After several promises were made, the numbers are finally in and the Mayweather-McGregor fight did not break the records as many had perhaps believed. If anything, it probably lived up to it’s hype, so to speak.
After attending the event at the Barclays Center for the fight’s tour, the records it probably set were the levels of trash talk involved in the sport. In addition, it probably gained Kevin Garnett’s stamp of approval.
They threw out numbers ranging from $60 million to $80 million, but in the end, Mayweather’s 10th-round knockout of UFC star McGregor, who made his pro boxing debut on Aug. 26 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, did not come close to breaking the record.
What exactly is the record that the fight did do? The Nevada State Athletic Commission announced that the fight’s live gate is $55,414,865.79. The stats surrounding this fight are worth noting though, including some complimentary offers.
There were 137 complimentary tickets given away, according to the Nevada commission. The gate was generated from the sale 13,094 tickets, far short of a sellout at an arena that could have held as many as 20,500 for the fight.
The average sale price for a ticket was $4,232 with face value of tickets at $500 for the cheapest up to $10,000 for the most expensive. While the fight still generated a massive amount of money from ticket sales, it is the No. 2 combat sports gate of all time, falling well behind the $72,198,500 from the sale of 16,219 tickets for Mayweather’s welterweight unification showdown with Manny Pacquiao on May 2, 2015, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Mayweather-McGregor is comfortably ahead of the No. 3 all-time gate: $20,003,150 from 16,146 tickets for Mayweather’s 2013 junior middleweight unification victory against Canelo Alvarez, also at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
However, Mayweather did set records in Nevada’s history as he holds five of the top six gates. Can you say The Money Team?
Now, we’re still waiting on the Pay Per View numbers to be released. Too bad they can’t pull up the amount of Periscope numbers it did because many saw the fight for free on Twitter. I’m sure Steven Espinoza is excited to share those numbers once they drop.
The only thing that’s left to wonder is, “What excuse will Dana White and Mayweather promotions come up regarding these numbers?”