MMA Universe

Bad Left Hook reports that Floyd Mayweather will take on Miguel Cotto on May 5th in Las Vegas. Apparently, the negotiations with Manny Pacquiao broke down as the once dreamed of Superfight may never happen.

Its rumored that Pacquiao will take on Timothy Bradley in June. Prior to Bradley, Cotto was a candidate for Pacquiao but the parties broke off talks after they could not agree on a fight weight.

The May 5th fight was contingent on Mayweather receiving a license from the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Surprisingly (sarcasm), the NSAC granted Mayweather a conditional one day license provided he stay out of trouble.

We last reported that Mayweather called Pacquiao an offered him a flat fee of $40 million to fight on May 5th. Bob Arum countered with $45 million flat to Floyd. An obvious return sling of mud for the initial perceived low-ball offer. Finally, the Pacquiao camp stated they offered Mayweather $50 million plus a 55-45 split on PPV revenue to the winner.

Payout Perspective:

Instead of one major superfight with an extremely huge potential payday, we get two good fights with good, not great paydays (relatively speaking). Neither of the fights will garner the mainstream appeal and attention that Pacquiao-Mayweather would receive but Mayweather-Cotto should be an interesting matchup. Also, the fights will not garner the amount of money Pac Man-Money would have drawn.

Bad Left Hook reports (via Boxing Scene) that HBO is seeking permission from the WBC at this Saturday’s event to use new technology that will enable the tracking of statistics of a boxer during a fight. The device is a 1 inch by 1 inch sensor which will be in the wrist of the boxing glove.

The proposed use of the technology would occur on the undercard of fights at the Top Rank event Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. HBO will show the main card which features Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. versus Marco Antonio Rubio.

Via Bad Left Hook:

The amount of data that would be available after this device becomes fully adopted will be staggering. We could figure out what a fighter’s average punch speed is for each type of punch that he throws. We would be able to tell if a fighter is slowing down by looking as his average punch speed over his past couple of fights. If a boxer got knocked out by a punch, we could figure out the amount of force necessary to knock that boxer out, and which fighters in the division are capable of producing that kind of power.

Payout Perspective:

This is the next step in not only boxing, but all of sports: detailed statistics. With emerging technology, there is the ability to become more accurate in tracking sports. A device like this would definitely refine boxing statistics. It could also be used by boxers to scout upcoming opponents as well as market boxers and fights. Hopefully, the WBC will allow the technology and we will se how accurate and useful it will be.

BoxingScene.com reports that Floyd Mayweather offered Manny Pacquiao a $40 million flat fee to fight on May 5th. The offer would mean that Mayweather would keep any PPV, gate and any other fight revenue from the long-awaited matchup.

The proposal was offered in a phone call Mayweather made to Pacquiao last week. Its unlikely that Pacquiao would take this offer although the $40 million would be the most he would make for one fight in his career.

With this proposal, its assumed that Mayweather’s take from this proposed fight would greatly exceed $40 million. For example, Mayweather’s business model from his last fight includes multiple revenue streams including foreign sales for the fight broadcast, closed-circuit revenues, site revenue and sponsorships. It was estimated that Mayweather made $40 million from the Ortiz fight. Mayweather did front $10 million in marketing costs to promote the Ortiz fight under the Mayweather Promotions banner. Its not clear, but unlikely, that Mayweather asked Pacquiao to put up money for promotional costs.

Payout Perspective:

And the saga continues in the struggle to make this fight. While the $40 million is the most Pacquiao will ever make in one fight, not receiving a portion of the PPV revenue, or any other streams of revenue, would greatly reduce, and shortchange Pacquiao’s earning potential. Its likely that the revenue for the PPV alone would be astounding considering the long wait for this fight. While Mayweather may carry the promotion of this fight domestically, its Pacquiao that would help international sales. This would include the many Filipino fight fans that would come to Vegas (the likely spot) for the fight.

Its hard to imagine Pacquiao fighting under a Mayweather Promotions only  banner. Mayweather has said that he will not take a 50-50 split so we will have to wait and see if this fight will ever happen.

BoxingScene.com reports that Floyd Mayweather offered Manny Pacquiao a $40 million flat fee to fight on May 5th. The offer would mean that Mayweather would keep any PPV, gate and any other fight revenue from the long-awaited matchup.

The proposal was offered in a phone call Mayweather made to Pacquiao last week. Its unlikely that Pacquiao would take this offer although the $40 million would be the most he would make for one fight in his career.

