The much-anticipated superfight is going down, but will it haul in the bucks?
Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather Jr. announced Wednesday they will fight each other on Aug. 26 in Las Vegas. So, now that the fight has a date, it’s time to talk money.
Mayweather’s bout with Manny Pacquiao in 2015 shattered records, bringing in a whopping $623.5 million. And many believe the tussle between the 49-0 Mayweather and the UFC lightweight champion has a chance to eclipse that number.
ESPN’s Darren Rovell talked to a number of experts from the boxing, gambling, marketing, ticketing and merchandise worlds to determine if the Mayweather-McGregor fight will indeed be the most lucrative bout ever.
And he determined that while Mayweather and McGregor both are insanely marketable, the fight will fall short of the staggering number posted by Mayweather-Pacquiao.
While Rovell estimates Mayweather’s fight with McGregor will beat the Pacquiao fight in sponsorship sales, merchandise and pay-per-view purchases, he concludes the battle between the two outspoken fighters will come up short in ticket sales and betting.
The ESPN business reporter puts the average price of a ticket to the Aug. 26 showdown at $3,600, which falls short of the $4,451 average ticket for Mayweather-Pacquiao. Rovell estimates Mayweather-McGregor will take in $60.5 million in ticket sales, almost $20 million less than the $79.1 million that Mayweather’s fight with Pacquiao claimed.
But where the superfight between “Money” and “The Notorious” really will fall short is in the betting market. Mayweather’s defeat of Pacquiao drew $70 million in gambling, but his fight with McGregor is projected to bring in only $30 million in gambling due to the initial odds.
Rovell estimates that when all the money is counted, Mayweather-McGregor will be worth $589.5 million, or $34 million less than Mayweather-Pacquiao.
That’s still a large chunk of change.
Thumbnail photo via Joshua Dahl/USA TODAY Sports Images
