and be driving around in a Rolls-Royce
with silver cutlery, you know? There's supposed to
be that struggle. And I like that, for a fighter,
to experience that struggle when they start off, because
when they get to the top, they'll remember that journey. Eddie Hearn, world's biggest
and greatest boxing promoter, chairman also of
Matchroom Sport. My job is to tell a
story, to tell a story to fight fans to engage
them in the fighter.

and make them excited
about the event. And that's really the job of
a promoter, to sell tickets, to drive viewership, to
create narrative and interest in the event that
you're putting on. When you talk about arena
revenue particularly, it really depends
what market you're in. Some markets, like
the UK market, we rely on pure revenue, so
ticket sales, TV revenue, commercial sponsorship. When you go to international
venues, sometimes Vegas is an example
where a casino might say: we're going to
pay you a site fee for bringing your event to us. Particularly in
Saudi Arabia, you know that's almost a government
position, it's saying: look, we want to drive
tourism to Saudi. We want to create
awareness for our country. So we're going to use
sport as a vehicle to showcase that to the world. The ticket revenue for a Saudi
event is quite small in relation.

to a UK event, but it's
subsidised by the government site or tourism fee. When we go to Saudi and
say, it doesn't matter how many tickets we
sell. Obviously, we want to make sure it's
as busy as possible, but we've already effectively
received the revenue to do the show. So we much prefer, really,
to receive the site fees from the venues and the
tourism departments. But the UK, you know,
it's good fun, as well. Boxing is a business, and a
lot of people forget that. You can be as talented
as you want to be, but if you're not pushing
yourself or getting yourself out there on your own,
without your promoter, you know it's a lot difficult
to kind of be seen, you know? Ticket sales, getting fans,
publicity, interviews, anything that you can do to get
yourself out there and raise your profile all
lead you in good

stead for that bigger prize money. My name is Shannon Ryan. I am 27 years old, and I am a professional boxer. I did my homework before I turned pro. I learnt about the business side of it in my own time, just little things from getting a logo done and knowing about management. Where does the money go when you do get paid from fights? So I was very fortunate enough to be kind of picked up by Anthony Joshua's company, 258. The next part of that was you now need a promoter. Where do we go? And that's obviously where your management gets involved to kind of look at who wants you on their platform. And that's when I did start off with Sky Sports with Boxxer, and I had four fights with them. So I was working at the O2 store in Watford, and I was an assistant manager. That's when it did become really hard.

I would open the shop. I would have to close the
shop, and then go straight to training. So I was always
a little bit late, and my coach would always have
a go at me, but I had no choice. When you love
something and you're passionate about something,
you'll get it done no matter how tired you are. March 2022, I had
my debut in London. After that, I had
to go back to work. That's when I was like, I can't. I can't do this. So prior to that, you know, I
did send O2 an email from myself and took the
initiative, because I knew that if I was going to
go the full way with boxing, I needed the financial
backing to be able to do so. So O2, there was a bit
of push to begin with, and then they said, yeah,
we will partner with you. I think I stayed for about four
weeks, handed in my notice.

and I've been flying ever since. But if it wasn't for O2
financially backing me, I don't think, one, I would
have improved as fast as I have. And two, I would
still be working. Instead of trying
out for Team GB, Shannon secured a
management team, which helped her get noticed by
promoters after she turned pro. But signing TV and
sponsorship deals is only the start
of the process. When a fighter
starts their career, obviously the key is activity. So you're starting off
in six-round fights. You want to be fighting five,
six, seven times a year. A fighter will receive
a purse for those. Obviously, that's a
much smaller purse than when you're fighting
in championship fights, but you are fighting
more regularly. Commercially, they'll
also rely on sponsorship. People don't realise that a
fighter's expenses are quite considerable as well.

It's an expensive sport. Fight night earnings vary
massively from boxer to boxer. Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk
will have shared a prize pot running well into the
tens of millions of pounds from their bout in
Riyadh this year. But for many, earnings are
in the thousands of pounds, even with commercial and
sponsorship deals included. So you don't get paid
until after the fight. When you have your
first fight, you don't have any
money from boxing. So that's where, for
example, for myself, is where the sponsors
come in, because you have to pay for your
strength and conditioning, your nutritionist, your coach, and management.
You pay after the fight a certain percentage. But then you've got your travel. You've got your
sparring partners, if they need to be paid, if
they're travelling down from anywhere. You've got your food,
which is very expensive.

