Want Mayweather Vs. Pacquiao Ringside Seats? ‘Free’ Tickets Will Run You $250,000, Bob Arum Says
Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao may not produce the best fight ever. In fact, the long-awaited showdown between the world’s top two pound-for-pound fighters could prove to be a rather boring and uneventful affair, thanks mainly to Mayweather’s airtight defense and what will likely be Pacquiao’s inability to trap Mayweather against the ropes.
But while the May 2 fight may not be the most thrilling, one thing is certain — the Mayweather vs Pacquiao showdown will be the most expensive fight ever.
In fact, according to Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum, even the “comp” — that is, free — ringside seats normally handed out to Hollywood celebrities and casino big spenders, will carry a hidden fee of a quarter-million dollars.
As anyone who’s ever watched a high profile fight on TV can attest, the faces visible just outside the ring are usually very familiar ones. Count on Jack Nicholson showing up. Sylvester Stallone is a regular at big-time boxing matches. Even Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have been seen ringside in Las Vegas.
Those big time movie stars have more money than they’ll ever know what to do with, but standard industry practice is to hand them free tickets to major boxing matches. The same goes for a casino’s biggest bettors. But not this time.
“Because of the price of the tickets, MGM, for example, will only give ringside tickets to its customers who have a $250,000 line of credit,” Arum said in a radio interview Monday.
As for the actual paid tickets — the kind that Mr. Joe Public will need to purchase in order to see the fight live in one of the MGM Grand Garden Arena’s 16,800 seats — even the nosebleeds will start at $1,000, with top-priced tickets selling for $5,000, according to a report in The New York Daily News.
Of course, those prices will be the actual face value of the tickets. Once they sell out and get into the hands of resellers such as StubHub, prices are certain to skyrocket, possibly into the five-figure range.
Most people, not surprisingly, will not make it inside the arena and will watch at home via Pay Per View instead. But the Pay Per View price is certain to be the highest ever, as well.
Early reports put the price of the joint HBO-Showtime live telecast at $100, with a $110 price for the high definition version. But Arum said that the $100 — or $99.95 — price point will likely apply to the HD broadcast, with a fee of “only” $89.95 for the standard definition pay per view of the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao bout.
[Images: Chris Hyde/David Buchan/Getty Images]
