‘MayPac’ KOs PPV Buy, Revenue Records

Say what you will about the action inside and outside the ring, the financial tale of the tape for the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao boxing match is indisputable.

The May 2 fight of the century KO’d all pay-per-view records, connecting on 4.4 million buys, according to co-promoters Showtime and HBO. That shattered the previous mark of 2.48 million PPV buys for the Mayweather-Oscar De La Hoya bout in 2007.

Moreover, the distributors say the record number of buys translated into upward of $400 million in residential revenues, trouncing the $152 million scored by Mayweather’s defeat of Canelo Alvarez in September 2013.

Most observers expected that the long-anticipated megabout between Mayweather and Pacquiao, priced at a record $89.95 or $99.95 by some distributors for access to the HD feed from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, would easily surpass the revenue mark.

Although projections called for the bout to draw well over 3 million buys, some wondered whether the high price points might dissuade some households from purchasing “MayPac.” Obviously, that was not the case, with the promoters succeeding in courting and registering early buys.

Still, there were widespread reports that operators, which are slated to receive 30%-40% of gross revenue, depending on level of marketing participation, could not handle the volume of last-second buys. That delayed the start of the fight for 30 minutes and no doubt prevented many from adding to the record tallies. For their part, Showtime and HBO are expected to evenly divide 7.5% of the gross PPV revenue for their work on the co-promotion.

In the aftermath, MayPac has been hit by tales of piracy from users of live streaming on the Periscope and Meerkat platforms, a class-action suit has been filed against Pacquiao for entering the ring with an injured right shoulder that has required surgery, and Mayweather first declared interest in a rematch and then recanted on that declaration.

“Money” has one fight left on his six-fight contract with Showtime and has repeatedly averred his intent to retire at the conclusion of the deal. A win in what might be a September confrontation would leave him with a 49-0 mark, tied with legendary heavyweight Rocky Marciano for the best record in boxing history.

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