By Mary Cunningham
Yes, the bout sucked, and Floyd Mayweather pounded Manny Pacquiao into an obvious unanimous decision on May 2.
But of you doubt that there was a real market for this fight:
Think again!
Even though both boxers were past their prime, the pent-up demand to see them finally meet in the ring was expected to produce more pay-per-view purchases than any other fight in history.
And it did. An estimated 4.4 million viewers paid a record price of $89.95 to $99.95 to watch the fight, generating more than $400 million in domestic revenue, Showtime, HBO and the fighters’ promoters said Tuesday. The pace of purchases was so great on fight night that the bout was delayed by about a half-hour to process late orders.
The total nearly doubled the previous record for boxing pay-per-view buys: 2.48 million, for a bout between Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya in 2007. The revenue also topped the previous record of $152 million, which was generated by Mayweather’s bout with Canelo Álvarez two years ago.