With this proposal, its assumed that Mayweather’s take from this proposed fight would greatly exceed $40 million. For example, Mayweather’s business model from his last fight includes multiple revenue streams including foreign sales for the fight broadcast, closed-circuit revenues, site revenue and sponsorships. It was estimated that Mayweather made $40 million from the Ortiz fight. Mayweather did front $10 million in marketing costs to promote the Ortiz fight under the Mayweather Promotions banner. Its not clear, but unlikely, that Mayweather asked Pacquiao to put up money for promotional costs.

Payout Perspective:

And the saga continues in the struggle to make this fight. While the $40 million is the most Pacquiao will ever make in one fight, not receiving a portion of the PPV revenue, or any other streams of revenue, would greatly reduce, and shortchange Pacquiao’s earning potential. Its likely that the revenue for the PPV alone would be astounding considering the long wait for this fight. While Mayweather may carry the promotion of this fight domestically, its Pacquiao that would help international sales. This would include the many Filipino fight fans that would come to Vegas (the likely spot) for the fight.

Its hard to imagine Pacquiao fighting under a Mayweather Promotions only  banner. Mayweather has said that he will not take a 50-50 split so we will have to wait and see if this fight will ever happen.

The Sports Business Journal reports on the return to the ring of NBC on the rebranded NBC Sports Network formerly known as Versus. Saturday night is the debut of “NBC Sports Network Fight Night,” which will appear quarterly in 2012 on the network.

NBCSN will work with Main Events as its promotional company to produce quality fights. It already has had an obstacle to overcome as its original main event was scrapped due to fighter injury. Main Events replaced the main event with a match between two unknown, but unbeaten heavyweights.

The pledge by Main Events is that it will put on competitive fights and will work with other promoters to achieve this goal.

According to boxing sources, rights fees will average $150,000 per show which, according to the SBJ, wil “fill a middle-class void that exists between ESPN and the premium cable networks.”

With the Comcast-NBC merger, past hurdles in developing fighters and having them move on to HBO, Showtime and PPV are no longer. Main Events CEO Kathy Duva told Sports Business Journal that if fighters leave for premium cable, Comcast still wins. Also, if fighters become PPV stars, Comcast wins too.

The two hour program will debut Saturday night at 6pmPT/9pmET. It will air from the old ECW Arena in Philadelphia.

GoDaddy.com has signed on as a sponsor for the show.

Payout Perspective:

It will be interesting to see how this show will be received. The Fight Night follows NBCSN’s strategy of live programming being central to its sports network. Its an interesting concept by Main Events and addresses a problem that is common in the boxing industry. As we’ve seen with Mayweather-Pacquiao, the problems of promoters working with each other prohibits good match-ups. We’ll see how the show will present compelling storylines and promote fighters.

The Sports Business Journal reported about the possibility of Showtime surpassing HBO Boxing for marquee fights and fighters. The article underscores the change at the top of each network’s sports divisions as a possible reason.

SBJ (subscription required) points to the Andre Berto-Victor Ortiz rematch, which many believe was the Fight of the Year for 2011, as evidence that Showitme is making a move on HBO. Also, changes at the top of each network’s sport division may be the reason for the sudden competition for boxing rights. Ross Greenburg left HBO last year and was replaced by Showtime head Ken Hershman. Hersman, as some recall, butted heads with Dana White regarding negotiations with Strikeforce. This may have been one of the reasons that Showtime and Zuffa were able to strike a new deal for Strikeforce late last year. Showtime replaced Hershman with Golden Boy’s former attorney Stephen Espinoza.

Espinoza’s quickly moved on the Berto-Ortiz rematch as Showtime paid only $100,000 more than HBO: $2.2 million.

The article also indicates that HBO’s budget “will be about $35 million this year, about half of what it spent as recently as five years ago.” On the other hand, Showtime will increase its budget to at least $28 million.

Payout Perspective:

This will be an intriguing year for boxing fans as we may see a shift of key fights moving from HBO to Showtime. Last year, we saw that Showtime take the Pacquiao-Mosley fight only for HBO to step up an regain Pacquiao for Marquez as well as Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito. The SBJ points out that this is the first time in 20 years that there has been an authentic fight for US television rights.

The newfound bidding war in boxing can only help the sport and perhaps revitalize tv interest in the fight game. We’ve recently seen NBC Sports and Spike TV announce plans to feature boxing in its programming. The only question is how promoters plan to market their fighters. Right now, only a few boxers stand out and the rest are not known to the casual viewers.

Bad Left Hook provides us with Manny Pacquiao’s commercial for his sponsor, State Street Produce. The message is positive but the commercial is questionable.

