Sports streaming service Fite has secured the pay-per-view distribution rights to the May 14 exhibition bout featuring PPV boxing champion Floyd Mayweather.

The event, which pits the retired, undefeated Mayweather against ex-boxer Don Moore, will retail for a suggested price of $29.99, according to the sports streaming service.

Mayweather, the biggest revenue generator in PPV boxing history, last stepped into the ring this past August in an exhibition fight against YouTube sensation Logan Paul. Mayweather's 2017 fight against mixed martial arts star Conor McGregor drew more than 4.3 million PPV buys, second in PPV boxing history to Mayweather’s 2015 fight against Manny Pacquiao, which garnered an industry-high 4.6 million buys.

FITE’s telecast will also feature former UFC fighter Anderson Silva against Bruno Machado in an exhibition bout, as well as a sanctioned fight between former world champion Badou Jack and Hany Atiyo, said the streamer. ■ 

The weekend’s list of televised live sports events begins in the octagon Saturday night as ESPN Plus offers via pay-per-view the UFC 264 event pitting Conor McGregor against Dustin Poirier in the third match between the two mixed martial arts fighters. The second fight between the two won by Poirier this past January drew a reported 1.2 million pay-per-view buys. 

In other sports, ABC on Sunday will air game three of the NBA Finals, as the Phoenix Suns travel to Milwaukee to play the Bucks, up 2-0 in the series. 

ESPN on Saturday morning will televise the women's final of the Wimbledon tennis tournament, followed by the men’s final on Sunday morning.

From the links, NBC will air final round weekend coverage of the American Century Championship tournament, while CBS airs the PGA John Deere Classic on Saturday and Sunday. 

On the soccer field, ESPN on Sunday will air the finals of the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament between Italy and England, while FS1 will air the CONCACAF Gold Cup match between Canada and Martinique. 

ESPN on Sunday will air the MLB Draft live as baseball heads into the All-Star break next week. 

Showtime will serve as the official distributor of the June 6 Floyd Mayweather-Logan Paul exhibition pay-per-view boxing event, the network announced Thursday.

The event, which will pit the retired, undefeated boxing champion Mayweather against YouTube celebrity Paul, will also feature several undercard fights including a rematch between light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal and former champion Badu Jack, according to Showtime. Former NFL wide receiver Chad Johnson will also make his boxing debut in an exhibition fight on the card. 

Read Also: Canelo Alvarez, Floyd Mayweather Lead Busy Spring PPV Boxing Schedule 

Mayweather was last seen in the ring in 2018 for an exhibition event in Japan. Mayweather’s 2017 fight against mixed martial arts star Conor McGregor drew more than 4.3 million PPV buys, second only to Mayweather’s 2015 fight against Manny Pacquiao, which garnered 4.6 million buys. 

Read Also: Mayweather-McGregor PPV Buys Fall Short of Record 

Showtime did not release as suggested PPV price for the event, which will take place at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.  

Read Also: Showtime Sets June Gervonta Davis-Mario Barrios PPV Boxing Event 

The UFC’s July 10 Conor McGregor-Dustin Poirier pay-per-view fight card is set for Las Vegas and expected to take place in front of a capacity crowd, according to UFC president Dana White.

The UFC 264 event -- the third fight between the two fighters -- will take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in front of a capacity crowd of “20,000 fans,” White said in a tweet Wednesday afternoon. 

Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak said Tuesday that he expects the state to be at 100 percent capacity by June 1, although the state’s mask mandate will remain in effect, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The UFC event will be the second for McGregor in 2021. The fighter -- who drew more than 4 million PPV buys for his 2017 boxing match with Floyd Mayweather -- lost to Poirier this past January. That fight generated a reported 1.2 million PPV buys domestically.

Two National Football League championship games and Conor McGregor’s return to the UFC mixed martials arts octagon highlight this weekend’s TV sports events.

This Sunday the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will face the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship game on Fox and the Buffalo Bills will meet the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship contest on NBC. The winners will meet in Super Bowl LV on Feb. 7.

On Saturday, former UFC champion McGregor will meet Dustin Poirier in the UFC 257 pay-per-view event on ESPN+. The match, a rematch of a 2014 bout in which McGregor defeated Poirier, marks McGregor’s first appearance in the octagon since defeating Donald Cerrone last January in UFC 246. ESPN will offer coverage of the UFC 257 preliminary fights leading up to the PPV event. 

