The pay-per-view boxing category will look to pack one last revenue punch this weekend as marquee fighters Terence Crawford and Manny Pacquaio step into the ring in separate fights.

Crawford, the undefeated WBO welterweight champion, will defend his title December 10 against top contender David Avanesyan in an event that will retail at a suggested PPV price of $39.99. Crawford last fought on PPV in November 2021, drawing a reported 135,000 PPV buys in his win over former welterweight champion Shawn Porter.

Pacquiao, the second biggest PPV boxing draw behind Floyd Mayweather, will fight Saturday in an exhibition match against mixed martial arts fighter DK Yoo that will retail for $29.99. The eight-division world champion retired in 2021 after suffering a loss to then welterweight champion Yordenis Ugas in a PPV bout that drew 250,000 PPV buys, according to reports.

Overall, Manny Pacquiao has generated 20 million PPV buys and around $1.25 billion in PPV revenue over 24 PPV bouts.  Pacquiao's 2015 fight against Mayweather remains the biggest PPV event of all time, drawing 4.6 million PPV buys.

The two fights will effectively end a busy PPV boxing year that didn’t include a blockbuster 1 million PPV buy event but included several mid-range events featuring such high-profile boxers as Canelo Alvarez, Deontay Wilder, Gennady Golovkin, Tyson Fury and Gervonta Davis.

Lightweight champion Davis will launch the category’s 2023 PPV lineup with a Showtime-distributed January 7 bout against Héctor Luis García. A Davis win would set up a major spring 2023 PPV fight against unbeaten Ryan Garcia. ■

The Veteran’s Day holiday weekend lineup of live TV sports events begins on the football field as the NFL travels to Germany on Sunday for a morning matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and the Tom Brady-led Tampa Bay Buccaneers on NFL Network. 

Also on Sunday, CBS and Fox will offer regional NFL afternoon telecasts, followed by NBC's Sunday Night Football contest between the Los Angeles Chargers and San Francisco 49’ers.

In the octagon, ESPN will distribute the UFC 281 pay-per-view fight card on Saturday, headlined by the Israel Adesanya-Alex Pereira middleweight championship fight. 

Also on Saturday via PPV is the return of retired undefeated champion Floyd Mayweather, as he steps into the ring to fight an afternoon exhibition bout against MMA fighter Deji Olatunji. DAZN on Saturday will deliver a fight card featuring a main event junior welterweight bout between Montana Love and Stevie Spark.

The weekend college football schedule begins Saturday with a new top-ranked team, Georgia, who will take on Mississippi State on ESPN. Second-ranked Ohio State will face Indiana on Fox, while third-ranked Michigan battles Nebraska and fourth-ranked TCU travels to meet Texas on ABC. Other games featuring top 10-ranked teams include No. 6 Oregon-Washington (Fox), No. 7 LSU-Arkansas (ESPN), No.9 Alabama-No. 11 Ole Miss (CBS) and No. 10 Clemson-Louisville (ESPN).

NBC will tip off its women’s college basketball coverage on Saturday with a matchup between California and Notre Dame in the inaugural Citi Shamrock Classic, the first live women’s college basketball game on NBC ever, and the first college basketball game of any kind since 1988, according to network officials. ■  

Boxing champion Canelo Alvarez’s upset loss Saturday to light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol may have cost the pay-per-view boxing industry a big fall payday.

The fight, distributed by sports streaming service DAZN and PPV.com, saw Alvarez -- arguably the PPV boxing industry’s biggest draw -- lose an unanimous decision to the undefeated Bivol. The loss was the second for Alvarez, following a defeat to Floyd Mayweather in 2013.

Also: Digital Sportsplay: In Demand Punches Up Streaming PPV Service

Alvarez was scheduled to fight former champion Gennady Golovkin for the third time in a much anticipated September PPV fight. Instead, Alvarez may first ask for a rematch against Bivol as stipulated in the contract between the two fighters.

Last month Golovkin did his part by knocking out Ryota Murata in the ninth round of their middleweight fight to set up the third fight with Alvarez. If Alvarez-Golovkin happens, it could be among the most lucrative events for the PPV category this year. The first two Alvarez-Golovkin fights in 2017 and 2018 generated a reported combined 2.4 million PPV buys.

Alvarez’s last fight, a November 2021 super middleweight bout against Caleb Plant, averaged a reported 800,000 PPV buys. ■ 

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. ■ 

Showtime will extend a busy 2021 pay-per-view boxing calendar with a Dec. 5 fight between five-time world champion Gervonta Davis and undefeated lightweight contender Rolando Romero.

The fight will be lightweight champion Davis’s third straight PPV appearance and second this year after beating Mario Barrios in a June 26 event. “Tank Davis is at the top of the boxing mountain and selling out arenas coast-to-coast for a reason,” Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoza said in a statement. “His explosive power, style, and take-no-prisoners attitude make him a captivating, must-see attraction.”

Also Read: Industry Awaits PPV Returns for Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder Trilogy Fight

The Davis-Romero PPV fight marks Showtime’s fifth PPV boxing match this year, which includes the scheduled Nov. 6 Canelo Alvarez-Caleb Plant super middleweight unification bout. Other Showtime 2021 bouts include June’s Davis-Barrios bout, the June 6 Floyd Mayweather-Logan Paul bout, and the Aug. 29 Jake Paul-Tyron Woodley fight. 

Those three fights combined have generated approximately 1.7 million PPV buys, according to industry sources. 

Showtime will continue its busy 2021 pay-per-view boxing campaign in November with the distribution of the Canelo Alvarez-Caleb Plant super middleweight unification fight.

The Nov. 6 fight from Las Vegas will pit arguably the PPV boxing category’s biggest draw in WBA/WBC/WBO super middleweight champion Alvarez against IBF super middleweight champion Plant.  

The event -- Alvarez’s first appearance on Showtime in nearly nine years --  will mark the latest PPV boxing event the premium service has distributed this year following its June 6 Floyd Mayweather-Logan Paul bout, its July 3 Gervonta Davis-Mario Barrios fight and its Aug. 29 Jake Paul-Tyron Woodley event. 

“2021 has been a phenomenal year for Showtime Boxing,” said Showtime Sports President Stephen Espinoza during the event’s Sept. 21 press conference.. “It’s one of our most prolific years in recent memory … we are proud to welcome Canelo Alvarez back to Showtime and we also welcome Caleb Plant for his Showtime debut.”  

The fight joins the ESPN/Fox Sports-distributed Oct. 9 Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder trilogy fight as well as Triller’s Oct. 4 Teófimo López-George Kambosos Jr. boxing event on the Fall PPV boxing card. 

Showtime Sunday (Aug. 29) will distribute its second pay-per-view boxing event featuring YouTube stars Jake and Logan Paul, when Jake Paul steps into the ring with former mixed martial arts champion Tyron Woodley. 

The fight comes on the heels of Showtime's June 6 PPV event pitting Logan Paul against retired former boxing champion Floyd Mayweather. Showtime Sports President Stephen Espinoza spoke to me about Showtime's decision to distribute the event as well as his thoughts on how well the event will perform in an edited version of the interview. 

Picture This: Are you defining the Jake Paul-Tyron Woodley fight as an exhibition fight or a true professional boxing match?

Stephen Espinoza: Paul versus Woodley is a sanctioned professional, fully competitive fight. We're describing it is part of a different genre. Obviously it's slightly different from the championship level boxing that Showtime's been known for for the last 35 years, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't be doing it. This is something which is obviously generating a large amount of attention, and we’re featuring fully competitive bouts. Jake has shown himself to be pretty skilled for someone at his level of interest, so we see this as part of the broader mission to  expand the entire breadth of the combat sports world.

PT: Are you concerned that by expanding the combat sports world you might be alienating the traditional boxing fan that has supported the pay-per-view boxing industry over the years? 