Here it is:

Payout Perspective:

It would be interesting to hear from someone in the advertising/marketing industry to tell us your thoughts about the commercial. The actual message by Pacquiao is clear as to why he wants to be associated with the brand. But the concept seems to be lacking. He’s in an open ship container with a heavy bag and then he runs to another and needs help to unlock it. And then, he’s interviewed with sunglasses on. I really think the last 5 seconds of the video (with Pacquiao and all the kids and Pacquiao giving the tag line) is all you needed.

By the way, if you want your MMA tie-in, one of the kids helping Pacquiao opening the container in the video is wearing a jiu jitsu gi.

There hav been questions about whether Pacquiao’s brand has peaked. State Street Produce is one of the bigger deals Pacquiao has and it will be interesting how successful it will do. As most know, the HP tablet, one of Pacquiao’s other major endorsements, has flopped. Its not all Pacquiao’s fault there, but one wonders about his draw as an actual pitchman for products. He seems to have an engaging personality and not afraid to be a showman (e.g., his singing, movie career) so it should follow that he’d be a good person to represent a brand.

Ring.tv is reporting that Top Rank Boxing and Spike TV is working on a weekly boxing program for the channel. Top Rank is seeking a better platform for its fighters as it currently is seen on Fox Sports.

The proposed show is slated for 36 shows beginning March 9th. Late last year, NBC Sports Network announced a quarterly boxing program for its network.

Via Bad Left Hook:

Most likely this would be a series similar to Top Rank Live, which currently airs on FSN and Fox Deportes, as I wouldn’t expect Spike to be going in deep on money to produce big fights. At its best, Top Rank Live produces some very good shows with lower-weight fighters in action bouts, and gives looks at prospects like Mercito Gesta or Diego Magdaleno.

Payout Perspective:

This is an interesting move for Spike as it will have the UFC library and boxing this year with Bellator coming up next year. We will see how many boxing fans are out there that will tune in to watch. More importantly, how many casual fans are out there. For Top Rank, its a good step forward for exposure for its fighters as boxing is shuffled around in the schedule (similar to Bellator) on Fox Sports in favor of regional sports.

The Sports Business Journal reports that Top Rank Boxing has signed AT&T as a sponsor to a six month deal that will include some of its marquee fights in 2012. The deal includes the anticipated “Super Fight” between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in May.

The details of the pact include Pacquiao’s May fight as well as two to three premium cable tv fights which AT&T need not choose until two weeks prior to the fight. Additionally, the two companies agreed to a list of fighters that AT&T would find acceptable to sponsor.

Financial terms of the sponsorship were not disclosed although its believed that the deal could be worth in excess of $1 million due to Pacquiao and the rise in value of sponsorships for his fights.

Sponsorship would include logo placement on the ring mat and broadcast area. According to the Sports Business Journal, “It would also include arena and local activation rights, to use video and images in advertising and promotional materials and fight tickets.”

Payout Perspective:

The sponsorship deal appears to hedge the potential for a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight in 2012 although both camps still seem at an impasse. The deal boosts Top Rank’s sponsorship profile and allows AT&T the flexibility to pick and choose when it wants to involve its brand in a particular fight. Perhaps AT&T had the extra money as the deal was reported the same day it dropped its bid to purchase T-Mobile.

Boxing will be a new addition to NBC Sports programming in 2012. NBC Sports Network (now known as Versus until 2012) will debut NBC Sports Network Fight Night on Saturday night January 21, 2012 from Philadelphia.

The Fight Nights will be produced on a quarterly basis with fight nights in January, March, June and December in 2012.

Via NBC Sports Network press release:

NBC Sports Group will work with Main Events (Promotions) and Hall-of-Fame matchmaker J Russell Peltz on a multi-promoter strategy for NBC Sports Network Fight Night designed to produce the best quality fights. It is a strategy in which any promoter can participate to get their boxers involved in these programs.

“This is a unique approach to have multiple promoters competing to put fights on NBC Sports Network,” said Jon Miller, President, programming, NBC Sports and NBC Sports Network. “That, coupled with the legendary matchmaker J Russell Peltz serving as our quality control expert, ensures that boxing fans will enjoy exciting and competitive matches.”

(H/t: Bad Left Hook and Boxing Insider)

Payout Perspective:

It was once rumored that the UFC would land with NBC/Versus. It looks like NBC Sports has chosen boxing to bolster its sports content for 2012. This will be interesting to see how it will compete with HBO, Showtime and ESPN offerings of boxing programming. The multi-promoter approach will be another interesting component of its Fight Nights. How much will NBC Sports Network be able to promote these fighters for a casual audience to tune in? Will NBC Sports invest programming to market the fighters prior to the Fight Nights? We will see how successful these programs will be for the NBC Sports Network and whether it will expand in the future.