Read also: ESPN+'s McGregor-Cowboy Event Kicks Off Year for PPV Combat Sports Category

NBC on Sunday takes to the ice to televise the Detroit Red Wings-Chicago Blackhawks NHL game, while CBS will televise the Professional Bull Riding’s Pendleton Whisky Invitational championship.

NBC and the Golf Channel will air weekend coverage of the first Ladies PGA Tour event of the year from Florida. Golf Channel will air coverage of the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions Friday through Sunday, while NBC will offer Saturday and Sunday afternoon coverage of the LPGA event. 

Read also: NBCU Plans to Shut Down NBCSN Cable Sports Net

Combat sports fans will be treated to two, high-profile pay-per-view events to kick off the New Year.

ESPN+ on Saturday (Jan. 18) will distribute the return of popular UFC fighter Conor McGregor to the octagon in a main event match against Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. The fight, which will retail at $64.99 -- up from $59.99 the UFC charged for its PPV events in the first year of its exclusive PPV distribution deal with ESPN+ -- will be McGregor’s first appearance since October 2018 when he lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov.

The fight is expected to generate major buys for ESPN given the past PPV success of the popular McGregor. His fight with Khabib drew a reported UFC record 2.4 million buys, and he nearly set an all-time PPV buy record in 2017 when his boxing match with Floyd Mayweather generated 4.3 million PPV buys.

In February the PPV category steps into the squared ring for the Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury heavyweight boxing championship rematch. The Feb. 22 bout is arguably the most anticipated PPV heavyweight boxing event in a decades -- their first fight in 2018 ended in a draw -- and the combined ESPN and Fox Sports promotional machines will make sure that both hard core boxing fans and causal sports fans are well aware of the first major PPV boxing event of the year.

Both ESPN and Fox Sports have individually stated their intention to deliver several PPV boxing events throughout the year. Add ESPN’s monthly UFC PPV events into the mix, and the PPV combat sports category should generate some knockout business in 2020.

Combat sports fans will  be treated to two high-profile pay-per-view events to kick off the New Year.

ESPN+ on Saturday (Jan. 18) will distribute the return of popular UFC fighter Conor McGregor to the octagon in a main event match against Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. The fight, which will retail at $64.99 -- up from $59.99 the UFC charged for its PPV events in the first year of its exclusive PPV distribution deal with ESPN+ -- will be McGregor’s first appearance since October 2018 when he lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov. 

The fight is expected to generate major buys for ESPN given the past PPV success of  McGregor. His fight with Khabib drew a reported UFC record 2.4 million buys, and he nearly set an all-time PPV buy record in 2017 when his boxing match with Floyd Mayweather generated 4.3 million PPV buys. 

In February the PPV category steps into the squared ring for the Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury heavyweight boxing championship rematch. The Feb. 22 bout is arguably the most anticipated PPV heavyweight boxing event in decades, and the combined ESPN and Fox Sports promotional machines will make sure that both hard core boxing fans and causal sports fans are aware of the first major PPV boxing event of the year. 

Both ESPN and Fox Sports have individually stated their intention of delivering several PPV boxing events throughout the year. Add ESPN’s monthly UFC PPV events into the mix, and the PPV combat sports category should generate some knockout business in 2020.

Halfway through 2018, many industry observers had written off the pay-per-view event category as a dinosaur whose best day were behind it and would soon be replaced by an emerging digital streaming platform that was going to outbid the industry for the biggest  sports events and properties.

Fast forward to the end of December, and the old school distribution platform looks to have picked itself up off the mat and positioned itself to fight again in 2019. 

Showtime’s Dec. 1 Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury PPV heavyweight championship fight ended a run of big events that kept the category relevant to sports fans.

In fact, the strong performances of four, fourth quarter pay-per-view events have shown that consumers are still more than willing to dish out big dollars to watch marquee events on their big TV screens despite the launch of several new, low-cost subscription sports streaming services like DAZN and ESPN+ that offer marquee sports events.

The PPV event category didn’t have a major PPV event until September’s Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin middleweight championship fight, but the rematch bout between the two warriors reportedly drew 1 million buys, the gold standard for the category.

Alvarez weeks later would sign an exclusive 11-fight deal with upstart sports streaming service DAZN, but his most recent PPV fights proved that there was life beyond PPV boxing revenue champions Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.

