The Fight of the Century between undefeated American fighter Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao may end up surpassing the already insane forecast for the overall revenue of the bout. According to ESPN Boxing writer Dan Rafael, this surefire record-breaking boxing bout is capable of even tripling the conservative estimates, generating as much as $400 million.
In his latest article on ESPN Boxing, the BWAA Nat Fleischer Award-winner provided more juicy details about the upcoming mega-fight between two of the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world on May 2 at MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, Nevada.
While it's no secret the bout is set to break all kinds of records simply because of its starpower, firepower and relevance to the sport, Rafael added more fuel to an already blazing promotional buildup. The ESPN Boxing pundit believed the previous estimates of $250 million gross revenue might be just a low-ball prediction to what would likely be a $400 million event.
"The Mayweather side gets 60 percent of the revenue and the Pacquiao side gets 40 percent of a fight that seems likely to gross more than $400 million," said Rafael, who based his estimates on the rumored pricing of seats at MGM Grand Garden and the PPV subscriptions.
"Organizers of Mayweather-Pacquiao are looking to scale the house to produce a gate of about $40 million from the sale of probably a little more than 16,000 tickets. The highest-priced tickets are expected to have a record face value of $5,000, with the cheapest ticket being $1,000."
"Mayweather-Pacquiao will likely carry a price tag of about $89.95, with many cable and satellite providers tacking on another $10 for HD. That means you're probably looking at about $100 for the PPV in HD."
After six years of wait, boxing fans around the world will finally have a chance to see the top two boxers slugging it out for the title as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the era. The 36-year old Pacquiao will be staking his WBO Welterweight title against the 38-year old Mayweather, who will be defending the WBC, WBA and the lineal welterweight titles along with his unblemished record of 47-0.