Welcome to a special edition of Payout Perspective in which we cover Saturday night’s fight between Juan Manuel Marquez versus Manny Pacquiao held in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand.

Pacquiao wins decision over Marquez

Unlike his past several fights, Pacquiao was not Superman as we can safely say that Marquez is Pacquiao’s kryptonite. Despite the loss, Marquez is the only boxer that can arguably claim he can hang with Pacquiao in three fights. While the judges’ decisions may have betrayed him, Marquez made a good showing. We now see that for all of Pacquiao’s popularity and wins, the strategy of fighting in upper weight divisions while maintaining his speed worked. But when facing a good counterpuncher, it presents problems.

The silver lining in this is that Floyd Mayweather, likely an attention grab during the trilogy’s pre-fight hype, announced he wanted Pacquiao on May 5th. What he saw Saturday probably affirmed his decision to fight Pacquiao next year.

As of today, it seems that the posturing for the fight has begun. The LA Times reports that Bob Arum has stated that Pacquiao would rather have a 4th Marquez fight before fighting Mayweather. Frankly, I think every business owner on the Las Vegas strip turned its stomach with this news as its likely that a Mayweather-Pacquiao matchup would be a boon for businesses across the Las Vegas strip. It would also mean a $100 million payday for the fighters.

Payouts

Speaking of payouts, USA Today reports Pacquiao earned $22 million Saturday night plus a share of the PPV revenue which is estimated at $30 million. Marquez receives $5 million plus another $5 from the PPV revenue.

Attendance – UPDATED 11/15

UPDATE: Pacquiao vs Marquez: Attendance: 16,389; Tickets Sold: 15,498; Comps: 891; Live Gate: $11.648 Million. It’s 9th all time in Nevada

Attendance was16,368 according to a tweet of Dan Rafael of ESPN. As indicated in the NY Times, the Pacquiao fight was a sellout within two weeks although ticket prices averaged $1,000.

Promotion of the Fight

For the second time, Time Warner utilized its networks to promote its HBO PPVs. This time around Piers Morgan of CNN interviewed Manny Pacquiao. The network also ran HBO’s 24/7 series which aired its usual 4 week series up until fight night.

The Audience Network ran Pacquiao-Marquez I and II which were the best vehicles to promote this trilogy in my opinion.

Manny made his usual appearance on Jimmy Kimmel. This time he sang a duet with Kimmel. He also did his share of interviews for the fight including one on the Jim Rome Show. Although he’s a very nice guy, Pacquiao’s interviews are lost in translation as one can tell that he’s trying to be honest while trying to follow some media training. He comes off as a genuinely nice guy but he doesn’t really answer any questions.

The promotion of the fight included the traditional press tour. It also included this gem with Pacquiao interviewing Marquez.

Via Top Rank (H/t Bad Left Hook)

Sponsors

MGM Grand, AT&T, Smart and Tecate were primary sponsors.

As most big fights, Tecate offered its $25 rebate when purchasing Tecate beer. The rebate is offered only in certain areas.

Telecommunications companies must have seen this fight with the belief that many people from the Philippines and Mexico use its services to communicate with people in the United States and vice versa. Juan Manuel Marquez wore a Cablecom hat to the ring and Smart, a leading Philippines wireless services provider, was a primary sponsor.

Pacquiao’s fight night sponsors included Motolite, LBC, Cafe Puro, Uno, Ricoa, Phoenix Petroleums and a Nike-sponsored ring robe.

Its obvious that both fighters’ in-ring endorsements are based on the draw they receive from their countries. This rings true especially with Pacquiao as we see a lot of mainstream Filipino sponsors. Most of these sponsors (Motolite, Cafe Puro, Ricoa) have been with Pacquiao for a while.

Odds and ends

-What was Jalen Rose doing as an emcee to the weigh-ins?

-One of the better Face-Offs with Max Kellerman was played post-fight to hype the Cotto-Margarito fight. It was heated discussion and much animosity between the two. What HBO intended for these things. An interesting plug for the iPad during the Faceoff as well as Cotto used the iPad to show that Margarito may have had loaded wraps during their last fight. Really a great promo vehicle for the iPad as the photo was clear and Cotto easily used the feature to magnify the picture. Its indirect marketing at its best.

The NY Times reports on the economic impact Manny Pacquiao has on Las Vegas. Its a good read on how Pacquiao’s popularity has a trickle down economic affect on Vegas during fight weekend.

The third fight in the trilogy sold out within 2 weeks of tickets going on sale. Gross sales are expected at $11.8 million. The average ticket is more than 40 percent than that of the Mayweather-Ortiz fight. Of course, Ortiz was a relative no name so that may be one of the reasons for the disparity.

