The total revenue generated by the hotly anticipated welterweight title unification fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao is expected to exceed $400m – a figure that will shatter all boxing records.
The live gate for the long-awaited 2 May showdown at the MGM Grand Garden Arena will yield $74m from the sale of roughly 15,000 tickets, ESPN.com reported on Monday.
That’s greater than the top three gates in Nevada boxing history to date – for Mayweather’s fights with Canelo Alvarez ($20,003,150) and Oscar De La Hoya ($18,419,200), and Lennox Lewis’ rematch with Evander Holyfield ($16,860,300) – combined.
Tickets at the 16,800-seat venue adjacent to the MGM Grand will run from $1,500 to $7,500, though few will be made available for public sale.
The fight is widely to expected to shatter the pay-per-view records for both total buys (2.48m for Mayweather-De La Hoya) and revenue ($150m for Mayweather-Alvarez). Online bookmaker Bovada has listed the fight as a 2/5 favorite to do more than 3.15m buys – despite an expected price point of $99 – which translates to more than $300m in sales for the joint Showtime/HBO pay-per-view.
Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter, told ESPN.com the foreign rights are expected to generate a record $35m – including a record $10m for the TV rights in the Philippines.
Mayweather’s team negotiated a 60% share of the total revenue, while Pacquiao’s camp will bring home 40%. That means the fighter’s purses could approach or even exceed the nine-figure mark.
On Monday, both networks unveiled the official poster for the fight.
The official #MayPac fight poster. 40 days until @FloydMayweather and @MannyPacquiao meet in the ring. pic.twitter.com/zfizS14eXo
— HBOboxing (@HBOboxing) March 23, 2015
Most oddsmakers list Pacquiao as a 2/1 underdog against Mayweather, who is undefeated in 47 professional fights.
