Mayweather-McGregor Fight Racks It Up

Despite selling less than 75 percent of the seats in Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena, the Aug. 26 fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor was reportedly on pace at press time to break the record for the largest live gate ever.

Image Courtesy of mcgregor-vs-mayweather.com – Mayweather-McGregor
A poster of McGregor vs. Mayweather

The venue was initially selling cheap seats for $3,500 and floor seats for $10,000 that, in hindsight, may have been a misread on the market. Experts posited that much of the interest in the fight was being generated by UFC fans, who tend to be in their 20s and couldn’t afford the thousands of dollars tickets, travel and accommodations would require. 

The fight was expected to bring in $500 million in pay-per-view revenue alone, surpassing  the $400 million record set by the 2015 contest between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, according to Bloomberg. A large part of the profits for the event likely came from its pay-per-view broadcast, which cost between $89.99 and 99.99.

Buffalo Wild Wings showed the fight at half of its 1,200 restaurants, a decision possibly motivated by a controversial decision to not show the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, claiming it would cost the franchise $6 million or roughly $5,100 a restaurant, according to Bloomberg. A handful of restaurants decided to show the event, charging a $20 entrance fee.

Despite attempts to keep the fight for paying customers, an estimated 2.9 million fans simply watched the event on their Facebook feeds or through applications like Periscope, according to digital platform security company Irdeto.

Correlation does not imply causation but the successful event occurred the same weekend Hollywood had its worst weekend since Sept. 2001, drawing only an estimated $65 million. 

As for the fight itself, it held no surprises as Mayweather soundly defeated the first-time professional boxer McGregor by TKO in the 10th round.