Los Angeles Times

Mega-fight has mega-PPV: $89.95

- By Lance Pugmire lance.pugmire@latimes.com

The May 2 Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao fight, meeting expectatio­ns that it will be the most expensive pay-per-view broadcast in history, has been priced at $89.95.

A television executive who was unauthoriz­ed to speak publicly on the matter divulged the price to The Times, adding that operators, such as DirecTV, Time Warner Cable and AT&T U-verse, will be free to charge extra for a high-definition signal, usually around $10.

The executive said the price was set with the idea of making an event with worldwide interest accessible to a wide audience. Pay-per-view subscripti­ons for high-profile boxing matches typically are priced up to $60.

The bout will be broadcast by both Showtime and HBO, with a combined talent group led by HBO ringside announcer Jim Lampley, Showtime analyst Al Bernstein and reporters Max Kellerman and Jim Gray.

The welterweig­ht title unificatio­n fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, pitting the unbeaten Mayweather (47-0) against eight-division-champion Pacquiao, is expected to shatter pay-per-view records for total subscripti­ons and revenue.

In 2007, Mayweather’s split-decision triumph over Oscar De La Hoya set the bar with a thenrecord 2.48 million subscripti­ons. Six years later, Mayweather’s more expensive pay-per-view bout against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez generated a record $152 million in revenue.

Mayweather-Pacquiao is expected to generate at least 3 million buys, which would translate into revenues in the $270-million ballpark.

Mayweather will earn a 60% cut of the purse to Pacquiao’s 40%.

A limited number of tickets are expected to go on public sale soon. Face-value prices of tickets range from $1,500 to $10,000.

Reports this week had some tickets priced by scalpers at near $90,000.

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