In October, the UFC would set PPV records with its UFC 229, which pitted arguably the mixed martial arts outfit’s biggest draw, Conor McGregor, against champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. The fight inside the ring – Khabib defeated McGregor – along with a post-fight melee helped the event draw a reported UFC record 2.4 million PPV buys. Next year looks promising with the UFC’s new media partner ESPN now both selling and promoting the mixed martial arts outfit’s PPV events going forward.

November welcomed golf to the PPV event category with the Tiger Woods-Phil Mickelson match. The event reportedly drew in the neighborhood of 1 million PPV viewers. (Most PPV distributors refunded the event’s $19.99 fee to subscribers after a technical glitch forced sports streaming service Bleacher Report Live to offer the event free to its subscribers.)

The reported 325,000 buys for the action-packed Wilder-Fury fight -- which ended in a draw -- helped the category set the tone for what it hopes will be a robust lineup of fights in 2019. Already two boxing shows are on the docket: Showtime’s Jan. 19 Pacquiao-Adrien Broner fight and Fox Sports’ March 16 Mikey Garcia –Errol Spence Jr. championship fight.

Further, industry executives say new content companies are exploring several non-ring PPV events that could further expand the category’s reach in the new year.

Turner Sports’ Nov. 23 Tiger Woods-Phil Mickelson pay-per-view golf match highlights what has been a very unique and successful fall for the PPV event category.

The Capital One’s The Match: Tiger vs. Phil event – the first live, head-to-head golf event ever carried on PPV -- will retail at a suggested price of $19.99, according to Turner executives. Turner is treating the event, in which the winner will receive a $9 million prize -- like a big, boxing match. It has commissioned sister premium service HBO to offer its 24/7 sports documentary series – which is usually associated with marquee boxing matches – to follow the two iconic golfers leading up to the big event.

Golf fans can buy the match through traditional companies like In Demand and Vubiquity, as well as through new entrants like Turner’s Bleacher Report Live streaming sports service.

Tiger vs. Phil adds to what has become a very fruitful period for the PPV event category.

For the first eight months of the year, the pay-per-view event industry hadn’t had a lot to cheer about. Then in September, Canelo Alvarez and Genaddy Golovkin stepped into the boxing ring for a rematch of their highly controversial November 2017 fight, which ended in a draw. Along with being an action-packed fight -- won by Alvarez in a close decision -- the rematch drew approximately 1.1 million PPV buys, according to ESPN.

The Oct. 6 UFC 229 Conor McGregor-Khabib Nurmagomedov fight will be remembered mostly for the wild, post-fight melee that took place both inside and outside the octagon. Yet the event is trending to become the most successful PPV event in UFC’s history with more than 2 million buys, according to published reports.

Showtime will step into the PPV ring Dec. 1 with its big heavyweight championship fight between Deontay Wlder and Tyson Fury.

Looking ahead, the PPV category will certainly face some challenges beginning in 2019 as upstart streaming services like ESPN and DAZN compete for mid-sized combat sports events. DAZN’s deal to stream current PPV boxing champion Alvarez’s next 11 fights is a major body blow to the category.

But for now, the PPV category is enjoying a very event-filled and lucrative end to 2018. 

Today the UFC should be talking up its big April 7 UFC 223 pay-per-view event after holding a major press conference yesterday in Brooklyn, N.Y.  to tout the fight card. Instead, most mixed martial arts fans are conversing about the felony actions of UFC superstar Conor McGregor surrounding an alleged attack on a bus after the conference.

Boxing fans were anticipating the big Cinco de Mayo rematch between middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin up until this past Tuesday, when Alvarez withdrew from the fight after facing an extension of his current suspension for failing two drug tests.

Both incidents have given the combat sports category an unexpected and unwanted black eye just as both boxing and the UFC were gearing up for what is still hoped to be a strong year for the pay-per-view fight category.

The UFC, in the midst of celebrating its 25th anniversary, used yesterday’s press conference in Brooklyn as a spring board to tout its current lineup of superstars -- as well as its upcoming schedule of high-profile PPV events -- led by Saturday’s UFC 223 show at Brooklyn's Barclay Center. The event was to feature top UFC fighters as Michael Chiesa, Ray Borg and Artem Lobov.

Instead, both Chiesa and Borg have been forced from the event due to injuries suffered when a group allegedly led by McGregor and Lobov "vandalized the vehicle that contained a number of athletes competing at the event taking place this weekend," according to the UFC. 

