By Allan Fox: For the many U.S boxing fans interested in purchasing the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor fight on August 26, they won’t have to pay quite as much as the Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao fight. According to news from Lance Pugmire, the asking price for the Mayweather-McGregor fight on Showtime pay-per-view is $89.99 for regular PPV, and $99 high definition.
This is the exact same price as the Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao fight from 2015. That fight did well in drawing 4.6 million buys. Showtime boss Stephen Espinoza views it as a supply and demand type of issue. The boxing fans want to see the Mayweather vs. McGregor fight in high numbers. This would justify the higher prices. However, you can also justify the prices being lower due to the high demand. A lot of boxing would be more inclined to purchase the Mayweather-McGregor fight if Showtime would drop the price to a more affordable price, especially given the fact that the 29-year-old McGregor has never boxed in his life before as a pro.
This move could backfire in asking the boxing public to pay $89 to see the Mayweather-McGregor fight on PPV. There’s no doubt a lot of boxing fans that are still angry at Mayweather for his high priced fight against Pacquiao. Those fans are going to look at the price tag for the Mayweather vs. McGregor fight and dismiss the fight right away. Those fans are not going to want to pay close to $100 to see Mayweather fight a wrestler guy, who has no experience, and who looked terrible in the leaked video of him sparring Chris Van Heerden. On the fact of it, the high price tag for the Mayweather-McGregor fight just seems wrong. When you pick an easy mark to beat up with no experience in boxing, you arguably should have it on non-PPV. Asking fans to pay big money to see you beat up a novice is just off putting.
”The Floyd Mayweather @TheNotoriousMMA pay per view price will be $89.95 — same as the Pacquiao fight – $10 more for HD,” said Lance Pugmire on his Twitter.
Whether Showtime will drop the prices for the Mayweather-McGregor fight based on the early PPV sales is the big question. You would have to believe that Showtime would realize that they have a non-seller at some point before the night of the August 26 fight. A smart thing for them would be to drop the prices steeply to try and make the best of it. The fight is expected to bring in tremendous numbers on PPV. Some think the fight can eclipse the Mayweather-Pacquiao PPV record of 4.6 million buys. That would be astonishing, considering that the Mayweather vs. McGregor fight is viewed as such a mismatch. There isn’t even a handicap for McGregor. He’s going to be going into the Mayweather fight the same experience as anyone off the street, and the boxing and MMA public is being asked to pay top dollar to see the fight at $89 to $99. McGregor has shown good stand up skills in the UFC, but he’s not been fighting trained boxers with world class talent.
“This match-up is unprecedented,” said Showtime boss Stephen Espinosa to USA Today. “There has been overwhelming demand from fight fans, and it’s great to be able to deliver.”
Mayweather and McGregor start their 4-city International tour on Tuesday in Los Angeles to sell their August 26 fight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The tickets are selling fast for the 4 news conferences for the Mayweather-McGregor, according to Pugmire. That shows how much interest there is in this fight. It’s hard to understand for someone that knows boxing. What this shows is how important casual boxing and MMA fans are for selling PPV. You can argue the casual fans aren’t aware of how much of a mismatch this fight is between Mayweather and McGregor. If the fans did know, they would surely stay away from the fight like the plague. Purchasing a mismatch is like taking your money and tossing it away. The casual fans think McGregor has a chance against Mayweather. If the 4 Mayweather does lose, it would show how his advanced age and 2 years of inactivity has hurt his game.
McGregor is a better talker than he is a fighter when it comes to boxing. He’s going to do a good job of making it interesting at the 4 press conferences and weigh-in for the fight. McGregor talks a good game. That’s the best part about him. McGregor’s gift for gab has done wonders in selling his fights in the UFC. His fights have been selling over 1 million buys since December 2015. Even Mayweather didn’t sell PPV buys at the same rate that McGregor has been doing. Mayweather had some big fights against Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto, Saul Canelo Alvarez and Oscar De La Hoya, but he wasn’t able to sell at the same steady rate that McGregor has been doing. This is obviously why Mayweather chose to fight McGregor instead of a boxer for his comeback. He can make more money. McGregor’s last fight against Eddie Alvarez brought in 1.3 million PPV buys. Before that, McGregor pulled in 1,650,000 buys against Nate Diaz in their rematch at 1.5 million buys in their first fight.
Boxing fans can expect a lot of theatrics between McGregor and Mayweather for the 4 press conferences. Hopefully it doesn’t end up with McGregor throwing any bottled water like he did in the past. The fighters need to keep their theatrics clean. But there definitely be some kind of likely staged theatrics to get the casual boxing interested in the fight enough for them to want to pay the huge $89 to $99 asking price.
A big win for Mayweather (49-0) over McGregor, takes him past former heavyweight world champion Rocky Marciano with an incredible 50-0 record. That’s not been done in boxing. Mayweather has a spotless record during his pro career. Of course, he’s also been quite lucky with controversial wins over Jose Luis Castillo and Marcos Maidana. Mayweather also knocked out Victor Ortiz in what many boxing fans saw as a cheap shot in 2011.