Mayweather-McGregor ticket sales fall short of record

Left and right, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor are shown in different portions of their super welterweight boxing match on August 26, 2017, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ticket sales for the superfight were a disappointment after failing to break the record for gate receipts. AFP

LOS ANGELEs, United States — Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor’s money-spinning superfight failed to break the record for gate receipts at a Las Vegas boxing bout, figures released by the Nevada State Athletic Commission revealed Wednesday.

The controversial August 26 fight raked in $55,414,865.79, well short of the $72,198,500 generated by Mayweather’s 2015 “Fight of the Century” against Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand.

The Mayweather-McGregor bout, staged at the T-Mobile Arena, sold 13,094 tickets, well short of the venue’s 20,500 capacity. The Mayweather-Pacquiao fight sold 16,219 tickets.

A total of 137 complimentary tickets were given away for Mayweather-McGregor, won by Mayweather in a 10th-round technical knockout.

Face-value ticket prices for Mayweather-McGregor were among the most expensive in history, with cheapest seats going for $500 and the most expensive for as much as $10,000.

Although the fight failed to challenge the Mayweather-Pacquiao gate total, it becomes the second highest-grossing gate in Las Vegas history, surpassing the $20 million generated by Mayweather’s 2013 defeat of Canelo Alvarez.

The bout is also set to be one of the richest fights in history if the most bullish predictions of pay-per-view television sales are met.

Some predictions have suggested the fight could threaten the 4.6 million buys generated by Pacquiao-Mayweather.

Official numbers have not been released although executives from cable network Showtime Sports said they expected the bout would at least be second. CBB