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Mayweather-Marquez Does a Million PPV Buys

Sep 25, 2009, 6:10 PM UTC

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â†µLet me say right here up top that I still don’t believe it.
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â†µButâ†µthe opening salvo has been fired in what surely is going to be a longâ†µdebate, as HBO is today reporting that last Saturday night’s Mayweatherâ†µvs. Marquez fight did one million pay-per-view buys.
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â†µThisâ†µnews opens up a whole host of other questions, of course. Are theâ†µnumbers accurate, first of all? How does a fight that had such troubleâ†µputting fannies in the seats do such staggering business on TV? Andâ†µthen, if these are the only numbers we’re going to get, if the recordâ†µis going to show that Mayweather is indeed a million-buy man as anâ†µA-side, what does that do for the mega-fight that’s on everybody’sâ†µmind, Mayweather vs. Pacquiao? Pacquiao did 850K in PPV buys in May,â†µbut his opponent was Ricky Hatton, a B-side who brings a lot ofâ†µbusiness to the table. Presuming that the Pacquiao/Cotto fight inâ†µNovember equals or exceeds the Mayweather/Marquez numbers, which Iâ†µfully expect it will do, and presuming that Pacquiao wins that fightâ†µ(not nearly as certain a presumption), we are looking at a genuine Kingâ†µKong vs. Godzilla negotiation between the two would-be pound-for-poundâ†µand pay-per-view kings of boxing. One wonders if such a negotiation,â†µwith Bob Arum on one side and Mayweather on the other, ever can lead toâ†µthe two principals actually meeting up in the ring.
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Theâ†µquestion of a Pacquiao fight aside, let’s just suspend disbelief for aâ†µmoment and accept that the numbers are accurate, or even that they’reâ†µprobably blown up a little bit, that the fight actually did, say,â†µsomewhere in the neighborhood of 800-900K, which is still an amazingâ†µtake. Other than the obvious issue of the cash-cow ascension ofâ†µMayweather, what this primarily indicates to me is that there are stillâ†µa lot of boxing fans out there who love a big event, and if you onlyâ†µgive them a few legit pay-per-views a year, those events will do greatâ†µbusiness.
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â†µThere was only one big pay-per-view fight this yearâ†µprior to Mayweather/Marquez, and that was Pacquiao/Hatton in May, aâ†µfight that also did numbers that exceeeded everyone’s expectations. Theâ†µlesson here is something that boxing fans have been saying for years –â†µless is more when it comes to pay-per-view boxing matches. When thereâ†µare nine or ten pay-per-views a year, as there have been in the lastâ†µfew years, they generate bad press and less-than-stellar numbers,â†µwatering down the public’s appetite for truly BIG fights.
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â†µThisâ†µyear, there are going to be only three major pay-per-views in boxing,â†µwith Pacquiao/Cotto still to come. It looks like every one of them isâ†µgoing to do unbelievable business and generate tremendously positiveâ†µbuzz for the sport in the U.S. It’s a great development for fight fans.â†µLet’s just hope that come 2010, the powers-that-be don’t get dizzy withâ†µthe success and start flooding the airwaves with pay-per-view fightsâ†µagain. Stick to the lean-and-mean model, please, because it clearlyâ†µpays off in the end.
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â†µThat said... I still don’t believe it.â†µ

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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