Organizers of Saturday's Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao bout said that the boxers will share "at least" $300M in revenue, "largely from pay-per-view purchases and ticket sales," according to Eben Novy-Williams of BLOOMBERG NEWS. Top Rank Chair and Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum said that that figure is "twice as much" as the $150M a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight in '09 "would have generated." Novy-Williams notes Saturday night's fight has "benefited from social media’s growth, a recovered U.S. economy and a hype machine that has been cranking" since '09. Arum: "We had six years of teasing the public. You couldn’t buy the publicity." The biggest piece of the $300M total -- the number of PPV purchases -- is "also the biggest unknown." Most boxing experts say that they are "confident it will top the previous record" of 2.48 million buys, which "would bring in around" $250M. Most of that "goes to the fighters." Meanwhile, other numbers "are easier to pin down." The gate at MGM Grand Garden Arena "was scaled" to $72M, "more than triple the previous record, with a large majority of tickets bought and distributed privately by the casino and promoters." Sponsorships "brought in more than" $11M. Arum said that that figure is "about five times more than most major fights." Int'l TV rights "will bring in at least" $35M, with closed-circuit TV, "both inside and outside Las Vegas," totaling around $10M. Arum said that merchandise, an "afterthought for boxing, should be around" $1M. Arum said, "The numbers other than pay-per-view revenue are so large that we start out with maybe $120 million before a single person buys the fight" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 4/28). Arum: "God knows what this event is going to end up doing. You do the math. We’ve never seen numbers like this. Usually on these events, I am accused of hyperbole. Here, there is no reason for hyperbole" (WASHINGTON POST, 4/26).
GREAT EXPECTATIONS: In N.Y., George Willis noted Mayweather-Pacquiao "wasn’t expected to be the greediest and most unorganized." As fight week began yesterday, a sport that was "carried in recent years by hardcore fans and Internet bloggers has turned its back on those very supporters in the chase for every dollar." If waiting until the week before the fight to put 500 tickets on sale to the general public "wasn’t insulting enough, hotel rooms in Las Vegas are going for $400 to $900 a night and up." Closed-circuit tickets, unless "well connected through a hotel host, can cost $300 to $400." Last-minute flights, if you were "lucky enough to get a fight ticket," cost more than $900 from Newark. If Mayweather and Pacquiao "deliver an entertaining, competitive and memorable bout, that will encompass the post-fight chatter along with discussion of a rematch." But if one boxer "dominates the other, or it’s a boring exhibition of shadow boxing, or the judging appears biased, it could leave fans angry, unfulfilled and feeling cheated" (
N.Y. POST, 4/26). In Las Vegas, Ed Graney wrote this fight "stormed past the event stage long ago and is now a full-fledged phenomenon." Whether the action inside a ring "can match the ridiculously elevated level of hype that will have preceded it is no longer debated." Graney: "It absolutely can’t" (
REVIEWJOURNAL.com, 4/27).
CALM BEFORE THE STORM: The AP's Kimberly Pierceall noted Las Vegas "is filling up fast ahead of the much-anticipated May 2 megafight and the city is headed for a big payday from what might be the most lucrative boxing match ever held." Airlines are "swapping smaller planes for larger ones, readying for a busy weekend" at McCarran Int'l Airport. Cabbies are "asking regulators for permission to dispatch more taxis to roam the roads." There has been a "frenzy to book all of Las Vegas’ 150,544 rooms." According to booking engine Vegas.com, only 20 hotels "had rooms still available" a week before the fight (AP, 4/25). ESPN.com's Darren Rovell reported five days before the fight, the "last rooms were being sold at the MGM Grand for $1,600 per night" (ESPN.com, 4/26).
NOT FOR EVERYONE: Author Thomas Hauser said, "It is a huge economic event. But for the business of boxing, it doesn’t mean anything other than a small group of people counting a large amount of money -- and then we’ll go back to business as usual." Arum said that the sport’s "fundamental problem" is that it is "too brutal for all but a few." Arum: "Boxing is for poor people who don’t have any other alternative to make their way in life. We can’t get white middle-class kids into boxing. Let’s be honest: No parent in their right mind is going to let them come to a gym. I wouldn’t let my kid go into boxing" (N.Y. TIMES, 4/28).
