Want tickets to Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao ? Not only will they set you back at least $1,500 each — for the nosebleed seats — but good luck even getting your hands on a pair.
Though according to promoter, Bob Arum, tickets to the May 2 megafight go on sale to the public sometime next week, most tickets are already sold or committed to high rollers, celebrities, other VIPs and individuals associated with the fighters, the promoters, and the fight’s corporate sponsors.
Even with the general public largely shut out from ticket sales to the long-awaited Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight, the live gate revenues at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas are now expected to hit about $74 million — obliterating the previous record for a boxing event held by Mayweather’s 2013 fight against Mexican star Saul Alvarez, which pulled in $20 million at the gate.
“It’s crazy, but it is what it is,” said Arum. “It’s amazing.”
In fact, total revenues for the fight should now top $400 million, well above previous record-setting estimates in the $300 million range, Arum told ESPN boxing correspondent Dan Rafael.
“Between the gate, the foreign television sales and the closed circuit, which we can’t even calculate yet, you’re looking at over $120 million. And that’s before one pay-per-view has been sold in the U.S.”
Even corporate sponsorship bids have set records, with Tecate beer ponying up $5.6 million to earn the right to plaster its logo all over the ring and promotional materials leading up to the fight — such as the official promotional poster , released on Monday.
While in the United States, arch-rival cable networks, HBO and Showtime, agreed to cooperate to produce the pay-per-view broadcast — because Pacquiao is under contract to HBO while Mayweather fights exclusively on Showtime — a similar situation took place in Mexico, where Azteca and Televisa jointly bid $2.3 million to carry the fight.
While the cheapest tickets to see Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao fight in person go for $1,500 and will be made available to the public in a limited basis, top-priced seats go for a whopping $10,000. But unless you happen to be one of the aforementioned VIPs, don’t bother cracking open your piggy bank to buy one of those seats.
The $10,000 tickets will not be made avaiable to the public at all.
In fact, only a “handful” of tickets will be made available for sale to the harcore boxing fans who have been clamoring for a Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao fight at least since 2009, Arum said.
[Image: Mayweather Promotions]