The Nevada Athletic Commission is also glad to see a Pacquiao fight.

Via NY Times:

The commission, (Keith) Kizer said, receives 6 percent of the gate, in addition to a $50,000 fee, good for $758,000, based on the projection. “One fight,” Kizer added, “basically covers our entire budget.”

The article presents some interesting details on how the Vegas travel industry has capitalized with different ethnic groups. For instance, the loyal Pacquiao fans brings high-end Asian gamblers to the Vegas tables. It also tries to book a Mexican fighter to fight during Cinquo de Mayo weekend.

Casinos made almost 29 percent more than usual when Pacquiao fought Shane Mosley this past spring. Pacquiao also has an impact on nongambling activities in Vegas where the average nongambling spending averaged $645.

More from the NYT:

By multiplying that (nongambling spending) average with the gate attendance, the visitors authority arrives at an “estimated nongaming economic impact” for each fight, usually in the range of $6 million to $12 million. When Pacquiao tangled with Erik Morales in November 2006 at the larger-capacity Thomas and Mack Center, the estimated nongambling economic impact was $12.9 million, the highest total in the past five years.

Payout Perspective:

It would be interesting to look at the Pacquiao affect compared to a UFC Vegas event. Of course, it was just this past January for UFC 125 where almost half the tickets were comped. Then again, Mayweather-Ortiz had its share of comps as well. Could the UFC ever have that much of an economic impact on Vegas with a megafight? Another question that arises is what will happen in the next couple years when Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather are retired and/or past their prime? Will Vegas look to the UFC as the premier “sport” event to center its tourism around or will we see a boxing superstar arise in the next couple years. Its definitely not a good sign for boxing when most of America does not know when the heavyweight champion is making title defenses. Or, where he is making them.

Certainly the nationalistic pride and international appeal of Manny Pacquiao has something to do with the boom in tourism during a fight week. Also, the fact Pacquiao only fights twice a year is another reason these events are heavily attended. For the UFC, we’re seeing a fight a month and the UFC has not established a true “must see” superstar; a fighter that people are willing to pay plane airfare, hotel and tickets to go see. In the coming years, we may see someone evolve into this for the UFC and it will be interesting see who it will be.

In prelude to the Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez fight, HBO will offer “Fight Day Now.” The show, which gets its take from NCAA Football’s GameDay on ESPN will be live from the lobby of the MGM Grand to offer hype for Saturday night’s fight.

The Sports Business Journal reports that “Fight Day Now” will air at 4 p.m. Saturday on the HBO Zone channel. The hour long live show is sandwiched between two episodes each of HBO’s 24/7 series. The live show and 24/7 reruns give the third fight in the Pacquiao-Marquez trilogy 6 hours of same day hype.

The live show hyping the Pacquiao fight hopes to garner the same buzz and fan frenzy as Saturday morning GameDays on ESPN.

Payout Perspective:

“Fight Day Now” will go directly against pre-UFC on Fox hype on Fuel TV so we’ll see which pre-show wins out. Honestly, if HBO ran Marquez-Pacquiao I and II prior to the PPV, it would be sufficient as in my opinion those fights (which are airing on the Audience Network) are the best vehicles of hype for this fight. The live show should capture the fan support for each fighter. Its an interesting programming move to sandwich the show between 24/7s. I think its a good move for those that love the 24/7 series. They’ll get the live show in between. However, not having the show on the main HBO channel might hurt viewership.

On another note, with most of the pre-fight hype shows, how much do they help with viewership. There’s only so much you can talk about with Pacquiao-Marquez. On the UFC side, one might argue that there is reason to have an extended pre-fight show considering the number of casual viewers that may give the UFC a try Saturday night. But, how much is too much?

Not only will the UFC be holding a big event Saturday night, Manny Pacquiao takes on Juan Manuel Marquez. The Toronto Star looks at the Manny Pacquiao brand and asks whether it has plateaued.

Earlier this year, Pacquiao and Top Rank consolidated his marketing team to focus on securing endorsements. Team Pacquiao and Top Rank   hired Lucia McKelvey as his deal agent. McKelvey previously represented Tiger Woods.

Since the realignment, Pacquiao has signed deals with HP and State Street Produce. Recently, he signed a $1 year, $1 million endorsement deal with Hennessy.

McKelvey touts Pacquiao as a likeable, global brand. He ranks 24th in BusinessWeek’s power rankings of most influential athletes but there is skepticism that the fighter may have reached the top of his marketing potential.

Via Star.com:

Pacquiao rose 51 spots in BusinessWeek’s power rankings over the previous year but analyst David Newman, who helped prepare the report, questions how much higher Pacquiao can climb.

