Facebook Live stole the Mundine and Green 2 fight. Foxtel's next move.

Last night Anthony Mundine and Green came head to head in their second fight and while FOXTEL may have had the television rights, Facebook Live had the viewers.

Hundreds of thousands of viewers used the new Facebook Live functionality to watch the fight, streamed straight from someone's lounge room. And the crowds went wild!

Within minutes of the big fight starting, over 148.7K people tuned into one live stream, 133K on another, 43.2K on another. All commenting and reacting using Live's emojis. This type of engagement for free, organic content shared from unknown accounts who weren't big brands involved in the fight, or who owned the distribution rights is unheard of. These people weren't social influencers with thousands of online fans, they were just regular people, streaming a major event from their smart devices.

FOXTEL attempted to shut down as many streams as they could on the night, calling users streaming or suspending services. Over the coming days and weeks there will no doubt be a lot of commentary about FOXTEL suing these regular Joe's. But while well within their rights to do so, FOXTEL could be missing the massive opportunity in front of them and they seriously risk missing the forest for the trees.

Last night's situation highlighted the huge opportunity for the disruption of broadcasting these special events. With consumer demand being so strong to see these fights, FOXTEL needs to focus on harnessing that demand rather than chasing their tail with the individuals involved.

Imagine capturing this highly engaged audience and bringing them closer to the fight. A partnership between Facebook Live and FOXTEL, using the live functionality as it is designed for, but directly from the fight. 

There is opportunity for FOXTEL to make significant revenue by setting up a deal with Facebook Live to charge a small subscription fee for the millions of people who want to see the fight.

Consumer demand for the service is so strong that it's clear there is money to be made harnessing this interest properly. So rather than suing average Joe, it's time for FOXTEL to have a good hard look at the latest technologies in market and use them to their advantage, rather than complaining that their old school paid television is yet again losing to the those pesky pirates.

Mundine vs Green 2