SE: To be honest I understand the traditionalists and the boxing purists who may not view this as their cup of tea, and that's fine. I think the reason that isn't problematic is because we're certain that this can live side by side with what our core business has been for the past 35 years. So just in the same way that Mayweather versus Logan didn't take away any resources or any budget for our championship level boxing, the same is true for Jake Paul.  We've had an incredibly busy and strong schedule -- I'd say the strongest of any platform in professional boxing -- and so we're able to simultaneously do a sort of non-traditional type of event as well. So again, we are very confident that the two can live side by side with each other. If people are interested in these types of events, then the opportunity is there to watch them.  If they're not and they'd prefer to stick with the traditional box events, then we have plenty of those as well.

Also Read: Showtime Hoping to Expand Boxing Fan Base with a Pair of Paul Fights

PT: You mentioned the Mayweather-Paul fight. Do you know how many PPV buys that fight generated? 

SE: It’s right at a million -- within 10,000 to 20,000 [buys] either way -- but buys are still trickling in. 

PT: Can this fight perform in that neighborhood without the attraction of a former boxing champion like Mayweather? 

SE: We’d be thrilled if it approached those numbers, but it's tough to compare anything to Floyd Mayweather. Floyd is a singular personality and one of the most compelling combat sports figures of his generation. There hasn't been anybody like him before, and it’ll probably be a long time before there's someone like him, so I hesitate to make any comparisons. What we've seen from Jake's first three events is that he is very capable of driving business, particularly on his last event against [Ben Askren] where he was the main event of a pay-per-view headliner that did healthy mid six-figure [buy] numbers. We're confident that we can generate at least that going forward with this event. 

 PT: Is Showtime looking at any other PPV events for the rest of the year? 

IE: I think we were looking at at least one more pay-per-view event before the end of the year, and possibly two. Jake would very much like to do one more fight before the end of the year, and we're also anticipating another pay-per-view event with Gervonta Davis, whose last fight at the end of June was a very successful pay-per-view event for us. We also have our typically busy Showtime championship schedule which includes big events throughout the third and fourth quarter.

 Add former boxing champion Oscar De La Hoya to the growing number of retired boxers stepping back into the ring this summer.

The former 11-time, multi-division world champion will fight a Sept. 11 exhibition match against former UFC fighter Vitor Belfort as part of a Triller-distributed fight card which will also feature musical performances, according to the social media company. De La Hoya hasn’t fought in the ring since losing to Manny Pacquiao in 2008.

The fight is part of a weekend music festival dubbed TrillerVerz that will feature a number of musical acts that will be announced at a later date. It’s unclear whether the weekend’s events, including the De La Hoya-Belfort fight, will be part offered as one singular event or separate PPV events.

Read Also: Triller Postpones June 19 Teofimo Lopez-George Kambosos Fight

De La Hoya is the latest retired boxer to announce his return to the PPV ring. This Saturday Julio Cesar Chavez will fight in an exhibition boxing match against Hector Camacho Jr., marking his first ring appearance in more than15 years. Earlier this month Floyd Mayweather returned to the ring after a four-year absence to fight YouTube star Logan Paul in an eight-round exhibition bout. Former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield is also expected to step back in the ring later this year in an exhibition bout. 

Triller distributed last November’s Mike Tyson-Roy Jones Jr. exhibition fight, which drew more than 1.6 million PPV buys. 

Read Also: PPV boxing's Summer Bonanza 

This morning Showtime announced it will air a replay of last night’s Floyd Mayweather-Logan Paul pay-per-view exhibition boxing match on June 12. Given some of the negative reactions from spectators at the fight and some PPV buyers after the eight-round event went the distance and produced no knockdowns, it’ll be interesting to see how many viewers actually tune in.

Neither Mayweather nor Paul were declared the victor of the much-hyped event because there were no judges to score the fight round-by-round other than Logan Paul’s brother Jake, who gave his very unofficial and biased scorecard halfway through the exhibition event. When the official PPV numbers roll in however, many observers believe that both fighters and event distributor Showtime will be the big financial winners. 

Showtime Sports President Stephen Espinoza told Multichannel News prior to the event that Mayweather-Paul could top the 1 million PPV buy mark, a figure that Mayweather has surpassed several times during his undefeated boxing career. In fact, Mayweather fights account for the top two performing PPV events of all time -- his 2015 bout with Manny Pacquiao drew 4.6 million PPV buys and his 2017 fight with UFC star Conor McGregor notched 4.3 million PPV buys. 

Also Read: Showtime Hoping to Expand Boxing Fan Base with a Pair of Paul PPV Fights 

Add to Mayweather’s PPV pedigree Paul’s millions of social media followers, and the event had all the ingredients to generate huge PPV business. Showtime even struggled early with demand for the PPV event, acknowledging on social media last night that its online services and apps had technical difficulties delivering the PPV event to purchasers. The network today instructed viewers who couldn’t stream the fight to request a refund.

Showtime went out of its way not to label Mayweather-Paul as a legitimate boxing match but as an exhibition and spectacle, both in promotion leading up to the event as well as during the telecast.

“I certainly think it's important for our credibility that we be honest about what this is -- it isn’t a championship level, elite boxing competition,” Espinoza told Multichannel News. “This is a spectacle and an event featuring a retired Floyd Mayweather coming out of retirement to do an exhibition.”

The PPV industry is closely watching the growing emergence of the exhibition boxing category. Last November an exhibition bout between former champions Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. -- which also featured musical performances -- drew more than 1.8 million PPV buys. Other retired champions such as Evander Holyfield and Oscar De La Hoya are planning exhibition ring returns later this year.

Meanwhile, fans of true pro boxing will also have the opportunity to watch several quality PPV boxing matches later this summer when such current boxing champions as Manny Pacquiao, Errol Spence and Tyson Fury step into the ring.

Read also: PPV Boxing's Summer Bonanza  

Last night, boxing fans were able to see two official boxing matches on the PPV telecast. Beyond that, anyone looking for a competitive, action-packed fight between a 44-year old former champion and a YouTube star looking to further build his social media following were disappointed.

With Logan Paul’s brother Jake set to step into the ring this August in a Showtime-distributed PPV event against UFC fighter Tyron Woodley, the industry is still trying to see if the PPV boxing ring is big enough to support legitimate as well as "spectacle" exhibition events.

Showtime is hoping for big pay-per-view numbers for its June 6 Floyd Mayweather-Logan Paul exhibition fight as it looks to draw both Mayweather’s traditional boxing fans and Paul’s social media followers. The network in August will again look to tap into the Paul social media mystique as the network distributes Jake Paul’s Aug. 28 boxing match against UFC fighter Tyron Woodley.

Showtime Sports President Stephen Espinoza spoke to me on the eve of the Mayweather-Paul fight about the network’s decision to distribute boxing matches featuring the Paul brothers. Espinoza also talks about the potential PPV performance of the events as well as potential backlash from boxing purists revolving around the network’s association with non-traditional boxing events. An edited version of the interview appears below.

Picture This: What attracted Showtime to the Floyd Mayweather-Logan Paul exhibition fight? 

Stephen Espinoza: The Logan Paul-Floyd Mayweather event was sort of a no brainer for us, given our history and track record of success with Floyd Mayweather. He's the one who came up with the concept, made the arrangements, and then brought the fight to us. That was a relatively easy decision. In the grand scheme of things, I don't think that we want to be in the position of turning our nose up at what could be a new trend in the sport. I certainly think it's important for our credibility that we be honest about what this is -- it isn’t a championship level, elite boxing competition. This is a spectacle and an event featuring a retired Floyd Mayweather coming out of retirement to do an exhibition. It’s about fun and about something unexpected. It’s a different flavor of combat sports than we’ve done before, but it certainly is something that has attracted more than its fair share of interest from the audience.

PT: Does the event have a chance of hitting the industry’s gold standard of 1 million PPV buys?

