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by TK Stewart - Hours after Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez engaged in another great night of boxing on HBO PPV, the money wasn't yet tallied as to how many pay-per view buys were ordered up by boxing fans. Early indicators are that the rematch, which Pacquiao won by split-decision, will be a big winner at the cash register.
Just over 11,000 fans flooded into the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and because the arena was sold out even more fans paid $50 each to watch it on the big screen in another room at the casino.
If you were watching television in the week or so before the fight it was difficult not to see the commercials hyping the "Unfinished Business" rematch as it was a multi-pronged promotion that will pay big dividends.
But it likely could have been even more of a financial blockbuster without the dirtiest word a boxing promoter has ever heard - YouTube.
The morning after the fight, anybody with Internet access could log onto the popular Web site and watch the entire Pacquiao - Marquez rematch free of charge. The night before, if you wanted to watch the fight and the three bout undercard, you could have done so on HBO PPV but you would have had to pony up $49.95 to do it.
But less than twelve hours after the fight had ended in Las Vegas, 14,332 people had already viewed the entire fight or portions of it on YouTube.
Now that may not seem like a large number, especially from a global perspective, but when it's put into dollars and cents the impact and power of YouTube hits home like a Manny Pacquiao straight left hand.
If all 14,332 that viewed the fight for free had paid the $49.95 pay-per view asking price it translates into $715, 883.40 of possible lost revenue. That's right, nearly three quarters of a million dollars. Real money, to be sure, and that dollar figure rises every hour as thousands more voyeurs log on and view for free. [details]
Just over 11,000 fans flooded into the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and because the arena was sold out even more fans paid $50 each to watch it on the big screen in another room at the casino.
If you were watching television in the week or so before the fight it was difficult not to see the commercials hyping the "Unfinished Business" rematch as it was a multi-pronged promotion that will pay big dividends.
But it likely could have been even more of a financial blockbuster without the dirtiest word a boxing promoter has ever heard - YouTube.
The morning after the fight, anybody with Internet access could log onto the popular Web site and watch the entire Pacquiao - Marquez rematch free of charge. The night before, if you wanted to watch the fight and the three bout undercard, you could have done so on HBO PPV but you would have had to pony up $49.95 to do it.
But less than twelve hours after the fight had ended in Las Vegas, 14,332 people had already viewed the entire fight or portions of it on YouTube.
Now that may not seem like a large number, especially from a global perspective, but when it's put into dollars and cents the impact and power of YouTube hits home like a Manny Pacquiao straight left hand.
If all 14,332 that viewed the fight for free had paid the $49.95 pay-per view asking price it translates into $715, 883.40 of possible lost revenue. That's right, nearly three quarters of a million dollars. Real money, to be sure, and that dollar figure rises every hour as thousands more voyeurs log on and view for free. [details]
PPV is the biggest rip off and has taken boxing away from being mainstream! boxing would be huge in the UK if Warren actually put decent fights together on ITV instead hes gone Setanta and now they all seem to be happening :O
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