Pacquiao Vs. Mosley Streaming Live On Top Rank Website

Top Rank Promotions will be streaming the bout between Manny Pacquiao and “Sugar” Shane Mosley (as well as the undercard) on their website for $54.99. This pay-per-view stream will provide customers with some unique options such as allowing viewers to choose between the main stream and international stream as well as having DVR functionality.

Top Rank president Todd duBoef recently spoke to MMA Junkie about the decision to stream the event:

“I don’t believe it’s going to take away from our current distribution models. I think it’s just going to supplement it. There are plenty of kids in college that don’t have a cable box in their rooms, but they have a laptop. There’s plenty of people that are traveling that have a laptop that couldn’t otherwise see the fight. There are people in hotel rooms that can’t buy the fight, but they’re interested in doing it. I think as all of us are connected more and more to the digital platforms, I think as part of the new-media delivery, the content has to be available to them.”

Of course, there are always risks to online streams and Scott Christ of Bad Left Hook points out some of the reason for concern:

Though I had heard that a different company would be powering this pay-per-view, NeuLion is apparently the company behind the stream. NeuLion will be familiar to fight fans as the company behind Top Rank’s live streams of off-TV undercards, press conferences, weigh-ins, and the like.

The problem here is that Top Rank’s live streams are notorious for crashing. One has to assume that Top Rank has taken extra measures to ensure that this pay-per-view will be stable, but from past experience both with Top Rank and with companies trying to stream content online who aren’t prepared for the demand, I would proceed with caution if making this your choice tonight.

If it works, I’m sure it will be a great experience for those willing to give it a try. If it doesn’t, it’ll lead to a lot of refunds to unhappy customers.