SE: I certainly think this has the potential. There aren’t many personalities in the world with the following that Logan Paul has. When you're talking about the pay per view business, the ability to bring a built in audience to the table is really an attractive factor in the whole mix. I think it’s really the combination of a few things: the chance to see perhaps the greatest living boxer back into the ring and performing at some level again; the intrigue of seeing how  a younger, bigger, stronger, opponent would do against a Mayweather who's been retired for almost five years; and just the melding of two worlds and two huge fan bases from very different demographics. I don't know if this is a once in a lifetime thing, but in terms of commercial attractiveness and financial viability, again, it was a no brainer. This thing was definitely going to attract a lot of attention, and it was definitely going to do business. Given our relationship with Mayweather it was an immediate yes for us.

PT: Showtime is planning to distribute Logan Paul’s brother Jake Paul’s August boxing event against UFC fighter Tyron Woodley. With now two PPV events featuring non-traditional boxers, are you concerned about potentially turning off fight fans going forward? 

SE: We have to be protective of our credibility and our reputation. We’ve worked 35 years to establish ourselves as the most experienced and credible boxing outlet in the sport, and we certainly wouldn’t sacrifice that for anyone. So obviously we believe that the two can co-exist side-by-side. We’ve seen this sort of crossover before -- we've seen UFC stars and WWE stars crossover. Even [TNT's The Match golf event] with Aaron Rogers, Tiger Woods and Tom Brady is a crossover event. No one looks at a golf event featuring Rogers, Brady and Phil Mickelson, or looks at Charles Barkley and Tony Romo playing in a golf tournament at Lake Tahoe and calls it an affront to The Masters tournament or that it is somehow an insult to what professional golfers do on the PGA Tour. The audience is smart enough to know the difference. We do high level MMA, we do championship boxing, we do premium sports documentaries like The Kings, and we’re in the midst of this spectacle. So for those who are worried about [Mayweather-Paul] diverting resources or attention from other events, I say  we can do these things side-by-side. In the long run we believe that this is just broadening the tent and extending the potential universe of boxing fans. If they come through the door for a Logan Paul or Jake Paul event and become boxing fans, I think that’s a positive thing for the sport and certainly a positive thing for the network.

The first weekend of June will feature a stellar lineup of live sports events from boxing to NBA and NHL playoff games. 

Sunday will feature the return of boxer Floyd Mayweather to the pay-per-view ring in an exhibition fight against YouTube star Logan Paul. The Showtime-distributed PPV fight will retail at a suggested price of $49.99, according to industry sources. 

The second round of the NBA Playoffs will tip off on Saturday with the first game of the Milwaukee Bucks-Brooklyn Nets series on TNT. On Sunday, ABC will air the first game of the Atlanta Hawks-Philadelphia 76’ers matchup as well as game 7 of the first-round matchup between the Dallas Mavericks and the L.A. Clippers. 

Also Read: PPV Boxing's Summer Bonanza

USA Network on Saturday will air second round coverage of the Carolina Hurricanes-Tampa Bay Lightning series while NBC airs game four of the Boston Bruins-New York Islanders series. NBCSN will offer Sunday coverage of the Winnipeg Jets-Montreal Canadiens game three matchup as well as game four of the Colorado Avalanche-Vegas Golden Knights series.

In other TV sports events, ESPN will air weekend coverage of the college softball world series as well as Sunday Night Baseball coverage of the Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees game.

Also Read: Weekly Cable Ratings: TNT Wins in Primetime 

CBS and Golf Channel will offer weekend coverage of the PGA Tour Memorial Tournament, while NBC will air final round coverage of the US Women’s Open.   

As the TV sports world continues to recover from the pandemic, few sports are in a position to experience a greater renaissance than boxing -- particularly on the pay-per-view event platform.

The addition this week of the July 24 Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder trilogy fight to an already stacked summer PPV boxing schedule creates a dream lineup that could generate significant revenue for the PPV industry.

The PPV boxing industry was poised to have a strong 2020 after the second Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury heavyweight championship fight in February of that year drew a reported 1.2 million PPV buys -- the first fight to break the industry standard mark since 2018. With potential fights being lined up featuring the top draws in the sport including Manny Pacquiao and Canelo Alvarez -- as well as up and coming PPV draws such as Gervonta Davis and Errol Spence Jr. -- the category in 2020 was well positioned to generate significant revenue. 

Also Read: Tyson Fury Defeats Deontay Wilder in Big Heavyweight PPV Fight

Then COVID-19 hit and nearly all of the proposed big PPV events fell by the wayside. Showtime and Fox Sports jump started the category in late 2020 with PPV fight cards headlined by champions Jermall Charlo, Davis and Spence that averaged around a reported 220,000 buys across three fights. But it was a November exhibition fight between Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. that proved that boxing could still deliver significant PPV purchases and revenue.  

That event, distributed by social media company Triller and featuring musical performances alongside traditional fights, drew more than 1.6 million PPV buys -- finishing among the top 10 biggest PPV events ever -- and set the category in motion to create in 2021 one of the more impressive stretches of PPV fights in recent memory. 

The June 6 Showtime-distributed exhibition fight between all-time PPV revenue champion Floyd Mayweather and YouTube sensation Logan Paul is one of three PPV fights scheduled over the next three months that have a puncher’s chance of hitting the 1 million PPV buy mark. 

The Wilder-Fury trilogy fight as well as the Aug. 21 Pacquiao-Spence Jr. welterweight unification fight -- Spence is arguably among the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport and Pacquiao is the second-biggest PPV revenue draw ever behind Mayweather -- could provide the industry its first year of three or more 1 million PPV buy events since 2017 when Mayweather-Conor McGregor, Alvarez-Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., and Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin II all surpassed the mark.   

Also Read: Manny Pacquiao-Errol Spence PPV Fight Set for August

Also on the summer PPV boxing schedule is Triller’s June 19 Teófimo López-George Kambosos Jr. lightweight championship PPV event and Showtime’s June 27 Mario Barrios-Gervonta Davis junior welterweight title PPV fight.

And that’s all before the fall when iconic fighters Oscar De La Hoya, Evander Holyfield and Tyson potentially return to the ring in PPV exhibition fights.

"2020 was incredible for PPV - we didn’t think we could top it but we’re on our way," said In Demand SVP programming and marketing Mark Boccardi. “2021 is shaping up to be a great year for PPV with a heavyweight title at stake, the return of Floyd Mayweather, possibly Manny Pacquiao’s last fight which will be against superstar Errol Spence, crossover social media fights, and still more to come.”

Even as the country begins to open up this summer and show signs of returning back to some sense of normalcy, the PPV boxing category is set to keep millions of fight fans glued to their TV screens over the next few months

Boxing legend Manny Pacquiao will step into the pay-per-view boxing ring in August to challenge undefeated Errol Spence in a welterweight championship fight.

Pacquiao, who announced the fight in a Tweet Friday night, has generated the second most PPV revenue ever behind Floyd Mayweather. Pacquiao’s 2015 fight against Mayweather remains the biggest PPV event ever, generating 4.6 million PPV buys.

Pacquiao will fight for the first time since defeating Keith Thurman in 2019. Spence, the WBC and IBF welterweight champion, last fought in December, defeating Danny Garcia. The Pacquiao-Spence fight will take place in Las Vegas, according to ESPN. 

The fight is arguably the biggest PPV boxing event announced so far in an already crowded late spring/early summer schedule of PPV fights. Mayweather will fight a Showtime-distributed June 6 PPV exhibition fight against YouTube star Logan Paul; Triller will distribute the June 19 Teófimo López-George Kambosos Jr. lightweight championship PPV event; and Showtime will offer the June 27 Mario Barrios-Gervonta Davis junior welterweight title PPV fight.

Also Read: Showtime Sets June Floyd Mayweather-Logan Paul PPV Exhibition Fight

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 

Floyd Mayweather will follow Mike Tyson into the pay-per-view boxing exhibition ring in February to take on YouTube star Logan Paul, Mayweather announced Sunday on his Instagram page.

The Mayweather-Paul fight will be streamed exclusively on the Fanmio Boxing website and will serve as the first fight for the 43-year old Mayweather since his 2017 fight against former UFC champion Conor McGregor. That fight drew 4.3 million PPV buys, the second most in PPV history behind the 4.6 million buys garnered by the 2015 Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight.  

