Sports fans will be extremely busy on Saturday, May 2. That day will feature a variety of major events: the Kentucky Derby, the NBA and NHL playoffs, Red Sox versus Yankees and even the NFL draft.
But nothing is going to compare to the event that will trump them all: Floyd Mayweather versus Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas, which is on pace to shatter all boxing revenue records. According to some estimates, Mayweather is expected to receive a payout of around $120 million from the event, and that's after every other party gets its cut.
Pay-per-view subscriber numbers might hit three to four million people, which itself is a bet. The online gambling site Bovada is running an over/under of 3.15 million subscribers. With pay-per-view prices potentially reaching $100, call that $315 million of very likely revenue. Add in international rights, replay rights, sponsorships and in-person ticket sales, the fight could see over $400 million in revenue.
Approximately half that $400 million would go to the television operators and producers, with the other half—or $200 million—being split as the purse between the two fighters. Mayweather, whose nickname is "Money," and Pacquiao have already agreed to a 60/40 purse split. If the subscriber numbers, ticket sales and sponsorship figures come in even higher, then the fighters would make even more than that.
Some boxing analysts point out that the fighters' advanced ages (both are over 35) actually allowed them to make more money than if they had fought five years ago. Because neither of them have knocked out their opponents recently, the match would be expected to run its full duration—allowing sponsors more ability to hold the audience longer. A fight between these two five years ago might have led to an early knockout, leading to some hesitation in paying such exorbitant sums.
To visualize how intense this fight is becoming to fans, consider that the average ticket prices are already higher than those to this year's Super Bowl. According to data from TiqIQ, the average price for this match is currently $10,506, beating out the $10,466 average from this month's Super Bowl.