“He’s really close to the top of his peak,” says Newman, VP of analytics at CSE, an Atlanta-based sports and entertainment marketing firm. “The life cycle of a boxer is not long.”

McKelvey, meanwhile, doesn’t see Pacquiao’s marketability leveling off, and estimates the fighter could earn up to $50 million outside the ring.

Bad Left Hook offers this:

…I would have to guess that his time as a high-level pitchman could be drawing to a close. The lack of a Mayweather fight (like it or not, that’s the bigger breakthrough that still hasn’t happened) and the fact that Manny’s planning to retire after 2013 are both ominous signs. Without boxing, he’ll still have some offers, but he’s probably not going to be Michael Jordan, endorsing Nike and Hanes forever.

Payout Perspective:

The article presents an interesting question on the Manny Pacquiao brand. It is also an example of what happens when an athlete does not have appropriate business representation. Pacquiao is getting endorsement deals now, but you have to wonder how much he could have earned. Pacquiao is definitely reaping the rewards of his success and a mega-fight with Floyd Mayweather could land bigger deals for Pacquiao.

ESPN’s Dan Rafael tweeted that the official PPV buys for September’s Mayweather-Ortiz fight at 1.25 million. The numbers were provided by co-promoters for the event, Golden Boy and Mayweather Promotions.

Via Ring TV:

Mayweather-Ortiz generated buys from 1.25 million homes with a value of $78,440,000 in pay-per-view revenue, according to statements released on Friday.

Mayweather has now appeared in the three biggest non-heavyweight pay-per-view events in the sport’s history, including Mayweather vs. Oscar De La Hoya ($136,853,700), Mayweather vs. Ortiz ($78,440,000) and Mayweather vs. Sugar Shane Mosley ($78,330,000).

Bad Left Hook notes that the PPV revenue may be skewed considering the PPV price was $10-$15 higher than the norm: $69.95 (HD) and $64.95 (non-HD).

Payout Perspective:

The strong buy rate  and revenue shows that the event’s title, “Star Power,” was directed primarily to Floyd Mayweather. With Mayweather reaping the rewards of the event based on the unique payout from the fight, Mayweather likely cleared the estimated $40 million he would earn from the night.

Based on these numbers, I would argue that this would make a fight with Manny Pacquiao harder to make. Further, Mayweather would be in no rush to broker a fight with Pacquaio as he’s sitting on a $40 million payday. Both sides would want to take more than a 50-50 split and the fact Mayweather can point to his drawing power is evidence that he should claim more than Pacquiao. Then, there’s the fact that he would risk the chance of losing his undefeated record. Pacquiao would counter that his worldwide likeability would claim an international audience. Despite the skepticism, hopefully the sides can agree to a split and the fight will happen sooner than later.

The Nevada Athletic Commission last week announced the official gate and attendance for the Floyd Mayweather, Jr.-Victor Ortiz fight. The fight received a $9 million gate with 13,364 tickets sold which made it the 14th largest fight in Las Vegas history.

The Nevada Athletic Commission confirmed the numbers via email to MMA Payout.

Gate – $9,000,000

Tix sold – 13,364

Unsold – 3,052

Comps – 1,268

Payout Perspective:

Showtime’s Al Bernstein tweeted some reasons this fight might not have been a sellout: expensive tickets, Ortiz not a known name outside of hardcore boxing fans and the co-promoted fight at the Staples Center.

The Staples Center event, held in conjunction with Mayweather-Ortiz, was to enhance the SoCal audience by having people come watch live fights then watch Mayweather-Ortiz on the big screens at Staples. However, it could have harmed some of the live gate in Las Vegas if you assume that some fight fans would have taken the short flight or take the drive to Vegas. Still, 3,000 tickets unsold and over 1,200 comped seems like a big figure for tickets not purchased.

Despite these numbers, the PPV revenue could level this disparity although there are rumors that PPV sales may be weak.

Welcome to a special edition of Payout Perspective as we take a look back at Saturday’s fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas featuring Floyd Mayweather taking on Victor Ortiz.

Mayweather wins via controversial TKO

“Protect yourself at all times.” Oftentimes glossed over in instructions for MMA and boxing, Mayweather used this rule as support for his one-two combination to end the fight with Victor Ortiz. After a couple days, the consensus is that Ortiz was culpable for the outcome as much (if not more) than Mayweather and referee Joe Cortes.

