The epic (and epically disappointing) Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao fight is now expected to top half a billion dollars in gross worldwide receipts, including revenue from the MGM Grand gate, international television distribution, sponsorships, closed circuit and merchandise sales.
The gate itself broke accounted for $71 million in sales, smashing boxing's previous record of $20 million (2013's Mayweather vs. Canelo Alvarez). The event also sold nearly 46,000 closed circuit admissions at MGM Resorts International properties in Las Vegas alone and was available at more than 5,000 bars, restaurants and commercial establishments throughout the U.S.
Of course, the vast majority of that aforementioned $500 million estimate comes from pay-per-view buys, with most of those occurring in the U.S. The boxing spectacle's 4.4 million PPV buys broke the previous record, yielding the highest-grossing premium TV event ever with more than $400 million in domestic sales alone.
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Distributed in 175 countries worldwide, the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight was available in essentially 75 percent of the world's territories, setting the revenue record for international distribution as well.
May's welterweight championship fight nearly doubled the previous record of 2.48 million buys generated by the Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather event in 2007, and nearly tripled the record $150 million in U.S. PPV revenue generated by Mayweather-Alvarez, HBO and Showtime stated on Tuesday.
