Floyd looking at $180m, Pacquiao $100m payday

The first ticket for the tournament in Las Vegas still has to be sold but new estimates show Mayweather may receive substantially more than earlier predictions of $120 million. Pacquiao is now expected to earn well over $100 million for the welterweight title bout on May 2. Previous estimates were that he would make $80 […]

The first ticket for the tournament in Las Vegas still has to be sold but new estimates show Mayweather may receive substantially more than earlier predictions of $120 million.
Pacquiao is now expected to earn well over $100 million for the welterweight title bout on May 2. Previous estimates were that he would make $80 million.
The money is staggering, though not unexpected. Five years of waiting seem to have piqued the public’s demand for the one fight even casual fans of the sport want to see.
“For whatever it is worth, the build up over these years has certainly enhanced the fight,” says promoter Bob Arum.
“Everybody knows about it now; even people who don’t follow boxing. Plus we have a good economy, unlike in 2009 when people were out of work and didn’t have the money to spend.”
Spectators will certainly pay a price, especially those lucky enough to score a ticket inside the MGM Grand arena. Ticket prices there range from $1 500 in the upper deck to $7 500 at ringside.
Arum said on Tuesday the gate at the MGM would be more than $72 million, obliterating the previous live gate record of $20 million in Nevada set by Mayweather’s fight with Saul Alvarez in 2013.
The MGM will provide some tickets for its biggest gamblers, but Arum said even the celebrities who can normally get free tickets to sit at ringside would have to pay full fare – if they could get their hands on tickets.
Promoters have now announced a deal with Sky Sports to televise the fight on pay-per-view in England and parts of Europe, part of another $35 million expected to come in from foreign rights.
Another $10 million will come from sponsorships, with Tecate beer the main sponsor.
The fight will gross more than $100 million before a single home in North America buys pay-per-view, which may cost about $100 per household.
But that could easily break records, too. Mayweather’s fight with Oscar de la Hoya in 2007 holds the record of 2.44 million buys, but many think Mayweather and Pacquiao could be watched in more than 3 million homes.
“That’s the one element that’s a mystery,” Arum said. “It seems it will break the record, but who really knows? Anyone who predicts the total pay-per-view is whistling in the dark.”
Cable networks HBO and Showtime have yet to announce the pay-per-view price, saying they are still in negotiations with cable systems and satellite providers.
Those negotiations are mostly about how the money will be divided between the broadcasters and the fight promoters, who have previously split revenues fairly equally.
With promoters holding the upper hand for this fight, though, that split could end up 65-35 in favour of the promotion.
And if 3 million homes buy the fight at $100, that would mean about $200 million in revenue to Mayweather Promotions and Arum’s Top Rank from pay-per-view alone.
Add in the other money and the two camps will have more than $300 million to divide. With Mayweather getting a 60-40 split, that would mean a purse of $180 million or more to the American and $120 million or more to his Filipino opponent.
Both purses would dwarf the biggest in boxing, including the fight from which De la Hoya was reported to have made a reported $52 million for fighting Mayweather.
“Money” Mayweather’s biggest payday was against Alvarez, when he was guaranteed $41.5 million. He may have made another $20 million from pay-per-view sales.
“You get to this level where you’re making nine figures in 36 minutes,” Mayweather said at a recent press conference, “and you have to be a winner.”
Judging from the money on the table in this bout, it’s hard to find a loser.