Mayweather-Alvarez fight sets records for gate, revenue
The figures are in and they’re the best boxing has ever seen.
Last Saturday’s Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Saul “Canelo” Alvarez fight at the MGM Grand Garden did record numbers, both at the gate and in terms of gross revenue. Showtime Sports said Thursday the fight ‘s pay-per-view buys are projected at 2.2 million generating a record $150 million in revenue. The previous record was $136 million, set in 2007 when Mayweather fought Oscar De La Hoya.
However, the fight, which saw Mayweather dominate Alvarez in winning a 12-round majority decision and claim the WBC and WBA junior welterweight title belts, did not beat the record of 2.48 million buys for Mayweather-De La Hoya.
“This is what we were thinking when Floyd signed with Showtime,” said Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather’s co-manager and CEO of Mayweather Promotions. “It was a remarkable event and a lot of people worked extremely hard to make it happen.”
The live gate of $20,003,150 from a paid sellout crowd of 16,146 was also a record. The total closed circuit telecast attendance at six MGM properties on the Strip which showed the fight was 26,163, generating an additional $2,615,360 in revenue which was also a record.
In Mexico, the fight was shown on free television and according to Televisa, the ratings were phenomenal. The fight had a national rating of 41.1 which equates to a 77 percent share. There were 22.1 million viewers and nearly eight out of 10 households in Mexico had the fight on their TV sets.
Still to be released are numbers the fight generated from being shown at more than 500 movie theaters nationwide in the U.S.
Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter @stevecarprj.