Lobov was dropped from the event after the incident, according to the organization. McGregor --arguably the UFC's most popular star, and whose August 2017 boxing match with Floyd Mayweather drew a near record 4.3 million PPV buys -- was charged with three counts of assault and one count of criminal mischief, according to published reports.

UFC President Dana White took to the airways Friday morning to condemn McGregor’s behavior, saying on Friday’s ESPN’s Get Up! morning sports show that the incident is “embarrassing” for the UFC.

HBO and the PPV industry were hoping to build on the momentum from last September’s first Alvarez-Golovkin match – the controversial draw drew more than 1 million PPV buys and established Alvarez as boxing's  biggest PPV boxing draw. 

Instead, Alvarez’s two failed tests for performance enhancing drugs -- and the subsequent cancellation of the May 5 PPV fight card -- casts a pall on both Alvarez and boxing during a period in which the sport can ill afford to lose marquee events as it looks to build a new crop of potential PPV-appealing fighters.

Both the UFC and boxing will ultimately survive these unquestionably difficult setbacks, but that won't  dilute the pain of the image gut-punch suffered by both sports in the short term. 

Showtime and UFC’s Aug. 26 Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor pay-per-view event drew 4.3 million buys, falling just short of the all time industry record, Showtime confirmed Thursday.

RELATED: Record In Sight For Mayweather-McGregor

The fight, which pitted undefeated former boxing champion Mayweather against UFC MMA champion McGregor, finished second behind the 4.6 million buys garnered by the May 2015 Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight, but dwarfs the 2.48 million buys garnered by the May 2007 Oscar De La Hoya-Mayweather fight, which in now in third place. 

The Mayweather-McGregor buy count includes purchases from traditional television distribution as well as buys from online portals from Showtime and the UFC, said Showtime.

(Video) Showtime's Stephen Espinoza says Mayweather-McGregor Positive For Boxing

On Saturday (Sept. 16) HBO will distribute the much-anticipated Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin middleweight championship boxing match via pay-per-view. As with the mega Aug. 26 Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor PPV fight, Alvarez-Golovkin will be offered to fight fans both through traditional cable and satellite subscribers as well as on digital platforms through Ring.com.

The hope for cord cutters and sports fans away from home looking to catch the fight is that Saturday’s fight doesn’t suffer some of the unfortunate technical glitches that have plagued other high-profile sports events over the past few weeks.

Much has been written about the technical snafus that sabotaged the streaming of Mayweather-McGregor through the newly-created Showtime PPV app, as well as via UFC.TV. UFC president Dana White placed the blame for its website's ordering issues with tech company NeuLion

Statement from @DanaWhite: pic.twitter.com/ErvWRnjnVe

— #UFCPittsburgh (@ufc) August 29, 2017

Both Showtime and the UFC have said they will offer refunds to consumers who paid $99.99 to the digital sites but due to technical issues couldn’t access the fight – which will approach the all time record 4.6 million PPV buys set by the 2015 Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao bout.

Other, less publicized struggles afflicting the streaming of live sports events on subscription-based OTT services – including some FuboTV subs who couldn’t sign in to the highly anticipated Sept. 5 Honduras-United States FIFA World Cup qualifying game, and digital streaming service PlayStation Vue’s reported confusion surrounding NFL blackout rules leading to the unnecessary blacking out of several Fox-televised NFL games in a number of markets this weekend – have arguably dampened the enthusiasm for purchasing live sports content over the web.

“I don’t think it’s done the category any favors,” said Michael Weber, chief operating officer for sports streaming service Fite.TV.  “Because there is some negative publicity out there, I think people are slightly hesitant to make a purchase because of a previous problem.”

For Fite.TV, which is providing the technological and marketing backbone for Ring.com’s streaming of Saturday’s Alvarez-Golovkin fight, streaming live PPV sports programming has not been an issue. Weber said The company, which recently secured right to stream UFC’s PPV events beginning with the Sept. 9 UFC 215 event, has already streamed 500 live and live to tape wrestling, boxing and mixed martial arts events over the past 18 months without any major problems.

As more viewers migrate toward watching video content on mobile phones, computers and tablets, the demand from sports fans for access to high profile sports events will grow. But its not enough for distributors to just offer those events digitally; the user has to have a positive experience -- from ease of ordering to watching a technologically uninterrupted event featuring the best picture quality possible. 