To eat healthy is expensive. So all of that at
the start of camp. And then, yeah, once
you've finished your fight, you then pay your coach. You pay your management. And then is there
enough left over? You've got to save it. The transition from
amateur to pro, it will be different,
especially if I'm in a very new environment where
I've got to build my team. I think the stability that being
on the programme offers you. You have APA funding, so
national lottery funding, which, although many argue,
it's not a lot, but the support you
get from the programme, the money, and the finances you
save and don't have to spend is second to none. Medical expenses, travel
expenses, food expenses: so much money that you
don't have to worry about. You know, as athletes, we
train every day, twice a day, Monday to Saturday. So it is pivotal that you do
get that rest and recovery.

That's why I take my hats off to anyone still working whilst boxing, because it's hard. For some boxers, the cycle of working, training, recovery, and self-promotion is their reality. Despite the financial struggle some professional boxers face, the sport itself is enjoying the buzz from the influx of Saudi money and a growing fan base, particularly among young people. The value of sports rights as a whole continues to increase at a rapid rate, and that's really driven by demand. I mean, if you have new broadcasters entering the market that are willing to invest, be aggressive, and acquire sports TV rights, the price of those rights will continue to grow. And we've seen that in boxing. What the broadcasters like is the interaction of fans in terms of conversation, opinion, arguments, build-up. Boxing's not just about the night.

It's about the build-up,
the confrontations at press conferences,
the debates before and after,
watching them train. And I think broadcasters like
that because it is a very interactive sport. Now, with the
numbers continuing to increase. Matchroom has handled some of
the sport's most profitable bouts in recent history. A single fight can earn
a promoter and the boxers they represent
millions of pounds. There's no resume
for this sport. It is a commercial sport. And it is a little bit
of showbiz as well. So we need something
different from that fighter. We need that swag. Now, it doesn't just mean that
we pick a random fighter out of a gym. Every fighter has
to have pedigree. We're talking about ABA, which
is national championships, getting in the GB
team up in Sheffield, the performance centre,
fighting in the world amateur championships, the
European championships.

and particularly the Olympic games. If you do that, and you win medals in the Olympics, your profile already exists to a point where actually it's a natural progression to the professional ranks. When you're young, you're naive. You just see the top. Not many people get there. My aspiration is to get to the top grade, to be world champion, definitely be world champion. There's not many that have become Olympic and world champion. Anthony Joshua was one of them, James Degale. Lauren Price, also, who's on the squad now, who trains here also, she's one of them. So, yeah, it's a small group. My name is Galal Yafai, and I'm a professional boxer, a former Team GB boxer. My accolades are Commonwealth champion, European medallist twice, and my biggest achievement, Olympic gold medal. I'm in a fortunate position, winning the Olympic gold.

I think that's put me
in unbelievable stead. I don't mean to
blow my own trumpet, but not many people win
Olympic gold for Great Britain and in the world. So it's a small group,
and I'm glad to be in it. But I've got to keep
going, promoting myself. I've got to do that. I've got to keep
winning, mainly. I've got to keep looking good. Hopefully that carries on. Off the back of his successful
career with Team GB, Galal signed with
a major promoter and is now earning enough to
continue boxing full time. It's a lot tougher as a pro. You're pretty much on your own. I have to watch what I
eat, what I do, where I go. It's all around boxing. Boxing is my life. I have nothing else. It's how I earn my money. It's what I think about
all day, every day.

It's given me the
life that I have now. I live comfortably. I live. I'm happy. I can do things that I
probably couldn't have done before through boxing. Boxing has been able to ride the
wave of rising global interest in combat sports,
boosted by the arrival of influential social
media stars on the scene. But the sport's fragmented,
often chaotic federation structure means boxers also
need the right connections if they want a shot at those
title fights and the big money. A lot of boxing is pretty
much the Wild West. It's pretty much who knows
who, who can pull the strings. It's not like the Premier League,
where they go through a process. The best are picked. The others are dropped. This has got so many more
bits to who gets picked and who gets chosen and
who gets the big fights. It is really not
that straightforward. And I always say it is not the
most talented fighters that