All parties are at fault to a certain extent. Cortes is at fault for losing his ring. Dana White succinctly explained the issue in a couple tweets stating it was the ref’s fault. Ortiz forgot the “protect yourself at all times” rule in his daze to apologize. Mayweather took advantage of the rule. But still, he feigned a hug and then punched Ortiz. Of the three, Mayweather is the least culpable for the ending. Certainly Mayweather could have foreshadowed his attack by perhaps pushing Ortiz back and then attacking. But the two punch combo looked WWE-like if you couple Cortes head looking the other way.

Merchant vs. Mayweather

After the fight, Larry Merchant and Floyd Mayweather had another run-in which ended in Merchant putting himself over by stating that if he was 50 years younger he would fight him.  This was preceded by Mayweather telling Merchant what some people have had on their minds for years: that Merchant should be fired. Honestly, it was entertaining but not professional. The interview itself was not coherent and Merchant asked leading questions when it was not necessary. It was merely to evoke a response from Mayweather.  For Mayweather, he seemed to have a shorter fuse with Merchant (as the two have a history of not getting along)  than usual.

“Star Power”/HBO’s 24-7 Promotion

The fight theme, “Star Power” really  made no sense as Mayweather was the only star on the card. You could argue that Erik Morales and Canelo Alvarez are stars but that would be stretch. Morales is past his prime and Alvarez is a boxer that one day may be a star. Both had good wins but Mayweather was the star of the night.

This was the first time that Time Warner utilized its media muscle by including HBO’s 24/7 on CNN as well as having Victor Ortiz and Oscar de la Hoya on “Piers Morgan Tonight.” The fight was promoted throughout the Time Warner networks and online. In addition, Floyd Mayweather made a guest appearance on TBS’ Conan.

The HBO 24/7 series was made for Floyd Mayweather. Nothing against Manny Pacquiao, but Mayweather understands the drama as exemplified by the first episode confrontation with his father. The Victor Ortiz story helped keep interest in the series and its a shame that Ortiz’ antics erased the good PR he had from the show.

One of the things that is used time and again to promote these big fights is the face off between the two. This time it was HBO airing Mayweather and Ortiz talking with Max Kellerman as the moderator. Its hard to watch and I’d be interested to hear what others think of this format.  Does it sell a fight?

Sponsors

-DeWalt Tools, AT&T and Tecate were on the ring mat in Las Vegas.

-Notably, Erik Morales was sponsored by Under Armour.

-Tecate jumped on board in promoting the fight including a focus in the Southern California region. The promotion included a heavy investment of $800,000 in marketing and promotion of the event which included the event at the Staples Center. This was a calculated promotion that

Payouts, PPV and Tickets

-The NY Times had a report on the payout structure Floyd Mayweather had in place for the fight  which estimates that he would receive close to $40 million. In comparison, Mayweather Productions would pay Victor Ortiz $2.5 million. The Mayweather deal is interesting when looking at the risk-reward. While Mayweather used his own money for marketing the event, he’s receiving a healthy portion of the profits.

-Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports tweeted that initial reports of the PPV buys was 1.3-1.4 million which is below the initial hope of breaking the boxing PPV record of 2.4 million set by Mayweather-De La Hoya.

-While there was a push for the PPV, the MGM Grand was giving away tickets during fight week as the actual attendance was nowhere near a sellout. In comparison, Pacquiao-Marquez is a virtual sellout according to a tweet from ESPN’s Dan Rafael who spoke with Top Rank’s Todd DuBoef.

Odds and ends

-The price for the PPV rose $5 to $69.99. Its likely to be the same price point for Pacquiao-Marquez III. How much higher will it go for a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight?

-Mario Solis did an admirable job of interviewing and translating at the same time when he interviewed Gomez and Alvarez post-fight.

-Best quote of the HBO 24/7 occurred in the first 10 minutes of the first episode. Regarding Mayweather going into his training camp, “…any impact the hiatus (15 months) will have on his skills will soon be determined, the swagger meanwhile remains untouched.”

-50 Cent, Ray J and Mr. Chop (from the reality series “King of Cars”) made cameos in the 24/7 series as friends of Mayweather.

The New York Times reports on the payout Floyd Mayweather is set to receive from his fight against Victor Ortiz Saturday. With all said and done, Mayweather could be paid $40 million.

In addition to his reported $25 million payout for fighting Victor Ortiz, Mayweather will receive a portion of the gate, concessions, souvenirs and PPV revenue.

Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy Promotions explained the structure to the NY Times.

Via NY Times:

To explain the business model, Schaeffer starts with a pie. A little more than half goes to the distributors (Time Warner, DirecTV, etc.). The balance goes to the network, HBO or Showtime, which takes its distribution fees and hands the rest to the promoters.
In this case, Golden Boy has one contract with HBO and another with Mayweather Promotions. But the money, less what distributors and networks take, is under Mayweather’s control; normally the promoter would control it.

