“Fight of the Century” will generate at least USD 500 million in Revenue

“Fight of the Century” will generate at least USD 500 million in Revenue

In U.S gambling news, HBO and Showtime reported that the welterweight unification bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao will produce at least USD 500 million in revenue. The bout, billed as the “fight of the century”, was on May 2nd at the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas. Pay-per-view in the U.S said that 4.4 million purchases were made by people, more than twice the last record of USD 153 million.

The purchasing numbers were stated by HBO and Showtime, the two cable television networks that co-produced and distributed the event. The fight packages for pay-per-view ranged from USD 89.89 to USD 99.95. Not only did the figures exceed the previous record, they set a new milestone for pay-per-view by almost doubling the record for purchases prior to that for the Mayweather Oscar De La Hoya bout eight years ago.

Mr. Mayweather isn’t a newcomer when it comes to large numbers

Floyd Mayweather has routinely participated in the highest money making bouts for non-heavyweight fights. He said that making at least USD 100 million in fight within the confines of U.S gambling laws, was his goal. Although Mayweather won the bout by unanimous decision, both fighters made more than that. The bout was predicted to make USD 300 million.

ESPN reported that the fight was postponed for 30 minutes because of ordering issues. Mayweather and Pacquiao separately were the two highest producing revenues for pay-per-view on average. Mayweather’s pay-per-view bouts generated 14.5 million purchases while Pacquiao’s generated 13.4 million. The “fight of the century” was distributed in 175 countries according to Showtime and HBO.