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Mayweather-Pacquiao revenue estimated at over $400m

Canelo fought Mayweather too early in his career. Will a win over Miguel Cotto launch him to the superstardom so many have predicted? (FP PHOTO / John GURZINSKI)
24th March, 2015
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Manny Pacquiao’s upcoming boxing showdown with unbeaten Floyd Mayweather is about to shatter revenue records, with promoter Bob Arum putting the estimated figure at a jaw-dropping $US400 million ($A506 million).

The welterweight title unification fight May 2 in Las Vegas will generate $74 million from just over 15,000 tickets at MGM Grand Garden Arena, Pacquiao promoter Arum told ESPN, flattening the old mark of just over $US20 million ($A25.3 million) for Mayweather’s 2013 fight with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in the same venue.

Promoters first aimed for $40 million, then boosted the ticket prices from $1,000 to $1,500 at the low end and $5,000 to $7,500 for the best seats due to huge demand, Arum said.

But organisers have now shuffled the number of seats in various price ranges and boosted top seats to $10,000 to raise the live gate total from $50 million to $74 million.

“It’s crazy, but it is what it is,” Arum told ESPN. “It’s amazing.”

And few if any seats will be available for public sale, with promoters, telecasters HBO and Showtime, the fighters and the host venue each taking a share of the tickets.

“We’ll probably have a handful of tickets that will go on sale to the public next week,” Arum said. “It’s mania.”

There will be only about 1,100 seats at $10,000, none of them for public sale, according to the report.

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There are expectations of three million pay-per-view buys at about $100 each could bring $300 million in sales for US, Puerto Rican and Canadian markets alone.

Global rights are expected to ring up another $35 million, with a record $10 million already spent for rights in the Philippines, where Pacquiao is an iconic figure.

Mayweather’s camp receives 60 per cent of the revenue with Pacquiao’s side taking home 40 per cent.

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