The fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao on May 2 will be the biggest fight of the century, and HBO and Showtime reportedly plan to capitalize on the excitement by hiking up the pay-per-view price to as high as $99. In addition to answering the question of whether Mayweather is truly one of the greatest fighters of all time, the fight is expect to shatter records and could ultimately gross anywhere from $400 million to $500 million.
Mayweather-Pacquiao is being billed as the biggest fight of the century, and the price to watch reportedly is higher than any of Mayweather's previous fights.
"Under the terms being discussed, the fight will be sold for $99 for a high-definition feed and $89 for standard definition, both of which are record prices," Joe Flint of the Wall Street Journal wrote Wednesday. "The previous high was $74.95 for high-definition and $64.95 for standard."
Fans apparently won't be the only ones taking a hit.
"Initially, pay TV distributors were asked to give up as much as 70% of the revenue instead of the usual 50% to 55%. That offer was quickly rejected," Flint wrote.
"The tentative agreement now being hammered out will be less favorable to the distributors than the standard deal but not as drastic as the first offer, people with knowledge of the terms said. The final split will also be determined by the amount of marketing and promotions the various cable operators put into the fight. If certain incentives are met, the distributors have the potential to get 40% of the pay-per-view revenue."
Mayweather's last fight against Canelo Alvarez set a PPV record with $152 million, and the May 2 fight is expected to shatter that. For comparison, Mayweather-Alvarez grossed around $200 million in total revenue. According to Forbes, Mayweather-Pacquiao is expected to gross $400 to $500 million, with the $100 million difference depending on the PPV receipts.
Mayweather-Pacquiao is also expected to shatter the previous record for PPV purchases, which is currently held by the 2007 Mayweather versus Oscar De La Hoya fight's 2.5 million buys.
