Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. is "considering taking his late-summer career swan song to free TV," as a short list of opponents is "being pondered for a Sept. 12 event that could be broadcast live on CBS," according to a source cited by Lyle Fitzsimmons of CBSSPORTS.com. Mayweather in February '13 "signed a six-fight deal with Showtime Networks -- a wholly-owned subsidiary of the CBS Corporation" -- and has since fought five times. The source said that Showtime's relationship with CBS "has always made a Mayweather appearance on the network a possibility," but each of his past five fights "have been Showtime pay-per-view events." His previous eight bouts "were distributed by HBO's pay-per-view arm" (CBSSPORTS.com, 7/8). In Las Vegas, Steve Carp notes Mayweather's May 2 fight against Manny Pacquiao was "the most expensive PPV in boxing history -- $99.95 -- and did 4.4 million buys" and $440M in revenue. But the outcome "left a lot of buyers bitterly disappointed." Showtime Sports Exec VP & GM Stephen Espinoza said that "everything is on the table as far as Mayweather is concerned." He added, "It’s wide open. The one thing Floyd has made clear to all of us is he wants his last fight to be very special and unique." Carp notes the fight would be something CBS "could easily promote on its NFL telecasts," as well as its SEC football telecasts (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 7/10). In Michigan, David Mayo notes the proposed fight date is "nine weeks away," and CBS "has not locked in a college football game for a national telecast that night." If Mayweather's next opponent is Karim Mayfield or Andre Berto, "in a fight that would rise to pay-per-view level solely on his own star power, the preference instead may be a prime-time broadcast windfall with advertising rates which could rival that of a Super Bowl" (MLIVE.com, 7/10).