get to the top. Sometimes it's
the best managed fighters that get to the top. So you definitely lose a
lot of talent along the way. The money comes in and
it gets higher, is when your kind of value goes up. You keep winning. You do the necessary
stuff within the ring. If you're not winning, you're
then going to go backwards. It's like snakes and ladders. But then again, it's how do you
raise your profile on your own? So social media
is a pivotal part. Let's say you didn't
have your social media and you were just
a talented boxer. You will, of
course, get to where you need to get to, world
title, all the belts. But it's how much is your
value gone up within that? The attitude of the big
promoters has changed. It is really about the money
that fighters can generate now. If a fighter who is not a big
ticket seller, who's with TV,

loses they bin him
off straight away. They've just got
to keep winning. Just got to keep winning. It's just easier to keep winning
if you are a big ticket seller, because they will put more
things in your favour. It's really like that. It's just harder for you if
you're not generating them cash. I think the business model
of boxing is in a good place. I think when you open up
the revenues to a fighter, if they're not
commercially a success, they won't receive
the amount of money that they perceive
to be correct. If you are a superstar
and drive huge numbers, that is where you will get your
maximum pay from that structure. The problem comes is when
someone's actually very good but doesn't have the
commercial value with sponsors, with driving viewership and
pay per view, with putting bums on seats in venues. And that's the
hardest conversation, because someone
might be outstanding.

but if they're not driving
revenue to the show, how do they warrant
the major purses? They can push, but
something's got to click between the fighter and
the fan base to get them there. And it doesn't always work. The number of fighters eager
to take a chance on turning professional continues to grow. I believe that the
way boxing is going is that a lot of fighters that
will be headlining UK TV shows will now be moving on to
the Saudi shows, which means that there will be a
shortage of high-quality fights in the UK, which is going to
mean that everybody is going to uplift, and a lot of fighters
that are on the small hall apprentice level are going to
be given more opportunities. So I actually do believe that
the future is looking more bright for the people,
the apprentices, to get bigger chances
in their careers. We're seeing now, more and more
investment from other countries.

to bring major boxing
events to their country or their territory. Obviously, Saudi is the
most famous of that. But we stage events
throughout Mexico, Monaco... Australia is another market
where the government or state government will invest to
bring boxing specifically to their territory
because it's a hot sport, and they know that
the eyes of the world will be watching when
there's a major fight. Time. But whether all the new
money coming into the sport will be felt in the lower
ranks is yet to be seen. In the last few years, there's
more chances for boxers to become financially secure. In my day, 30 years
ago, there'd probably be three or four boxers that
were doing financially well. Everyone else was
probably just getting by. That's changed, I think,
with the broadcasters and the profile of boxing. You see more people coming
through and being successful. So there's opportunities
for everybody now.

Obviously, you've got social
media platforms and whatever. But there is good opportunities. Some people ask why
boxers do what they do. People hope they're going to
be in that half a per cent, and they have a dream. So they pursue that dream. That's why they do it. It's a dream. My end goal is to
have my freedom. I feel like boxing
allows me to be free. You know, I am training
every day, twice a day. But it's something that
I love and I enjoy doing. I do believe and I will
become the undisputed champion in the super flyweight
division, and I just want to be the best in the game. Hopefully earn some good
money, win some titles, and, most importantly,
get out of the game safe and, yeah, enjoy the rest
of my life with my family.

Boxing: the fight to make a living from turning pro | FT Scoreboard

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복싱은 최고의 선수들에게는 수익성이 높은 스포츠로, 한 번의 시합으로 수천만 달러를 버는 선수도 있지만 대부분의 프로 복싱 선수들은 생계를 유지하기 위해 고군분투하고 있습니다.

영국 복싱 대표팀에 입단하여 올림픽에서의 성공을 목표로 하는 것은 잠재적으로 수익성이 높은 프로 선수 커리어의 발판이 될 수 있습니다.

하지만 현실은 TV나 외부 수익이 없는 소규모 홀 복싱이 영국 복싱 쇼의 대부분을 차지하고 있습니다.

프로 복서가 되려면 의학적 평가와 아마추어 경험이 필요하지만, 대부분의 시합은 작은 경기장에서 열리며 TV 수입은 거의 없습니다.

권투 선수는 돈을 벌기 위해 티켓을 판매해야 하고, 프로모터들은 종종 이벤트 비용을 권투 선수에게 요구합니다.

