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Some talk I hear about Pacquiao not having a dance partner has to end because one of the "grandest" stadiums in the world was his dance partner, the home of "America's Team." How many times did we all read or hear "Jerry Jone's amazing 1.2 billion dollar stadium" in every single Pacquiao-Clottey article or media bits? And the big ass TV's they have in there? Pacquiao nut huggers even said this such as Dan Rafael and the people who actually put the event together Bob Arum and Jerry Jones.
The reason?
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/box...dan&id=4987259
http://espn.go.com/sports/boxing/blo...nth/march-2010
Arum also explained it good here:
http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=26167
This writer summarizes it pretty well, the stadium intrigued people and Jones, Arum, HBO knew this, they even had Max give a tour.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/3...vs-clottey-was
In a way, it should have been called Cowboys Stadium vs Pacquiao because the stadium itself was the main attraction. Facility comes 1st, Pacquiao 2nd.
http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nfl...vin&id=5042217
Another thing that brought the people out was a major fight paying a rare visit to Texas
http://www.examiner.com/x-11372-Dall...night-in-Big-D
The reason?
The reason is simple: location, location, location.
Pacquiao-Clottey is certainly a significant fight just based on the involvement of Pacquiao, boxing's biggest worldwide star. But the stadium also plays a major role in generating interest.
"Much of the buzz is because it's at Cowboys Stadium. Of course, it's Manny Pacquiao, but it's also Cowboys Stadium," said Bill Caplan, Arum's longtime publicist and a boxing lifer.
Said HBO senior vice president Mark Taffet, who runs HBO PPV, "I've been involved in nearly 160 pay-per-view events since 1991 with HBO PPV. This is the first pay-per-view fight we are doing in a stadium, so it's a totally unique experience for us. From a business perspective, as you know, Pacquiao-Clottey is called 'The Event,' so there was very specific recognition about the importance of Cowboys Stadium and what we believed that this stadium was bringing to the table."
That's exactly what Arum hoped for when he talked to Jones about getting away from the same old, same old casino fights.
"This is much more exciting than [a casino fight]. I have not in many, many years -- since the Astrodome opened -- had a situation where the venue plays as big a role as the fighters in selling the event" Arum said
Pacquiao-Clottey is certainly a significant fight just based on the involvement of Pacquiao, boxing's biggest worldwide star. But the stadium also plays a major role in generating interest.
"Much of the buzz is because it's at Cowboys Stadium. Of course, it's Manny Pacquiao, but it's also Cowboys Stadium," said Bill Caplan, Arum's longtime publicist and a boxing lifer.
Said HBO senior vice president Mark Taffet, who runs HBO PPV, "I've been involved in nearly 160 pay-per-view events since 1991 with HBO PPV. This is the first pay-per-view fight we are doing in a stadium, so it's a totally unique experience for us. From a business perspective, as you know, Pacquiao-Clottey is called 'The Event,' so there was very specific recognition about the importance of Cowboys Stadium and what we believed that this stadium was bringing to the table."
That's exactly what Arum hoped for when he talked to Jones about getting away from the same old, same old casino fights.
"This is much more exciting than [a casino fight]. I have not in many, many years -- since the Astrodome opened -- had a situation where the venue plays as big a role as the fighters in selling the event" Arum said
And make no mistake about it: Pacquiao -- admittedly with an assist from an exotic venue, the absolutely incredible Cowboys Stadium, which was hosting a fight for the first time -- is the reason the fight sold so well. Clottey, who has zero fan base to speak of, had nothing to do with it.
Arum also explained it good here:
Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum spoke with BoxingScene.com on Friday. He admits the marketing of the event was tricky because most boxing fans were not familiar enough with Clottey. The selling point of the pay-per-view - called "The Event" by Top Rank - was the actual event itself.
"With [Miguel] Cotto vs. Pacquiao, we were selling the fight. Here we were selling the fighter and that's difficult. Pacquiao fighting in Cowboys Stadium, that was the sell. But we did great numbers at the gate, we did great with closed circuit and great pay-per-view revenue," Arum told BoxingScene.com.
"With [Miguel] Cotto vs. Pacquiao, we were selling the fight. Here we were selling the fighter and that's difficult. Pacquiao fighting in Cowboys Stadium, that was the sell. But we did great numbers at the gate, we did great with closed circuit and great pay-per-view revenue," Arum told BoxingScene.com.
This writer summarizes it pretty well, the stadium intrigued people and Jones, Arum, HBO knew this, they even had Max give a tour.
For many, this Pacquiao versus Clottey fight was nothing more than a multi-million dollar commercial for his new billion dollar stadium.
Michael Buffer would name drop Jones as the host of the event whenever he could. HBO commentator Max Kellerman would be seen throughout many sections of the stadium showing off its unique features and views much like an episode of MTV’s Cribs.
We could not get enough of that massive 60 yard long HD wide screen and did not care that Jim Lampley would mention it every 20 minutes or so. The turnout for the fight ended up to be over 50,000 people strong, making it the third biggest boxing match audience behind only Ali versus Spinks and Whitaker versus Chavez.
Personally, I found the Jones’ billion dollar “crib” to be rather intriguing, and I would love to fly into Texas and see a fight there. The multi-million dollar commercial known as Pacquiao versus Clottey sold me. Last weekend Jones was a big winner, if not king, of the world—at least for a weekend.
Michael Buffer would name drop Jones as the host of the event whenever he could. HBO commentator Max Kellerman would be seen throughout many sections of the stadium showing off its unique features and views much like an episode of MTV’s Cribs.
We could not get enough of that massive 60 yard long HD wide screen and did not care that Jim Lampley would mention it every 20 minutes or so. The turnout for the fight ended up to be over 50,000 people strong, making it the third biggest boxing match audience behind only Ali versus Spinks and Whitaker versus Chavez.
Personally, I found the Jones’ billion dollar “crib” to be rather intriguing, and I would love to fly into Texas and see a fight there. The multi-million dollar commercial known as Pacquiao versus Clottey sold me. Last weekend Jones was a big winner, if not king, of the world—at least for a weekend.
In a way, it should have been called Cowboys Stadium vs Pacquiao because the stadium itself was the main attraction. Facility comes 1st, Pacquiao 2nd.
For the March 13 Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey fight, New York Jets chairman and CEO Woody Johnson sat ringside and marveled.
"Amazing facility, I love Pacquiao, a really amazing fighter," Johnson said.
"Amazing facility, I love Pacquiao, a really amazing fighter," Johnson said.
Another thing that brought the people out was a major fight paying a rare visit to Texas
Clottey, is just world-class enough to stink the joint out and an offensive marvel such as Pacquiao can't do anything about it, thus having to settle for the lackluster decision in front of fans that were so appreciative world - class boxing was paying it a rare visit that it wasn't going to let the fight ruin its coming out party.
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