I wonder what type of outrage could possibly take place if the folks forking out over $99 to witness Mayweather vs Pacquiao end up having their PPV feed drop?
According to Sports Business Daily — Both Showtime and HBO said that early pay-per-view orders for Saturday’s Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao bout “are tracking higher than they have ever seen, and that initial numbers have been so robust there are concerns the system might not be able to handle the surge of buyers,” via Bob Velin of USA TODAY.
They “urged those who plan to buy the fight to order early to avoid possible problems late.” HBO Sports President Ken Hershman is hoping for “a new PPV record.” But he said, “I’ve learned long ago with pay-per-view, it’s a bad idea to guess (USATODAY.com, 4/30). In Boston, Callum Borchers notes the PPV cost for businesses to show the fight is “astronomically higher” than the at-home price. Fees “vary slightly among cable and satellite providers, but a typical quote is about $30 per person, multiplied by an establishment’s maximum occupancy under the fire code.” For a Boston-based bar that holds 395 people, that “would have meant paying roughly $12,000” (BOSTON GLOBE, 5/1).