In addition, there is the PPV revenue which Schaeffer includes other revenue streams from that:

Those streams include foreign sales for a fight broadcast in 168 territories; closed-circuit revenues (in 2,000 or so bars and restaurants nationwide, in theaters and in rooms at Las Vegas casinos); site revenue (ticket sales, merchandise); and sponsorships.

Its an unprecedented payment structure that rationalizes the opulence Mayweather flaunts.  But for the spoils, there is the risk as Mayweather, or Mayweather Promotions, must put up $10 million in expenses to market the fight.

Payout Perspective:

This is an intriguing structure for payment. It does involve some risk as the astronomical dollar figures would only come at the back end of the fight. Meaning, Mayweather is not guaranteed the reported fight purse until the final numbers are determined. Still, it shows that despite his bombastic persona, Mayweather is a shrewd business person.

Its amazing to see how much money and control Mayweather has over his own fights. It shows how different boxing and MMA is with respect to business model. Even though certain fighters receive a portion of the PPV revenue and/or gate, its not as much as Mayweather will receive for his fights.

The Sports Business Journal has a report on the Time Warner synergy in promoting the Mayweather-Ortiz fight set to go this Saturday. This was the first time that HBO received help from its other outlets to promote a PPV fight.

Notably, CNN ran HBO’s 24/7 series over its network as well as having Victor Ortiz and Oscar de la Hoya on “Piers Morgan Tonight.” Promotion of the fight was run during Anderson Cooper’s show on CNN and on TBS during its airing of Major League Baseball. More promos were shown online at SI.com, Time.com, CNNMoney.com and Forbes.com. Mayweather also appeared on TBS’ “Conan” on Monday.

HBO will also bulk up its boxing promotion by adding “24/7 Overtime Live” after the finale of the 24/7 series Friday. It will also include a 6 hour block of boxing as well as 24/7 reruns prior to the PPV Saturday.

In addition, the Audience Network (formerly the 101) on DirecTV has been playing reruns of Mayweather-Mosley and Ortiz-Berto.

HBO aspires to break the sports PPV record set by Mayweather-de la Hoya which did 2.4 million PPV buys.

Payout Perspective:

The article is an interesting look at what will likely be the new model for promotion of a big boxing PPV.  I’ve noticed that on DirecTV the PPV price for this fight has gone up $5 to $69.99 (for HD). The move was definitely fostered by Showtime taking Pacquiao-Mosley away from the HBO franchise this past spring. Not sure how the synergy is adding to the PPV buys but if you were to look at the box office, the extra promotion is not helping attendance as Bad Left Hook reports (via Dan Rafael) that the fight is far from a sell out as the MGM Grand is calling its VIPs to take tickets. Its unlikely that the PPV record will be threatened with this fight. However, the cross promotion of the fight across the Time Warner family is something we should see in the future.

Boxing promoter Bob Arum is not concerned about competition from the UFC on November 12th when his fighter, Manny Pacquiao fights Juan Manuel Marquez. Arum told ESPN that less than 5% of the UFC audience crosses over and that he’d be more concerned with competition if Fox aired a movie opposite the fights.

Arum believed that the UFC’s debut on Fox was no accident although Nov. 12th has historical significance for the UFC as it is the anniversary of UFC 1. White, a Pacquiao fan, acknowledged the competing events that night at the UFC-Fox press conference. It appears that the UFC on Fox debut will not interfere with the actual Pacquiao-Marquez main event.

Of course, Dana White fired back at Arum as only White can. He told Yahoo! Sports:

You had the ability, Bob Arum, to make boxing great. But the problem was, you were greedy. You’re a greedy pig, just like all the other guys who were involved in boxing. All you ever did was try to rip money out of it. You never invested a dime into the sport of boxing to make it great, to make it last, to create a future for boxing.

(H/t: Bad Left Hook)

Payout Perspective:

Arum’s comments about the competition from the UFC is part bluster and part ignorance. There is an obvious overlap in followers of the two sports. Arum’s dismissal of the UFC’ competition shows a level of disdain he has for MMA and although he does not admit it, a competitor for fan dollars. Perhaps Arum simply does not understand the sport of MMA or feels it is really not a competitor, but taking shots at the UFC is a definite sign that he is taking notice. Usually White is the one with the first verbal volley, but his response was biting and somewhat true.

Another issue here is the November 12th date. Did the UFC set the date on the same night as Pacquiao-Marquez III on purpose? Is the UFC trying to make a splash on network tv and steal the headlines while making a statement about the sport of MMA versus boxing? Or, was it pure coincidence?