Logan has fought twice against fellow YouTuber KSI, most recently in a Nov. 2019 PPV event.

The event will retail at a suggested price of $24.99 for the first 1 million buys before increasing to $39.99. Beginning Dec. 29 the fight will retail at $59.99 before increasing $10 to $69.99 starting Feb. 11, according to the Fanmio website.

Mayweather's announcement follows the Nov. 28 return of former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson to the squared ring for the first time in 15 years in a PPV exhibition fight against ex-heavyweight champion Roy Jones Jr. that ended in a draw. Logan Paul's brother Jake knocked out former basketball star Nat Robinson on the undercard of the Tyson-Jones fight. 

It also comes on the heels of Saturday night's big PPV welterweight boxing event in which champion Errol Spence Jr. defeated former champion Danny Garcia in a unanimous decision. 

Related: Fox Sports Gears Up for Spence Jr. Garcia PPV Fight

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.  

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.

Showtime and HBO enter the TV boxing ring together on April 29 to co-televise the Vladimir Klitschko-Anthony Joshua heavyweight championship fight – the first time the two networks have come together to televise a non-pay-per-view boxing match.

After the fight however, the two networks will retreat into their neutral corners with two distinctly different strategies on distributing live boxing matches.

Showtime, which only a few years ago was arguably the most prolific distributor of marque pay-per-view fights in the industry, is now focusing on putting its biggest and best fights via its premium service and on broadcast television through its sister broadcast network CBS.

In fact, the network’s last high-profile PPV fight was Floyd Mayweather’s fairwell fight in September 2015 against Andre Berto. That came four months after Showtime and HBO hooked up to co-distribute the Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight -- the most lucrative PPV event of all time.

Since then, Showtime has offered several quality primetime fights featuring the top names in boxing today, including welterweight champion, Keith Thurman, heavyweight champs Joshua and Deontay Wilder, and former champions Danny Garcia, Shawn Porter, and Adrien Broner.

The network recently released its upcoming fight schedule that will offer big fights featuring light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson and welterweight champion Kell Brook among others, but none that will be offered on a PPV basis.

That leaves HBO as the main distributor of PPV boxing fights. The network, which has already distributed one high-profile PPV boxing event this year – the March Golovkin-Daniel Jacobs fight drew 170,000 buys according to published reports – will return to the PPV ring next week (May 6) with the highly-anticipated Canelo Alvarez-Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. fight. Also on tap for the pay network is a June 17 Andre Ward-Sergey Kovalev light heavyweight championship rematch and a potential July PPV fight featuring Pacquiao.

As for tonight’s Klitschko-Joshua fight, Showtime will air the fight live this afternoon at 4:15 while HBO will distribute the bout on a taped delayed basis at 11 p.m.

UFC superstar Ronda Rousey’s return to the octagon in tonight’s UFC 207 pay-per-view event will cap off what has easily been one of the mixed martial arts franchise’s most lucrative PPV campaigns ever.

While the company has not officially released PPV buy numbers for its 2016 events, industry observers say the performance of the MMA organization’s landmark UFC 200 event in July, its November UFC 205 event featuring Colin McGregor – which also served as the first UFC event held in New York’s Madison Square Garden – as well as the predicted strong PPV revenue and buy returns from tonight’s event will certainly push the UFC past boxing as the king of the PPV ring in 2016.

The PPV boxing category delivered a weak revenue jab to distributors this year compared to the knockout punch the category landed in 2015, bolstered by the record-setting Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather fight. Not even the presence of two Pacquiao PPV fights in 2016 could lift the fortunes of a category in transition after losing its most lucrative draw in Mayweather to retirement.

Fighters headlining PPV boxing cards in 2016 like Canelo Alvarez, Andre Ward, Sergey Kovalev and Terrance Crawford are still building awareness and appeal with boxing fans and could create some buzzworthy PPV bouts in 2017, but it will take some time before the category can generate PPV revenue and buys in the neighborhood of Pacquiao-Mayweather.

HBO could offer as many as three PPV boxing events in the first half of 2017 including a scheduled Feb. 25 Miguel Cotto-James Kirkland bout and a March 18 Gennady Golovkin-Daniel Jacobs championship fight card that will receive some fanfare, but will be hard pressed to reach the category’s gold standard of 1 million PPV buys. A potential Alvarez-Julio Cesar Chavez Jr fight in May could also generate some decent noise and buys for the category among hard core fight fans, but could be a tough sell to casual sports fans.

Meanwhile, the UFC will look to build on its big 2016 PPV performance with the promise of a slew of PPV events next year featuring the organization’s top fighters, beginning in February with its UFC 208 event in New York. Whether Rousey will join the UFC’s roster of 2017 PPV headliners remains to be seen, but tonight’s card closes a successful 2016 PPV campaign for the organization and serves as a strong lead-in to what is expected to be another knockout PPV year for the UFC in 2017.

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.”

Related > UFC: Too Legit to Quit

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.

Related > Building Boxing's Next PPV Champ [subscription required]

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.

Boxing icon and humanitarian Muhammad Ali has died at the age of 74. 

Ali, who had battled Parkinson's disease for decades, passed away Friday after being hospitalized in the Phoenix area earlier this week with respiratory issues, according to the Associated Press. During a legendary pro boxing career, Ali -- considered by many boxing observers as the greatest boxer of all time -- won the heavyweight boxing title three times and fought a number of iconic fights throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

Ali retired from boxing in 1981 but remained one of the most popular and well-known athletes in the world. 

Ali, whose conversion to Islam and his opposition to the Vietnam War and the military draft during the 1960s drew criticism and condemnation from many circles, was revered later in life for advocating peace and equal rights for all. 

Several cable networks released statements early Saturday morning reacting to the death of Ali. 

ESPN president John Skipper reflected on Ali's passing, saying: “We are sad to hear of the passing of Muhammad Ali. However, we revel in the memory of his athletic excellence in the ring, we recollect with pleasure the charm of the charismatic young man from Louisville who would shock the world and we celebrate the dramatic achievement of a champion of civil rights who changed the world. In many ways, he was truly the greatest of all time.”

HBO in a statement said: "We join the rest of the world in mourning the passing of Muhammad Ali and celebrating the legacy of this unique man in unifying us through his acts and gifts. Ali's charisma, grace, and genius transcended all races, religions, nationalities, and generations. His spirit will inspire people forever. HBO is honored to have known Muhammad Ali as a fighter of beauty and a man of principle. We experienced the joy of working with him in support of initiatives he passionately cared about including, most importantly, his never-ending desire to teach tolerance and understanding of others to all people. Muhammad Ali was an icon and hero, father and friend, and beacon of hope for oppressed people throughout the world. He will be missed by all of those whose lives he touched. There are not enough bells to toll this loss."

Showtime also released the following statement: "Muhammad Ali was The Greatest of all time.  Perhaps the greatest in any sport.  The outpouring of emotion currently taking place around the world is a testament to his impact beyond boxing and beyond sports.On behalf of everyone at Showtime Networks, and our extended boxing family, we offer our condolences to the Ali family and to the millions of people the world over that were inspired by his grace, poise and prowess in life."

Boxing promoter Bob Arum, who promoted numerous Ali fights, said in a statement: "A true great has left us. Muhammad Ali transformed this country and impacted the world with his spirit.  His legacy will be part of our history for all time." 

Don King, who also promoted several Ali fights, including his memorable 1974 bout against George Foreman, told the Associated Press: "It's a sad day for life, man. I loved Muhammad Ali, he was my friend. Ali will never die. Like Martin Luther King his spirit will live on, he stood for the world." 

Retired, undefeated boxing champion Floyd Mayweather told ESPN early Saturday that Ali was a "hero" and paved the way for fighters like himself to be successful. Recently retired boxing champion Manny Pacquiao also said in a statement: "We lost a giant today ... boxing benefitted from Muhammad Ali's talents but not nearly as much as mankind benefitted from his humanity.  Our hearts and prayers go out to the Ali family.  May God bless them."  

