Mayweather-McGregor Fight Challenges PPV Buy Record

By R. Thomas Umstead
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

The Aug. 26 Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor mega event generated pay-per-view buys in the “mid to high” 4 million range, challenging the all-time PPV event performance record, fight promoter Showtime said Friday.

While Showtime officials said the fight's PPV numbers are preliminary, Mayweather-McGregor is positioned to knockout the PPV record of 4.6 million buys and the more than $450 million in PPV revenue generated by Mayweather’s 2015 fight with Manny Pacquiao. Mayweather ran his record to 50-0 with a 10thround TKO over the game UFC/MMA champion McGregor in one of the biggest PPV events of all time.

“We consider this a huge success,” Showtime Sports and Event Programming executive VP and general manager Stephen Espinoza toldMultichannel News. “We could very well break the record — we just haven’t seen enough of the data to definitively say that — but we’re either over the record or very close. Even if we don’t break the record it’s still a massive success.” 

For more, go to multichannel.com.

R. Thomas Umstead
R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.