Mayweather-McGregor’s superfight gate receipts short of record
LO S A NGE LE S : F l oyd May we at h e r an d C ono r McGregor’s money- spinning superfight failed to break the record for gate receipts at a Las Vegas boxing bout, figures released by the Nevada State Athletic Commission revealed Wednesday.
The controversial Aug 26 fight raked in US$ 55,414,865.79, well short of the US$ 72,198,500 generated by Mayweather’s 2015 “Fight of the Century” against Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand.
The Mayweather- McGregor bout, staged at the T-Mobile Arena, sold 13,094 tickets, well short of the venue’s 20,500 capacity. The Mayweather-Pacquiao fight sold 16,219 tickets.
A total of 137 complimentary tickets were given away for Mayweather- McGregor, won by Mayweather in a 10th-round technical knockout.
Face- value ticket prices for Mayweather- McGregor were among the most expensive in history, with cheapest seats going for US$ 500 and the most expensive for as much as US$ 10,000.
Although the fight failed to chal lenge the Mayweather- Pacquiao gate total, it becomes the second highest-grossing gate in Las Vegas history, surpassing the US$ 20 million generated by Mayweather’s 2013 defeat of Canelo Alvarez.
The bout is also set to be one of the richest fights in history if the most bullish predictions of pay-per-view television sales are met.
S ome pr e d ic t ion s h ave suggested the fight could threaten the 4.6 million buys generated by Pacquiao-Mayweather.
Official numbers have not been released although executives from cable network Showtime Sports said they expected the bout would at least be second. — AFP