Showtime Sports has been at the forefront of televised boxing for 30 years, taking a sport that for a generation was the purview of the broadcast networks and effectively promoting, marketing and distributing some of the most successful and lucrative fight cards in the history of the fight game.

Showtime and HBO’s co-distributed May 2015 Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao pay-per-view fight remains the biggest pay TV event of all time, drawing more than 4.4 million buys and more than $400 million in revenue. Boxing has become a staple of Showtime’s programming offerings, and both on its premium channel and via PPV, the network has showcased arguably the biggest names in the sport, including Tommy Hearns, Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson, Julio Cesar Chavez, Lennox Lewis, Canelo Alvarez and Floyd Mayweather.

Showtime Sports and Event Programming executive vice president and general manager Stephen Espinoza talked about the impact boxing has had on Showtime and vice versa over the past 30 years — as well as what the network is doing to ensure its future success with the sweet science — with Multichannel News programming editor R. Thomas Umstead.

MCN:How infl uential has boxing been to overall development of the Showtime brand?

Stephen Espinoza: It’s fair to say that boxing has been critical to the development of Showtime. It has provided another genre of programming that is completely consistent with the network’s overall brand. Showtime has become known for provocative, high-quality entertainment, with compelling characters, and there is nothing more provocative and there’s nothing more provocative and compelling than characters like Mike Tyson, Holyfield and Mayweather. Although it’s a much different type of programming in that its live sports as opposed to scripted dramas and comedies, its value to the network is the same — delivering unique, compelling, provocative programming at the highest level of quality.

MCN:How has Showtime enhanced the viewer’s experience of watching boxing on television compared to the broadcast television networks?

SE: I think there was a certain consistency in presentation that premium television offered to boxing. The ability to stay with a fight between rounds without going to commercial break is something that greatly enhances the presentation of the sport as a whole. The ability to do things without really needing to take a break in the action and to present [uncensored] content to an adult audience, in some cases, were really things that premium television could offer, so I think the experience of professional boxing on premium television was qualitatively different than anything else.

I also think the technology has impacted how the sport is presented and how we market, distribute and deliver the bout. We were covering the events with 15 cameras to be able to deliver the bout that mimics as close as possible the in-arena look and feel of the event. The advent of HD, Dolby 5.1, were also critical pieces of delivering that feeling of a live event. More recently, going to a 4K camera, which we started using three or four years ago, added another layer of detail of the visual presentation. Equally important was marketing and advertising the event. The advent of social media and digital marketing in general have been critical in being able to reach fans.

MCN:The premium category over the years has also been criticized for hurting the sport by taking its biggest stars away from broadcast television and forcing fans to pay to watch big fights. Do you think that is a fair criticism?

SE: I don’t think premium television hurt the sport per se. The shift to premium television was a significant change, but that was really more a factor of premium networks stepping into the void created by a decrease in networks televising boxing. There was the death of a fighter in the ring during the [1982 CBS-televised] Ray Mancini-Duk Koo Kim fight, and that caused some broadcasters to reconsider their commitment to the sport. It was a result of several factors that allowed premium television to become more active.

We can certainly debate whether [boxing’s move to premium cable] was a positive or negative development for the visibility of the sport. In an ideal case, having regular exposure of boxing on a broad, over-the-air platform is something that would have helped the sport overall historically. But overall, I think we have been good stewards of the sport and the sport has done wonders for the network as well.

MCN:Looking ahead, is the sport currently flourishing on Showtime?

SE: It is. The entire media market is undergoing changes, and that’s true for premium television, as well as boxing. There’s uncertainty as we undergo those changes, but there’s huge opportunity as well. For Showtime, our investment has been in the heavyweight division with such stars as [champions] Dante Wilder and Anthony Joshua are two investments that will provide us with hours and hours of great fights. More generally we are developing the largest pool of young, talented fighters that are going to lead the post Mayweather era. That includes Leo Santa Cruz, Keith Thurman, Sean Porter and Danny Garcia.

MCN:Who is the most impactful fighter to fight on Showtime?

SE: I’d say in terms of impact I’d say it’s a three-way tie between Tyson, Holyfi eld and Mayweather, with a close second being the fighter that’s appeared more than any fighter on Showtime, Julio Cesar Chavez.

MCN:What was the most memorable fight on Showtime?

SE: The one that immediately jumps to mind is the 2005 Diego Corrales- Jose Louis Castillo fight which, during my lifetime, is the best fight that I’ve ever seen and was later named fight of the decade.

When pound for pound pay-per-view boxing champion Manny Pacquiao stepped out of the ring and into retirement after his April 9 unanimous decision win over Timothy Bradley Jr., so went the second-biggest revenue generator in pay-per-view event history.

Pay-per-view boxing’s all-time revenue generator, Floyd Mayweather, had already hung up his gloves last year. The retirements of PPV boxing’s two top draws leaves the category with huge shoes to fill as it comes off its most-successful year ever — success due largely to the record-setting “Fight of the Century” between Mayweather and Pacquiao on May 2, 2015.

It could be years before another PPV-boxing match rises to match the performance of Mayweather-Pacquiao, which raked in 4.5 million buys and more than $400 million in revenue. But it might take just a few rounds for the sweet science to crown some new champions capable of consistently surpassing the industry’s benchmark of 1 million PPV buys, boxing observers said.

Up-and-coming champions aren’t just getting greater television exposure from traditional boxing outlets like HBO and Showtime. New distribution hubs such as the Premier Boxing Champions series — which airs on NBC, Fox, CBS, ESPN and Spike TV, among other outlets — are affording exposure to young fighters. And digital media, with its reach and immediacy, can help a fighter quickly build a brand beyond boxing circles.

“There’s always going to be the question of who’s next,” In Demand senior vice president of programming and business development Mark Boccardi said. “It’s a cyclical business and since the late 1990s, there’s always been someone to be that guy or those guys, and within the industry everyone is confident there will be a fighter or fighters who can do that.”

Indeed, after such heavyweights as Mike Tyson, George Foreman, Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis — as well as lighter-weight fighters like welterweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez — dominated the PPV category in the 1990s, there was a lull before Oscar De La Hoya assumed the mantle in the mid-2000s. Once De La Hoya retired, the stage was set for Mayweather and Pacquiao to rule the PPV event business.

STAR SEARCH

The template for building a PPV fighter has already been established, said Bob Arum, the president of boxing promotion company Top Rank. The key now is to find a fighter or fighters who can follow the game plan.

“It all depends on taking a fighter and putting him in a position where he can attract people to spend money on PPV to watch him fight,” Arum said. “That’s easily said and hard to do.”

Arum, a veteran promoter who worked with Pacquaio and promoted Mayweather in his early boxing years, said that in addition to championship in-ring skills, first and foremost a successful PPV fighter must appeal to as many demographic groups as possible — something both of the aforementioned fighters were able to accomplish over the years.

So who’s closest to stepping into the vaunted PPV ring? The consensus among most boxing observers is that Mexican boxer Canelo Alvarez is poised to make the quickest move to PPV superstar status. The middleweight champion — who’ll fight Amir Kahn in a May 7 HBO-distributed PPV event — has already participated in the third-biggest PPV event of all time: his 2013 fight against Mayweather, which drew 2.2 million PPV buys.

His last fight, in November 2015 against Miguel Cotto, pulled in more than 900,000 buys, according to HBO.

“Clearly, with Canelo, you have a PPV superstar that can transition into the next great era,” Mark Taffet, president of sports marketing/consulting company Mark Taffet Media, said. “The challenge for the sport, in order to create a regular flow of million-buy mega-fights, is to develop a great supporting crew.”

Other up-and-coming fighters like welterweight champion Keith Thurman, junior welterweight champ Terence Crawford, middleweight titleholder Gennady Golovkin, undefeated former super middleweight champion Andre Ward and heavyweight champions Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua have been identified as potential draws either on their own, or pitted against one another in PPV mega-fights.

