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Projected PPV for Pac marg will go no lower than 1.4 million Buys! Who is ppv king?
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Pay-per-view hits on Pacquiao-Margarito fight seen to reach 1.5 million
By Roy Luarca
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 20:14:00 11/17/2010
Filed Under: Sport, Boxing, Pacquiao
HOLLYWOOD — What the Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito fight failed to generate at the gates it drew from pay-per-view (PPV).
Figures show the Pacquiao fight stands to be the most-watched ever in boxing history: as many as 1.5 million PPV hits.
“Numbers say we’re going to hit 1.4 to 1.5 million,” Pacquiao’s Canadian adviser Mike Koncz told Manila-based sportswriters Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila).
“From all indications and the early tracking, we can even get 1.5 million.”
If the bruising 12-round fight indeed hit 1.5 million PPV, it will eclipse the 1.4 million PPV buys posted by Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Shane Mosley in May and confirm Pacquiao’s status as PPV’s most bankable star.
With each buy costing $54.95, Pacquiao-Margarito PPV hits of 1.5-million translate to $82 million.
From total PPV sales, Pacquiao stands to get about 12.5 percent of the projected $82-million amount, or $10 million. This is on top of his guaranteed purse of $15 million for the fight that earned him an unprecedented eight world title in as many weight classes.
According to Mike Taffet, HBO senior vice president for sports, Pacquiao’s last four fights in the United States averaged one million PPV hits, with his bout against Oscar De La Hoya in 2008 netting 1.25 million PPV sales and his showdown with Miguel Cotto posting 1.2 million hits.
Pacquiao’s second-round knockout of Briton Ricky Hatton chalked up 900,000 buys while Pacquiao’s 12-round domination of Ghanian Joshua Clottey posted 750,000 hits.
Although a big crowd of 41,734 fans trooped to the $1.2-billion Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, it did not surpass the 50,994-attendance recorded when Pacquiao fought Clottey in the same venue in March.
Koncz, however, explained that gate sales were the least source of revenue in a fight promotion, with the PPV buys still the main source of revenue.
Pacquiao, he confirmed, could bankroll $10 million from his PPV shares.
Koncz said many variables boosted PPV sales for Pacquiao-Margarito.
“The people wanted to see how Manny is going to handle boxing and, being a congressman at the same time, his training in the Philippines that raised a lot of su****ion on his readiness, and the style of both fighters.”
Koncz noted that economics, with recession still prevailing in the United States, also was a major factor as most people preferred to watch the fight in groups at home rather than see it live and pay for tickets that went as high as $700.
Margarito fight PPV buys to hit 1.5 million
By Abac Cordero (The Philippine Star) Updated November 18, 2010 12:00 AM Comments (11) View comments
HOLLYWOOD – The pay-per-view buys of Manny Pacquiao’s fight with Antonio Margarito last Saturday may surpass those for the Oscar dela Hoya fight in 2008.
Mike Koncz, Pacquiao’s chief adviser, said Tuesday that all indications point to 1.4 million buys at $54.95 a pop, and it means total sales of roughly $77 million.
And an extra income of $10 million for Pacquiao, who was guaranteed $15 million for the fight.
Things could even get a little higher than that.
“The numbers say we’re going to hit 1.4 million or 1.5 million buys. The early trackings say we can hit 1.5 million,” said Koncz.
“And my guess is if it gets to 1.5 million that’s the highest for this year.”
Floyd Mayweather Jr., who shares the all-time PPV record of over 2.4 million in his 2007 fight with Dela Hoya, did 1.4 million in his bout with Shane Mosley last May.
Koncz was asked why it was possible for the Pacquiao-Margarito to surpass the Pacquiao-Dela Hoya which sold for 1.25 million.
“Maybe because everybody thought Oscar was just going to kill Manny,” said Koncz.
It turned out the other way around, Pacquiao beating Dela Hoya and forcing him into submission, and eventually into retirement.
The fight with Dela Hoya turned Pacquiao into an instant sensation on the PPV sensation. He did 850,000 with Ricky Hatton, 1.2 million with Miguel Cotto, and 700,000 with Joshua Clottey.
According to HBO senior vice president for sports Mark Taffet, Pacquiao has sold a total of 6.25 million buys since he started with his pay-per-view fights four years ago.
“That’s 6.25 million buys and a total of $321 million in sales,” said Taffet, and the numbers include an average of a million buys over his last four fights.
“The economic situation also played a part in this (Margarito fight). Probably the people chose to watch on TV and have some party of sort,” said Koncz.
Gate attendance to Saturday’s fight stood at 41,734 when fight promoter Bob Arum said in the weeks leading to the fight he was looking at 60,000 to 70,000.
“But the gates are the least source of income. It’s still the pay-per-view,” said Koncz.
“Bob Arum is very happy,” he added.
Koncz, in Los Angeles tying up a lot of loose ends, cited other reasons, the bigger reasons why the Pacquiao-Margarito did well on the TV screens.
“There are a lot of variables,” he said.
“One, people wanted to see how Manny was going to handle being a boxer and being congressman at the same time. Two, we trained in the Philippines and that raised a lot of su****ion on how he was really training for this fight. Three, the size discrepancy. And four, the styles of both fighters. Everybody knew Margarito would come at him,” Koncz explained.
Damn! pac is putting Floyd in his rear view mirror! Bye bye Floydy come and catch me =)
just to add: when you compare fighters ppv, stocks go up and down in business same as in boxing. You have to look at there last fights to know who is hotter and making the cash flow. floyd's last fight was with Mosely and pac's was with Margarito are their current fights. You look at there last fight to see there current or present market value. If pac goes over 1.4 million. Then it's common sense that pac is the king of ppv for the current active fighters. Pac is the face of boxing.
To the haters, that say mosely wasn't even a draw. Mosely can bring the house down in staple center. He has is own fans that help Floyd get that 1.4ppv buys. When Mosely fights there it's a sell out. Margarito in the other hand, a lot of people hate him and wanted to boycot his fight with pac coz he is a cheater. because of that it could have even gone higher. But for some reason pac's magic has gone up and up and still made 1.4 minimum! Pac is the man =)
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