Tickets remain for McGregor vs. Mayweather
LAS VEGAS — It’s supposed to be the hottest ticket in sports. So far, though, fans aren’t exactly storming the box office to buy tickets for boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s fight next month with UFC standout Conor McGregor.
A check online Saturday revealed thousands of seats are available from Ticketmaster at the T-Mobile arena for the Aug. 26 fight. There are so many open seats that in 162 spots throughout the arena, fans can buy six tickets together.
That might be because of the astronomical prices set by promoters — the cheapest original tickets on Ticketmaster have a face value of $3,500. Or maybe fans are just waiting for the right time to buy, hoping the price will go down.
Either way, promoter Leonard Ellerbe isn’t concerned. He says the fight will not only sell out, but break records for the richest gate.
“We’re very excited and very happy with ticket sales so far,” Ellerbe said. “We’re well on our way to smashing our own record, which transcended the sport.”
That was a $72,198,500 gate set by Mayweather in his 2015 fight with Manny Pacquiao.
The resale market is nearly as pricey. At Seatgeek.com, the get-in price is around $2,000 and the median listing price is about $7,000.
“There’s fairly little sales going on in general,” said Chris Leyden, a content analyst for SeatGeek.com. “I think a lot of it has to do with where prices are now. I think people are a little uncomfortable paying this much or maybe even more.”
Promoters are expecting huge pay-per-view sales at $99.95 apiece that could rival the 4.6 million sold for Mayweather-Pacquiao. The demand for the fight is being driven largely by UFC fans, who tend to be younger than boxing fans and may not have pockets quite as deep.
Another sign that demand may be lacking — there are still plenty of hotel rooms available online in the $300 to $400 range, including several hotels operated by MGM Grand, which owns the T-Mobile arena.