Top Rank will look to build a July PPV card featuring Crawford, Arum said, while the industry is hoping to schedule at least one fall PPV mega-event, although it’s unclear who would headline it.

STILL BUILDING FANS

But as good as those fighters are — and as well-known as they are within boxing circles — they still have yet to develop the broad, diverse audience they’ll need to win in the PPV arena, according to boxing observers.

“It takes time,” said Tony Paige, a boxing broadcaster and sports-talk host on New York radio station WFAN. “The fighters will have to build themselves up with big fights over time to become big PPV draws. If you get enough big wins, you’re driving the bus, so to speak.”

Some observers said the development of the Premier Boxing Champions series, which showcases current champions and young fighters on live fight cards airing on NBC, CBS, Spike TV, ESPN, NBCSN, CBS Sports Network and FS1 — along with other networks like BET and truTV from time to time — as a step in the right direction.

“The sport is not only in the transition to see who ascends to the mountaintop next, but I think there’s a great opportunity with the quickly changing television landscape and technology to reach out and attract the next generation of fans to support the next generation of fighters,” said Taffet, who most recently served as senior vice president of HBO Sports. “It’s a challenge promoters and networks must readily accept to insure a very fertile environment for the sport going forward.”

But offering fights on too many outlets could actually curtail the ability to create one or two mega-stars, Paige cautioned. “It’s hard to build up interest in one particular fighter when that fighter fights one month on one network and then maybe three months later on another network,” he said. “It’s hard for fans to keep up with the schedule.”

Developing continuity in the sport’s message to the consumers is critical if boxing is to build its next wave of top fighters into PPV superstars, Taffet said. “It’s important for consumers to regularly be in touch with the sport, the athletes and the storylines, so that in their increasingly busy, media-savvy days they can develop the attachment that leads to true fan support on an ongoing basis.”

One way to get a fighter’s brand beyond boxing’s core fan base is via social media. Digital platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram give promoters, fighters and sponsors a chance to continuously feed fans’ appetites in ways that have yet to be fully exploited, Taffet said.

Added WFAN’s Paige: “If you don’t get beyond your core followers you’re just preaching to the choir. What always makes boxers and boxing successful is when you get a crossover audience of people that don’t have anything to do with boxing, but are interested in the fighter.”

Getting to that point will take a combined eff ort from several corners, according to executives.

“It’s not just as simple as everyone getting together and saying let’s just create someone,” said In Demand’s Boccardi. “It’s a combination of the promoter doing their job and finding the fighters, the networks doing their job and helping to develop them, and the PPV industry doing their job to help promote those fighters.”

If pound-for-pound Pay-Per-View boxing champion Manny Pacquiao is indeed retiring, he’s leaving the sport of boxing on a high note, earning a unanimous victory over Timothy Bradley Jr. in last night's big PPV bout.

Pacquiao, in the industry’s first major pay-per-view boxing event of 2016, knocked Bradley down twice during the 12-round fight, garnering a 116-110 decision on all three judges’ scorecards for his 58th victory.  The win comes nearly one year after he lost a unanimous decision to now retired undefeated champion Floyd Mayweather in the most lucrative PPV fight in history.

Pacquiao, who won two of three PPV fights against Bradley, said both before and after the event that he is retiring, adding that he will now focus on running for a Senate seat in his home country of the Philippines. He is currently the second-biggest revenue earner in PPV boxing history behind Floyd Mayweather. 

HBO officials confirmed Monday that it will distribute the April 9 Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley pay-per-view boxing event, the third fight between the two former welterweight champions.

The fight is the first for Pacquiao since his record-setting May 2 PPV fight against Floyd Mayweather. That fight, in which Pacquiao lost a lackluster unanimous decision to the undefeated Mayweather, drew 4.4 million buys and more than $400 million in revenue.

Pacquiao claimed he hurt his shoulder prior to the Mayweather fight and underwent shoulder surgery shorlty after the event.

Pacquiao and Bradley have split their first two encounters, with Bradley winning a highly disputed split decision over Pacquiao in September 2013 and Pacquiao winning a unanimous decision against the then undefeated welterweight champion in April 2014.

That April rematch fight drew between 750,000 and 800,000 PPV buys, but industry observers said it will be hard for the fighters – both of whom are passed their prime – to ring up similar numbers for their rubber match.

Fight promoter Bob Arum admitted as much to ESPN.com, saying that was concerned that many boxing fans would react negatively to the fight. Arum did say to ESPN.com that Bradley’s recent partnering with veteran trainer Teddy Atlas throws a different wrinkle into this fight compared to the previous two.  

Bradley looked sharp in his first fight with Atlas in his corner, scoring a TKO over an overmatched, former champion Fernando Vargas on Nov. 7.

Undefeated multidivisional boxing champion and undisputed pay-per-view champ Floyd Mayweather answered a few questions via email (posed by Multichannel News programming editor R. Thomas Umstead) about his legendary boxing career, as well as his enduring popularity both inside and outside the ring.

MCN: Congratulations on becoming the first-everMultichannel Newsmale Athlete of the Year.

Floyd Mayweather: Thank you. I’m honored.

MCN: You have transcended boxing to become a multimedia, multiplatform star. What’s the secret to your popularity both inside and outside the ring?

FM: It is no secret that I retired undefeated, The Best Ever (TBE) to lace up the gloves. I worked hard throughout my whole career to not only be the best in the ring but also maximize my potential outside of the ring, too. I always say hard work and dedication, and that is what it took to become the multimedia, multiplatform star during my career.

MCN: How important is it for you to be known as the biggest pay-per-view draw of all time?

FM: It is very important. It is my legacy. No one can touch the numbers we put up. Millions and millions of people spent their hard-earned money to watch me fight over the years and that means everything to me. Without the fans, none of this could have been possible.

MCN: What role has social media played in your popularity, and why is it important for you personally to be as active as you are in talking to your fans on social media platforms?

FM: I also live a fortunate, fun life that I like to show my fans on all of my social-media channels such as Shots, Instagram and my Facebook page. It helps to have your own company too, which for me is TMT and Mayweather Promotions, and both of those are very active on social media as well. All of us working together makes it fun for the fans because they feel like they are a part of my life and lifestyle.

MCN: What, if anything, would it take for you to come out of retirement and pursue your landmark 50th win?

FM: Nothing. I’ve retired to make room for the young fighters making a name in the sport. Many of them are in the Mayweather Promotions stable. I’m committed to developing the boxing talent and others in the sports and entertainment industry.

Time will tell whether or not boxing champion Floyd Mayweather will go down as the greatest pugilist in the history of the sport.

In terms of champion sports brands, though, the 38-year-old Mayweather — who won 12 world titles in five different weight classes before announcing his retirement in September — is currently the undisputed, pound-for-pound titleholder.

Read R. Thomas Umstead's Q&A with MCN's Male Athlete of the Year.

Earlier this year, Forbes named Mayweather as the world’s highest-paid celebrity in 2015. The boxer generated a record $300 million this year, obliterating the previous high of $115 million earned by professional golfer Tiger Woods in 2008.

Much of what Mayweather earned this year was generated by his much-hyped May 2 fight against Manny Pacquiao, which set pay-per-view industry records for buys (4.4 million) and revenue ($400 million), destroying the previous record of 2.47 million buys generated by the 2007 Floyd Mayweather-Oscar De La Hoya fight and the $150 million in revenue earned by the 2013 Mayweather-Canelo Alvarez fight.

Mayweather’s Sept. 12 fight against Andre Berto completed his unprecedented six-fight deal with Showtime, which generated about 10 million buys and $800 million in PPV revenue over its three-year span.

COTTAGE INDUSTRY

“There are entire sports leagues and corporations with hundreds of employees who would love to have the economic impact that Floyd has had over the past few years,” Stephen Espinoza, executive vice president and general manager of Showtime Sports, said.

