We all assumed that Mayweather would walk away from this Pacquiao fight with $180 million dollars; it now seems as though we low-balled that number.
Business Insider is reporting that Mayweather will walk with closer to $275 Million and Pacquiao will bank around $170 million.
Most estimates before the fight set expectations at 3 million pay-per-view buys, which would have easily broken the record of 2.48 million, set by the Mayweather-Oscar De La Hoya fight in 2007. As the fight drew closer, however, at least one sportsbook put the over/under betting line at 3.8 million.
Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports now reports that based on some of the early figures coming in, the number of pay-per-view buys for Mayweather-Pacquiao will be closer to 5.63 million and could go even higher.
Iole estimated that if cable companies made up 60% of the sales, the final number of PPV buys would be about 5.625 million. Even if we take the low end of the percentage estimate, the minimum number of PPV sales would be 5 million, with the high end at 6.43 million.
They went on to break down how the PPV numbers translate into higher revenue for both fighters:
According to John Branch of The New York Times, 30% to 40% of the PPV revenue goes to the cable/satellite/phone companies and 7.5% of what is left is split by HBO and Showtime, which broadcast the event. Most of what is left over is split 60-40 for the fighters in favor of Mayweather.
With a PPV buys estimate of 5.625 million, Mayweather will make $167 million to $195 million from the PPV sales alone, with Pacquiao taking home $114 million to $133 million.
Again, that is just from the PPV sales. According to Branch, other revenue streams will generate close to $140 million for the fighters to split.
At the end of the day, Mayweather is going to take home $250 million to $275 million, with Pacquiao clearing $170 million to $190 million.
Not a bad number for a “boring” fight.