A positive takeaway from Saturday’s Alvarez-Golovkin PPV fight could go along way in further building viewer confidence in the category.  

The heavily hyped Aug. 26 Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor pay-per-view boxing match proved to be worth the wait for both distributors and fans, and industry executives said they hope it boosts future pay-per-view boxing and UFC events.

Showtime last Friday reported that the fight, in which boxer Floyd Mayweather improved his record to 50-0 with a 10th round TKO over the game UFC/mixed martial arts champion McGregor — is expected to draw in the “mid to high” 4 million PPV buy range, which would potentially knock out the record 4.6 million buys generated by Mayweather’s 2015 fight with Manny Pacquiao. It could also eclipse the $450 million generated by the Mayweather-Pacquiao bout.

“We consider this a huge success,” Showtime Sports and Event Programming executive vice president and general manager Stephen Espinoza told Multichannel News. “We could very well break the record — we just haven’t seen enough of the data to definitively say that — we’re either over the record or very close. Even if we don’t break the record, it’s still a massive success.”

Some MVPDs were reportedly overwhelmed by a flurry of last-minute fight purchases, to the point where Showtime officials said the Mayweather-McGregor main event was “slowed down” to allow distributors to complete orders. Espinoza, though, said there were no major distributor problems regarding buys. “We didn’t even experience the level of technical issues that we saw on Mayweather-Pacquiao,” he added.

Espinoza also called reports that the network’s new Showtime PPV app suffered major technological problems during the event “exaggerated,” saying that the network only received a “limited” number of complaints, which were quickly addressed. Showtime will provide refunds to those who were unable to see the purchased event, he added.

UFC’s website UFC.TV also struggled to keep up with demand, prompting the company to issue several post-fight statements regarding the issue. UFC said it is reviewing each consumer complaint on a “case-by-case basis,” adding that it was “disappointed by the technical difficulties that were experienced … We are working with our vendor NeuLion to assess exactly what happened.”

UFC president Dana White also said in a statement: “Nothing is more important to the UFC than our fans. They’ve always been incredibly loyal and supportive, and we’ll always take care of them.”

Some 3 million viewers watched the fight illegally, according to video security company Irdeto. Espinoza admitted that it was nearly impossible to totally eliminate illegal viewing of the fight given its magnitude.

“Like all events with this kind of appeal, we’re going to have people who will try to view it illegally,” he said. “We took, along with our partners, unprecedented action both before and during the fight to block and remove as many of the illegal streams as possible. ”

Despite the online problems, most industry observers said the fight inside the ring was better than expected, with UFC champion McGregor holding his own in his first ever boxing match, and will easily finish as the year’s most lucrative PPV event.

Former HBO head of pay-per-view Mark Taffet said the fight will generate significant momentum for both the PPV boxing and UFC categories. Both sports have PPV events scheduled over the next two weeks: The UFC will distribute its Sept. 9 UFC 215 pay-per-view event featuring Demetrious Johnson and Ray Borg, while HBO will offer its Sept. 16 Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin bout.

“Mayweather-McGregor clearly exceeded fans’ expectations, and that is great news for both boxing and UFC,” Taffet said. “It bodes well for both sports, and I think it’s one of those great instances in which everyone comes out a winner — boxing, MMA, McGregor, Mayweather and the fans.”

Undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather stopped UFC mixed martial arts champion Conor McGregor in the 10th round Saturday night in an entertaining boxing event that is expected to finish as the most lucrative pay-per-view fight ever.

Mayweather started slowly against a better-than-expected McGregor -- who was fighting in his first professional boxing match -- but picked up the pace midpoint in the fight and began landing heavy blows against a tiring McGregor, eventually leading to the 10th round TKO. Mayweather, who moved his record to 50-0 with the win, said after the event that the fight would be his last. 

As for McGregor's future, UFC president Dana White in a post-fight interview wouldn't speculate on whether the current UFC lightweight champion would return to octagon or the boxing ring. "We weren't talking fighting tonight," White said of a discussion he had with McGregor after the fight. "Conor McGregor went in there tonight and hit [Mayweather] with some big shots ... it was a great showing."  

The Mayweather-McGregor bout was reportedly delayed due to scattered PPV outages as some distributors had trouble keeping up with PPV purchases. The UFC.Tv website reportedly crashed hours prior to the main event, according to USA Today, but fight organizers told Multichannel News that all distributors were "on track" for the main event. 