Mayweather, who earns the inaugural Multichannel News male Athlete of the Year Award, has been in the top echelon of boxing since he won the super featherweight title in 1998. Mayweather would go on to amass a record of 49-0 over his 19-year pro boxing career, winning championships in five different divisions against such formidable opponents as the now-retired De La Hoya, Pacquiao and current middleweight champion Alvarez.

“He’s faced everybody and he’s beaten the best in the game,” said Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions, the fighter’s boxing and entertainment promotion company. “He’s beaten these guys in their prime and makes very good fighters look ordinary. Name me one athlete in any sport who is the best at what they do at the age of 38.”

Mayweather’s 2007 fight with De La Hoya, his 2013 bout with Alvarez and this year’s fight with Pacquiao serve as the only PPV events ever to break the 2 million buy mark.

Read about MCN's Female Athlete of the Year, Ronda Rousey.

Mayweather’s brand extends beyond the ring. He took full advantage of the emergence of social media to further perpetuate his personality and persona. Mayweather has more than 12 million Facebook fans and 6.5 million Twitter followers. Observers say Mayweather has used social media effectively to talk directly to his fans and sell his fights as has no other professional athlete.

Over the years, he has also appeared in numerous high-profile media events, from WWE’s WrestleMania to ABC’s Dancing With the Stars, building more awareness for himself, the sport and the brand.

“No one has exploited social media like Floyd Mayweather,” HBO Sports senior vice president Mark Taffet said. HBO distributed several Mayweather PPV events in the 2000s and co-promoted the record-breaking Mayweather-Pacquiao fight with Showtime.

“Floyd has worked very, very hard to achieve the PPV figures that he achieved,” Taffet added. “It was no accident.”

Of course, Mayweather is not without his detractors. They criticize the fighter’s somewhat action-deficient defensive boxing style, as well as his often abrasive personality. But In Demand senior vice president of programming and business development Mark Boccardi said that criticism has worked to Mayweather’s advantage with regards to his PPV fight performances.

POLARIZING FIGURE

“Whether he was ‘Pretty Boy Floyd’ Mayweather or ‘Money’ Mayweather, he created a legion of fans that wanted to both see him win and lose, and there’s a large segment of PPV buyers who bought his fights to see if someone could really beat this guy,” Boccardi said. “What he really did was create both those camps — the pro-Mayweather and pro-Mayweather-opponent camps — and that’s why he was able to generate the PPV buys that he did.”

Added Showtime’s Espinoza: “There are a lot of different opinions on his personality and the image that he portrays publicly. Regardless of those opinions, everyone in the sport has benefited. The sport would not have received the level of mainstream exposure, awareness and worldwide media attention without him.”

As for the future, Mayweather said he will remain retired, and Ellerbe added that the fighter is content to leave the sport behind after a phenomenal career. “He’s done everything he can in the sport of boxing, and he’s ready for the next stage of his life.”

Others however are not convinced, and hope to once again see Mayweather in the ring.

“There are a large number of people who secretly, and not so secretly hope he comes back including TV-distribution companies and Las Vegas touring companies,” Espinoza said. “We’re patiently waiting to see what develops.”

Pound-for-pound boxing champion Floyd Mayweather generated a flurry of pay-per-view buys for his Sept. 12 fight against Andre Berto but failed to deliver a knockout PPV performance.

The event, which Mayweather won in what he says is his last fight, averaged around 500,000 to 550,000 PPV buys, according to sources. That’s well short of the 1 million buys that Showtime executives said the fight had the potential to generate and far below the 4.4 million PPV buys Mayweather generated this past May in his fight against Manny Pacquiao.  

While Showtime executives would not confirm the PPV numbers, the company did say that it is satisfied with the fight’s PPV performance. The fight marked the last of a six-fight PPV agreement with Mayweather, a deal that featured the industry's two biggest PPV events -- the Mayweather-Pacquiao bout and the September 2013 Mayweather-Canelo Alvarez  fight.

“We are happy with the performance of the September 12 pay-per-view event … we witnessed four entertaining fights plus a historic moment as Floyd Mayweather announced his retirement from boxing,” said Steven Espinoza, executive vice president and general manager of Showtime Sports. “In all, we couldn’t be happier with our partnership with Floyd Mayweather.  In just two and a half years, across six PPV events, we generated more than 10 million domestic pay per view buys, totaling nearly $800 million in gross revenue.  We set all-time pay-per-view records on two separate occasions, the second of which is not likely to be exceeded in this generation, and we gave fans a wealth of entertaining and compelling shoulder programming.  In short, the Mayweather deal has far exceeded our expectations.”

In a first for a major pay-per-view boxing event, Showtime and CBS Media will stream Saturday’s Floyd Mayweather-Andre Berto pay-per-view boxing card, Showtime said Thursday.

CBS Interactive Advanced Media will stream the fight to computers and mobile devices via cbs.com/fight for $64.99. Boxing fans purchasing the fight online will also gain access to additional fight week events including Friday’s weigh-in and a countdown event for the four fight PPV telecast, said Showtime.

U.S.-based online buyers will also receive a three-month free trial of CBS All Access, the subscription video on demand and live streaming service for the CBS Television Network.

The fight, which the undefeated Mayweather said will be his last, is available on traditional PPV for a suggested retail price of $64.95. 

Showtime Sports will distribute the Sept. 12 Floyd Mayweather-Andre Berto fight on pay-per-view, in Showtime and “Money” Mayweather’s first PPV boxing event since the May 2 Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight, which generated a record-setting 4.4 million PPV buys.

The September bout is being billed as Mayweather’s last fight, and it is certainly the last fight in Showtime’s six-bout television agreement with the undefeated boxer.

Showtime Sports executive vice president and general manager Stephen Espinoza spoke with Multichannel News programming editor R. Thomas Umstead about the upcoming fight — which will retail at a suggested PPV price of $64.95 — as well as managing the event’s performance expectations in the shadow of Mayweather-Pacquiao.

Espinoza also reflected on the success of the network’s multifight deal with Mayweather and looked ahead at the coming PPV opportunities.

MCN:There were initial reports that this fight would air on broadcast television via CBS. How did you ultimately come to the decision to distribute it on PPV?

Stephen Espinoza: [Broadcast television] would have been a really interesting and fun way to televise his last fight, but practically speaking, it didn’t work out from a timing perspective. Ad time and sponsor dollars are spent six to eight months in advance, so to try to sell ad time for an event of this magnitude eight to 10 weeks ahead of the event is something that is difficult, particularly when you’re talking late in the third quarter, when so much of the advertiser budget is committed.

MCN:Having said that, you don’t have the typical two to three months of lead time to promote a PPV boxing match and you’re dealing with a relatively unknown opponent in Andre Berto. Can you do an effective job 0f marketing the fight?

SE: We’ve known for a few weeks of the date and the opponent, so we’ve been making those preparations for quite some time. Behind the scenes, from a marketing and promotion perspective, the wheels began turning a long time ago. It’s inevitable that after a mega-fight like Mayweather-Pacquiao, whatever comes next will seem a bit anticlimactic. So we definitely have to work to fight that. In this case, Floyd said this will be his last fight, and he’s been consistently saying that, so the event takes on greater significance.

MCN:Do you have concerns that there may be some viewer fatigue stemming from Mayweather-Pacquiao?

SE: We’re not going to capture that magic on this event, but what we do have in this event is an even greater mainstream awareness of Floyd Mayweather than we did on the last fight.

The choice of Berto as an opponent in part is a response by Floyd to some of the feeling among some fans that there wasn’t enough action and aggressiveness from Pacquiao during the last fight. If there’s one thing that Andre Berto is known for, it’s being an aggressive fighter — his greatest strength is also his greatest weakness in that he has one speed, which is all-out attack. We’ve seen that have some success against Floyd.

MCN:Do you think the fight can reach 1 million buys?

SE: I believe so. We have an incredibly strong undercard, great mainstream awareness among boxing fans generally, and historically September is a very good time for Mayweather pay-per-views because there are other opportunities for cross-promotion through CBS NFL football or CBS college football — there’s a lot more discussion around sports in general than even in May. There’s not a ton of sports competition, but there’s enough that there’s excitement about sports events in general.