권투는 기술뿐만 아니라 셀프 마케팅과 재정적 투자가 필요한 힘든 사업입니다.

프로모터는 스토리텔링과 이벤트 홍보를 통해 판매와 수익을 창출하는 등 권투 선수의 재정적 성공에 중요한 역할을 합니다.

프로모터는 티켓 판매, 대관료 등 다양한 수익원을 활용하여 다양한 시장에서 수익을 극대화하며, 국제적인 경기장에서는 상당한 보조금을 제공하는 경우가 많습니다.

궁극적으로 복싱 선수는 재능만으로는 인지도와 금전적 보상을 얻는 데 충분하지 않기 때문에 성공을 위해 적극적으로 자신을 홍보해야 합니다.

섀넌 라이언의 프로 복서로서의 여정

27세의 프로 복서인 섀넌 라이언은 프로모터를 찾는 것부터 재정적 지원을 확보하는 것까지 복싱의 비즈니스 측면을 결단력 있게 헤쳐나갔습니다.

처음에는 O2 매장에서 힘든 일을 시작했지만, 결국 O2의 지원을 받아 복싱에 전념할 수 있게 되었습니다.

라이언의 경력은 프로모터들의 주목을 받고 TV 및 스폰서십 계약을 확보하는 데 도움을 준 매니지먼트 팀의 도움을 받았으며, 복싱 업계에서 재정적 지원과 전략적 경력 관리의 중요성을 강조합니다.

프로 복싱 선수의 수입은 매우 다양하며, 특히 경력 초기에는 수천만 달러를 버는 선수가 있는가 하면 수천만 원도 벌지 못하는 선수도 있습니다.

코칭, 관리, 여행, 영양 섭취 등 훈련에 드는 높은 비용으로 인해 복싱 선수들은 재정적인 어려움을 겪고 있으며, 시합이 끝날 때까지 수입을 받지 못하는 경우가 많습니다.

사우디아라비아에서 자금이 유입되고 팬층이 늘어나면서 복싱의 전반적인 가치가 높아지고 있지만, 여전히 많은 복싱 선수들이 자기 홍보에 의존하고 일과 훈련의 균형을 맞추며 재정적인 어려움을 겪고 있습니다.

올림픽 성공이 복싱 선수의 커리어에 미치는 영향

올림픽에서 성공하면 복싱 선수는 수백만 달러의 수입을 올릴 수 있는 수익성 높은 프로 선수로 발돋움할 수 있습니다.

아마추어에서 프로 복싱 선수가 되기 위해서는 기술뿐만 아니라 국내 및 국제 대회 우승 등 탄탄한 경력도 필요합니다.

프로 레벨로 전환하면 복싱 선수는 훈련과 경력에만 집중해야 하는 더 고립되고 힘든 생활 방식을 겪게 됩니다.

복싱이 선수에게 미치는 영향과 돈의 역할

복싱은 소셜 미디어 인플루언서들의 존재로 인해 격투 스포츠에 대한 전 세계적인 관심이 높아지면서 많은 혜택을 누리고 있습니다.

하지만 복싱의 무질서한 연맹 구조로 인해 복싱 선수가 타이틀전을 확보하고 큰 수입을 올리기 위해서는 인맥이 매우 중요합니다.

복싱 업계는 승리와 수익 창출 능력에 중점을 두고 있으며, 종종 고액 티켓 판매자에게 유리하게 작용하는 등 돈에 의해 크게 좌우됩니다.

상업적 성공과 소셜 미디어에서의 강력한 입지는 이제 권투 선수의 가치와 수입을 높이는 데 중추적인 역할을 하며, 때로는 순수한 재능과 기술을 가리고 있습니다.

국제 투자가 복싱에 미치는 영향

사우디아라비아, 멕시코, 모나코, 호주와 같은 국가에서 더 많은 주요 이벤트가 개최되면서 국제 투자가 복싱의 지형을 바꾸고 있습니다.

이러한 자금의 유입은 유망한 선수들에게 더 많은 기회를 제공하고, 하위 랭크 선수들의 재정적 안정을 개선할 수 있는 잠재력을 가지고 있습니다.

복싱에 대한 투자와 전 세계적인 관심이 증가함에 따라 모든 수준의 복서들이 성공과 재정적 안정을 꿈꾸며 더욱 희망찬 미래를 만들어가고 있습니다.