The fight is expected to break the record 4.5 million PPV buys and $450 million in PPV revenue set by the 2015 Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight.

RELATED: Mayweather-McGregor Could Break PPV Records 

NeuLion said it live stream the upcoming Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor fight for several global rights holders, including the UFC, Sky Sports, Sky New Zealand and Eleven Sports Network.

RELATED: Gearing Up for a Pay-Per-View KO (subscription required)

Those partners will use NeuLion’s Digital Platform for the live streaming of the four-fight Showtime PPV event, set for Saturday, Aug. 26 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

NeuLion said its platform will handle authentication and purchasing of bout for each of the four partner offerings, including UFC.TV, Sky Sports Box Office, Sky Fan Pass and the Eleven Sports Network’s OTT service.

RELATED: Sling TV to Offer Mayweather-McGregor PPV

NeuLion, which will deliver and monitor the live event from its technical operations centers in New York and London, said it also designed and developed the consumer experience for its respective streaming partners.

Fight fans will have to dish out as much as $100 to watch the Aug. 26 Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor pay-per-view boxing match.

The fight, which pits recently unretired, undefeated boxer Mayweather against UFC mixed martial arts champion McGregor, will carry a PPV suggested retail price of $89.95 for a standard definition feed, according to fight organizers. Like most PPV events, distributors will most likely add another $10 to the price to watch the fight in high definition.

The price point matches what many distributors charged for the 2015 Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao bout, which drew a record 4.6 million PPV buys. The Maywether-McGregor SRP is much higher than the $69.95 expected to be charged for HBO’s Sept. 16 Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin middleweight championship PPV event.

Showtime Sports executive vice president and general manger Stephen Espinoza said the high premium price won't turn away fans from buying the event. “For a rare event like this, a truly unique spectacle, we are confident that the market will bear the price,” Espinoza said. “We are clearly looking at a once-in-a-lifetime type of event and we believe that when you have a premium product, the consumer is willing to pay a premium price for it.”    

The boxing match many sports fans fantasized about but never thought would happen is now a reality. Showtime PPV will distribute the Aug. 26 Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor boxing match, a unique matchup between Mayweather, an undefeated 40-year old boxer and McGregor, a 26-year-old UFC mixed martial arts champion.

The 12-round fight, which will be fought at a 154-pound limit – well above Mayweather’s typical 147 fighting weight but near McGregor’s natural fighting weight – is expected to draw a lot of attention and millions of dollars in pay-per-view revenue.

Spearheading the fight’s distribution is Stephen Espinoza, executive vice president and general manager of Showtime Sports, who spoke to me Wednesday night to discuss the big event and its potential to break all PPV event performance marks. An edited version of the interview appears below.

Tom Umstead: How did this fight finally come about?

Stephen Espinoza: Not sure anyone would have predicted this a year ago, but what started as a bit of bravado and a challenge thrown out between two mega stars has all of the sudden turned into a main event.

TU: Any suggested retail price for the PPV event?

SE: It’s still being discussed. That’s one of the ironies of the fight: the fighter’s deal got done so quick that was finished before the particulars of the event.

TU: What is the appeal of this fight?

SE: In a sport that’s often filled with hyperbole there really is no exaggeration to say that this event is truly unprecedented – its unprecedented in the nature of the competition: its unprecedented in its magnitude and the attention that it is receiving and will receive; and its unprecedented in the types of personalities that we have participating. Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor have taken the art of self-promotion and backed it up with excellence in the ring and elevated into an art form. We’ve certainly had colorful characters in boxing and in MMA before, but to get arguably the two most talked about athletes in each sport taking aim against each other in the same competition adds exponentially to the appeal of the event.

TU: Can this fight break the record of 4.6 million PPV buys set by the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight? 

SE: After that [2015] event I think we all said it would never happen again. I can’t say that it will happen, but what I can say is that the demand for this event and the attention that it has already received are easily on par with Mayweather and Pacquiao if not bigger. This has the advantage of drawing not just from the boxing and the MMA fan bases, but also from the universe of people who have never paid attention to either a boxing match or MMA event before. Due to the nature of the personalities and the nature of the competition, there’s a whole awareness and curiosity that far surpasses any boxing or MMA event – even an event like Mayweather-Pacquiao. So you never say never – if there is something that could break the Mayweather-Pacquiao record, it seems this event could be it.

