Fans "aren't exactly storming the box office to buy tickets" for the Aug. 26 Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Conor McGregor fight, and as of Saturday there were "hundreds of seats still available from Ticketmaster," according to Tim Dahlberg of the AP. The cheapest tickets for the fight at T-Mobile Arena still available have a "face value of $3,500." But Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe "isn't terribly concerned." He said that the fight will "not only sell out, but break records for the richest gate." However, there seems to be "sticker shock in the marketplace." SeatGeek Content Analyst Chris Leyden said, "There's fairly little sales going on in general. I think a lot of it has to do with where prices are now. I think people are a little uncomfortable paying this much or maybe even more." Dahlberg noted the demand for tickets on StubHub is "lower than it was at the same time" before Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao in '15 (AP, 7/29).
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED? In DC, Marissa Payne wrote it is "unclear what is accounting for the slow pace of sales. It could be that "neither boxing nor mixed martial arts fans are buying the hype, especially as it seems incredibly unlikely" McGregor could beat Mayweather (WASHINGTON POST, 7/30). In N.Y., Jay Caspian Kang wrote Mayweather-McGregor is "so devoid of competitive intrigue that even the most imaginative fight pundits have all but given up trying to figure out how McGregor is even going to lay a glove on Mayweather." It "seemed possible for a moment that this bout might finally be the indignity that causes the sport to keel over into its grave." But fights have their "own economy, one that relies heavily on personality and self-promotion, and after Mayweather and McGregor finished their tour, it seemed likely that millions would chip in for the $89-to-$99 pay-per-view price to watch the bout" (N.Y. TIMES MAGAZINE, 7/25 issue).
