Turki Alalshikh’s push for a 1am main event at Wembley Stadium is more than welcoming to a global audience. It is an attempt to increase the marketing power of Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua in the United States
“But we want a global time zone, especially in America. If they allowed us to have Wembley late at night, we want to do it in England. It’s about time and viewers,” said Alalshikh.
British fans have followed the heavyweights throughout their careers and have repeatedly stayed up until the early hours of the morning to watch the biggest fights in Las Vegas and Saudi Arabia. Fury’s trilogy with Deontay Wilder, Anthony Joshua’s fights in Saudi Arabia, and many other marquee events all require UK fans to adjust their schedules.
The challenge is different in America.
Although Fury and Joshua are well-known among boxing fans, they are not household names in the United States. Their rivalry also lacks the same emotional investment that exists in Britain after years of failed negotiations and missed opportunities. To entice mainstream American viewers to tune in, the event benefits from being in the United States or airing in US prime time.
The main event of Wembley at about 10 or 11 pm would play in the United States in the afternoon or early morning, before the prime time television window. The 1 am ringwalk in London will instead start around 8 pm ET, giving broadcasters access to a much larger audience and increasing the commercial value of the event through television ratings, sponsorship exposure, and pay-per-view sales.
According to Alalshikh, playing Fury vs. Joshua at Wembley is already a concession to British fans. Saudi Arabia can hold this fight while scheduling it at a time that better suits the American television market, and an American location like Las Vegas or New York will generate more attention from the domestic media. Taking the fight to Britain gives fans the chance to witness one of the world’s greatest heavyweights.
That is why the organizers want a later kick-off than to accept Wembley’s usual curfew. British fans are expected to watch Fury vs. Joshua wherever it happens. The biggest challenge is to attract as many American viewers as possible to a war that, although huge in the UK, does not have the same level of general interest across the Atlantic.
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Last updated on 2026/07/08 at 12:48 PM