TU: What do you say to some of the detractors who say the fight makes a mockery of both boxing and MMA?

SE: Combat sports are something that you really can’t predict. The fight could end at any time and it doesn’t matter how far someone is behind – one punch can change everything in one instant. In that context, I don’t think anyone can reliably say what’s going to happen in this fight. Mayweather has been two years away from the sport and is 40 years old, and he is fighting a young, strong MMA champion in the prime of his career in McGregor. He’s 27 years old and he’s significantly bigger than Floyd. Is it unorthodox? Absolutely, and I think that’s part of its appeal. Conor McGregor has made his entire career of proving his doubters wrong.

TU: Do you have enough time to effectively put together a blockbuster PPV event given the Aug. 26 date?

SE: We have three more days than we had for Mayweather-Pacquiao and that turned out OK. The reality is the media market is very different that it has been traditionally, and with the advent of digital marketing providing the ability to reach people much more quickly, I think the days of 90 to 120 days of marketing as a necessity are long gone.  

The curious proposed boxing match between retired boxing legend Floyd Mayweather and UFC mixed martial arts champion Conor McGregor seemingly moved a step closer to reality last week.

UFC president Dana White has given his blessing to the fight, announcing last Wednesday on TNT’s Inside The NBA post-game show that the mixed martial arts outfit has reached an agreement with arguably the UFC's biggest star, allowing McGregor to step out of the UFC octagon and into the squared ring to face Mayweather (pictured) in a straight-up boxing match. White however, refused to predict that the fight will actually happen.

Mayweather, who last fought in 2015, has yet to sign on the dotted line to fight McGregor, but the undefeated fighter was quoted by ESPN.com over the weekend saying that if he were to return to the ring it would be against the UFC champion.

"If I do fight, there's a 90 percent chance it's against Conor McGregor," Mayweather said. "The only sort of numbers I worry about are pay-per-view numbers. I have to see what the next move is."

Indeed, while some hardcore boxing and UFC fans might bristle at the prospect of a Mayweather-McGregor “fight,” there’s no doubt that the event would create a lot of interest from fight fans as well as non-sports aficionados. That could potentially translate into a big pay-per-view payday for fight distributors. 

As the PPV boxing category’s undisputed pound-for-pound champion, Mayweather is almost certain to draw close to 1 million buys or more every time he steps into the PPV ring, even with his prolonged absence from boxing. Mayweather’s pursuit of his 50th straight win against McGregor – also a bona fide PPV draw in his own right – could post some knockout PPV numbers if the fight happens. Mayweather’s 2015 fight against Manny Pacquiao holds the all-time PPV event record with more than 4 million PPV buys.

Four marquee boxing and UFC pay-per- view events over the next two months could salvage what has been an otherwise weak year for the category.

After generating more than $500 million in revenue last year — some $400 million from just the May 2, 2015 Floyd Mayweather- Manny Pacquiao welterweight title fight — the live PPV-event category has garnered less than half of that take through the first 10 months of 2016, industry sources said.

Distributors hope a flurry of big PPV events in November and December will help pad the category’s revenue take. The latest addition to the PPV category is the Dec. 30 return of UFC star Ronda Rousey to the octagon, more than a year after her shocking loss to Holly Holm in last November’s UFC 193.

UFC CARRYING THE LOAD

The show joins UFC’s Nov. 12 PPV event from New York’s Madison Square Garden, which will feature popular UFC fighter Conor McGregor. In Demand senior vice president of programming and business development Mark Boccardi said that the appearance of Rousey and McGregor in two of the final three UFC PPV events -- the MMA outfit will also distribute its UFC 206 event on Dec. 10 -- will cap off what has been one of the most lucrative years for the UFC in terms of PPV revenue, although he would not disclose specifics.

“Clearly, this is a year where the UFC is helping the entire category,” Boccardi said. “Everyone sees that boxing is down — we had no Mayweather and one Pacquaio fight so far [this past April against Timothy Bradley Jr.] — so the UFC’s really strong performance is good for the overall health of the business. The events feature two tentpole athletes for PPV in Rousey and McGregor — the two are by far the biggest UFC PPV stars — and the crossover appeal that Ronda has you can’t overstate.”

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Two high-profile PPV boxing events will also take place within two weeks of each other in November. This Saturday ([Nov. 5) Pacquiao will step into the PPV ring for a fight against WBO welterweight champion Jessie Vargas, while Nov. 19 will pit Sergey Kovalev against Andre Ward in a battle of undefeated light heavyweight boxers.

