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.
Hmm, 1.3 million low estimate for PPV numbers weak? Seems to be a good average number for boxing these days. I don’t believe it will hit the 1.7 million that was rumored though.
Gee, so Floyd will make a paltry $30M instead of $40M. He must be devastated.
Don’t forget that Floyd put up $10 million to market the fight. He probably will be a bit disappointed. He’s probably also regretting all those idiotic retirements.
It makes you think whether Floyd would be more inclined to entertain a fight with Pacquiao in 2012.
The only other fight that might seem entertaining is Amir Khan.
Of course, $25-$30M is pretty good to sit on for a while.