Sources: Jake Paul vs Ben Askren did at least 1.45 million buys on PPV

Paul vs Askren looks to have been a huge pay-per-view hit on Saturday night.

You knew this was going to be something different when Pete Davdison of “Saturday Night Live” and Snoop Dogg were on screen to kick off the Jake Paul vs Ben Askren Triller Fight Club pay-per-view, blazing blunts and talking about what was to come at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

And when Snoop did a skit with Jaleel White’s Steve Urkel character, playing the Triller bossman. Urkel pitched his “Purple Urkel” weed strain, setting the tone for a pay-per-view which unfolded like a trip.

If you have virgin ears, then this maybe wasn’t your sweet spot, because the F-bombs were dropped liberally by Snoop, Davidson and some of the other talents who from 9 until near 1 AM Sunday announced their presence in a manner that is still being analyzed a day later.

Me, I dug it, I had a good trip, because I appreciated the edginess, risk-taking, and DGAF attitude that came off to me as free-spirited and spicy, adult-oriented. But I realize that a few folks turned the $50 program off when Davidson made a joke about how one could conceivably come into possession of Triller by canoodling with his mom. He didn’t use the word “canoodling,” by the way.

More people didn’t turn it off, though, it appears. Because a person in the know informs us that the event broke the 1.45 million buy mark, and could edge up to two million buys between traditional pay-per-view and digital. Usually the cable/satellite to digital buys ratio is 2-to-1 favoring “old school” tech, but the Triller gang are still sifting, and aren’t sure what the ratio will be. As you can assume, younger people are more likely to watch on a device, so essentially, the braintrust are figuring out the age demographic breakdown of their audience.

Also, it looks like the event could set a record for being the most pirated boxing event, surpassing the Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor offering in 2017, we are told.

The founders are also said to be pleased at the response on social, with terms like “Jake Paul,” “Snoop Dogg,” “Oscar De La Hoya,” “Justin Bieber,” and “Triller” clogged up the top 20 in trend rankings. Oscar, for the record, was in beyond-rare form, it’s maybe worth buying the replay of the show to hear his commentary for the Steve Cunningham-Frank Mir fight alone.

More early takeaways: It looks like the Paul-Askren fight drew the attention of bettors, and the April 17 Triller battles will stand as the most bet-on event of 2021 to date.

My Three Cents: I suspect the legend of this outing will grow over time. Pete Davidson was a comedic Manson, he left blood on the floor with a few of his quips, as when he visited Jake Paul’s dressing room and said, “Today’s a really wild day for boxing, because it shows how low it’s truly sunk. I think today proves the fact that if you have enough followers, you can truly do whatever the fuck you want.” Of the main eventers, Davidson said, “They both suck, but at least someone’s gonna get hurt.” Yes, this one wasn’t for the purists, but that’s OK, plenty of other material will be produced for their consumption. The next Triller Fight Club drops June 5, with Teofimo Lopez topping the bill, defending his lightweight crowns against George Kambosos Jr.