Boxing promotion company Top Rank, which is distributing the Pacquiao-Vargas fight, isn’t concerned about cannibalization, given the back-to-back-to-back marquee PPV events, company president Todd duBoef said.

DAILY DOC SERIES KICKS OFF

Top Rank recently turned to the Web to promote the fight. The network last week launched ALL IN: Pacquiao-Vargas, a daily documentary series on Top Rank’s Facebook page and Twitter feed that it said will give boxing fans an inside look at each fighter’s daily preparations.

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HBO will push the lion’s share of its promotional efforts for the Kovalev-Ward fight to the week before the event in an effort to avoid the marketing noise from the Pacquiao-Vargas and UFC 205 events. While there is a concern about potential cannibalization of viewers, HBO vice president of programming Tony Walker said the network is confident its event would appeal to boxing fans looking for a competitive matchup between undefeated fighters.

“There are some [cannibalization] concerns, but we think our fight is of a quality that will make people watch it,” Walker said.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship remains confident of future ratings and pay-per-view wins despite having its highest-profile fighters hit the canvas with recent losses.

The mixed martial arts franchise’s March 5 UFC 196 pay-per-view event saw two of the UFC’s biggest draws — Conor McGregor and Holly Holm — suffer surprising defeats in the main and co-main events.

Those followed Holm’s November upset win over Ronda Rousey, arguably the organization’s most popular fighter.

UFC would not disclose PPV buys for UFC 196’s McGregor-Nate Diaz and Holm-Miesha Tate event. But the brash McGregor, who was on the Feb. 29 cover of Sports Illustrated, and Holm, who had been lined up for a lucrative rematch with Rousey, were big draws for FS1 content surrounding the event.

"UFC 196 was a great event and the results are a prime example that as a global brand, UFC showcases the best combat athletes in the world where anything can happen," UFC executive vice president and chief content officer Marshall Zelaznik said.

FS1’s March 5 live telecast of UFC 196 preliminary fights drew 1.8 million viewers, a network record for UFC PPV preliminary fight telecasts. And the early evening UFC 196 pre-fight show, with undercard bouts prior to the main PPV fights, drew 767,000 viewers, a record for that category.

Fox Sports head of business operations David Nathanson said the unpredictability of UFC bouts help build awareness for future live fights, regardless of whether or not the biggest stars win.

“The recent losses of Rousey, McGregor and Holm actually create more interesting storylines and prove that no one is infallible, and more than ever people will want to tune in to see how these stars pick themselves up and respond to their loss,” Nathanson said.

“The proof will be in the octagon,” he said, “and the UFC and FS1 will benefit as these narratives evolve.”

UFC president Dana White told ESPN Radio that McGregor could fight next in July on the UFC 200 card. White also said Rousey’s comeback fight could be against Tate instead of Holm, although it’s unclear when that event would take place.

Bas Rutten, co-host of AXS TV’s weekly mixed-martial- arts news show Inside MMA, said that unlike boxing, where a loss could devalue the box-office appeal of a fighter, mixed martial arts fighters — because of the various ways to stop an opponent — can better absorb losses and still retain their appeal to fans.

“There are way more ways to lose in mixed martial arts, which is why [fighter] records are much different in MMA,” Rutten said. “I think people want to see these guys come back, particularly Conor McGregor.”

UFC officials have said that 2015 was one of its best years ever in terms of PPV buys and revenue, and Zelaznik added UFC 196 has help set the stage for several big PPV events in the near future.

“The results from [UFC 196] will make our athletes and pay-per-views even more compelling," Zelaznik said. "UFC 196 set the tone for an exciting 2016 where UFC will be unstoppable leading into our landmark UFC 200 event in July.”

In Demand senior vice president of programming and business development Mark Boccardi said he thinks UFC can continue to deliver strong PPV buys despite the losses by Rousey and now McGregor and Holm.

“It’s a fight sport, and people lose,” Boccardi said. “What people respond to in this genre are the people who take on the biggest and best matchups. There’s no doubt that Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey are the two most marketable stars right now for the UFC, so there’s no doubt that whomever their opponents are, their next fights will still be a very big PPV event.”

The UFC’s next PPV event comes on April 23 and features a rematch between UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and former champion Jon Jones.