MCN:The fight marks the end of your six-fight deal with Mayweather. Is it a bittersweet ending for you?

SE: Yes. The first five fights have really flown by, and looking back we’re all extremely proud of what we’ve done. Floyd has done his part, taking on tough fights, including two guys most people thought he’d never fight [Pacquiao and Canelo Alvarez]. To be sitting here now with nearly 10 million PPV buys through the first five fights with some great moments and telecasts to show for it, we couldn’t be happier with the collaboration.

MCN:What does the future of Showtime PPV boxing look like after Mayweather?

SE: It will be a while for the vacuum to be filled. There’s not an obvious successor to Mayweather’s position as pay-per-view king, but if we look at the history of the sport, the vacuum is always filled. It might be a guy like Dante Wilder, or Keith Thurman or Danny Garcia or somebody that we don’t even see coming. But I have no doubt the vacuum will be filled pretty quickly.

Pound-For-Pound Pay-per-view boxing champion Floyd Mayweather will step in the ring Sept. 12 in a Showtime PPV fight against former champion Andre Berto, Showtime said Tuesday.

The fight is the final bout for Mayweather as part of the undefeated boxer's six-fight, multi-million dollar PPV deal with Showtime. The Mayweather-Berto fight had been rumored to be moving to free Tv as part of CBS’ deal with Premier Boxing Champions. 

Instead the PPV industry hopes it will get one more mega PPV payday from Mayweather, coming off the record 4.4 million buys generated from the May 2 Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight.

It’s unclear how much Mayweather-Berto will cost boxing fans to watch on PPV, but its unlikely to hit the record $89 suggested retail price for Mayweather-Pacquiao.

Showtime Sports recently announced it will telecast a big June 13 Deontay Wilder-Eric Molina heavyweight championship fight, but boxing fans are still talking about the mega May 2 Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao pay-per-view event Showtime co-promoted with HBO.

Showtime Sports executive vice president and general manager Stephen Espinoza discusses the record breaking PPV results of the event with Multichannel News programming editor R. Thomas Umstead. Espinoza also talks about Mayweather’s future in the ring, including a potential rematch with Pacquiao.

An edited version of the interview appears below.

MCN: Did the fight meet your PPV performance expectations?

Stephen Espinoza: It far exceeded our expectations, even what we were expecting late in the week. We were monitoring pre-buys all week but there was nothing in the ballpark to compare it to … they were so high we couldn’t use it to extrapolate any numbers. We were largely flying blind.

MCN: Were you surprised with the significant amount of day of buys for the fight despite heavy promotion to drive pre-buys?

SE: We were. One of the elements that made it hard to predict was that we did message so heavily on early buying by the viewer to avoid technical difficulties, so we weren’t sure how much of the early activity was in response to that messaging and how much was genuine overall excitement and enthusiasm for the fight. I guess our first real indication that there was a huge expansion of the audience was during the telecast itself when we starting getting some reports that some operators were experiencing technical difficulties processing the huge volume of orders that were coming in on Saturday evening. Ultimately we were able to buy some time by stalling the main event and that hopefully that allowed everything to get cleared up in time for a successful main event telecast.

MCN: Did everything go as well as expected behind the scenes?

SE: It was a tremendous amount of work by a tremendous amount of people in a very short period of time. To have not just the two networks (co-fight promoters HBO and Showtime) but also two fighter promotional groups come together, learn how to work together and execute this huge event in a period of eight or nine weeks was a daunting task. But I think the telecast and the PPV results speak for themselves. I have nothing but praise for everyone who worked on this event.

MCN: So put the fight’s PPV performance in perspective: what does the event’s 4.4 million buys and more than $400 million mean for the future of the sport?

SE: What it means for the fight and the sport is sort of a new measuring stick for mainstream appeal of boxing. It’s been decades since the sport has received this level of attention and maybe not even then. To be able to capture the imagination and attention of the mainstream audience in such a short period of time on a very, very busy sports weekend speaks volumes about the continued appeal of this sport. Having said that, not every fight is going to be Mayweather/Pacquiao, but for the right matchups there’s still tremendous appeal and demand for boxing.

MCN: What do you say to the folks who say the fight itself was lackluster and failed to live up to the hype?

SE: When you’re dealing with two elite athletes like Mayweather and Pacquiao the distinction and separation in skill between them is going to be relatively minute. These are the two best fighters in the world, so you can look at that and realize that it was very unlikely that there was going to be a knockout. Having said that, there was plenty of action throughout the fight and there was risk on both sides. The fight had thrilling moments – there was plenty for the casual fan and for the hard core fan. Those who were looking for a brutal slugfest were obviously disappointed, but anyone who appreciates the skill and technical prowess that’s required at the highest levels of boxing was treated to a unique and perhaps once in a lifetime exhibition of that.

MCN: Mayweather has one more fight on his six-fight deal with Showtime. Have you begun to think about the next fight?

SE: Yes. Floyd has continued to tell us that he intends to fight Sept. 12 and that it will be the last fight of his career. So we are beginning the very preliminary preparations for exactly that. We will be getting into discussions about an opponent for him very quickly. We will look to ride the momentum of this event and capitalize on the fact that Floyd has now distinguished himself as the fighter of his era.

MCN: Any thought whatsoever about a possible Mayweather-Pacquiao rematch?

SE: I think we have to remain open to it. There’s a lot of chatter on both sides about the possibility – once Manny successfully recovers from [shoulder] surgery, if there a demand and if Floyd is still active or would consider coming back to being active then it would be a topic of conversation. But it will be driven by demand.

As expected the May 2 Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight obliterated all pay-per-view event records, generating 4.4 million buys and more
than $400 million in PPV revenue. While the fighters delivered a lackluster performance throughout the 12-round fight, the event’s remarkable PPV
returns will place it as one of the most successful events in sport’s history.

Here are three takeaways from MayPac’s stellar PPV performance:

Boxing is still the PPV Champion: The sweet science may not dominate the sports pages or weekly television schedules like it did in the 50s through
70s, but when it comes to big events no other event genre can touch the sweet science in terms of drawing eyeballs and dollars. The top 10 most watched PPV events of all time are boxing
matches, with the top three having occurred within the last decade and two of the top three in the last two years. It may take a while for another fight to capture the public’s interest on the
level of Mayweather-Pacquiao, but it’s a good bet that no music, pro wrestling or mixed martial arts will challenge the record in the meantime.

The industry can market big events: In a crowded entertainment environment, cable operators, telcos, satellite providers and networks proved that they can still reach a significant amount of
consumers with a marketing message that can lure viewers to traditional cable. Rabid boxing fans and casual sports fans alike couldn’t turn on their television sets or scan the Web without seeing some form of promotion for the fight, especially in the last two weeks of the event.

Live Sports Rules: Mayweather-Pacquiao continued an impressive run of major sporting events drawing record-breaking numbers on cable in 2015, joining ESPN’s January Ohio State-Oregon telecast as the most watched cable program of all time and TBS’ Kentucky-Wisconsin April Final Four telecast as the highest rated college basketball game ever. Live sports remains one of the few DVR and OTT-proof content on cable.

Its official: The May 2 Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao ‘fight of the century’ is the greatest performing pay-per-view event ever, generating a whopping 4.4 million buys, fight co-promoters HBO and Showtime announced Tuesday.

The fight, which was projected to break all PPV records, also garnered more than $400 million in PPV revenue, according to HBO and Showtime. The numbers bested the 2.48 million PPV buys generated by the 2007 Floyd Mayweather-Oscar De La Hoya bout, and the $150 million earned by the 2013 Mayweather-Canelo Alvarez fight.

“The 4.4 million buys could not have been achieved without the promotional support and early order initiatives put in place by distributors across the country,” said Mark Taffet, HBO Sports senior vice president.

Mayweather defeated Pacquiao in a 12-round unanimous decision which many observers felt fell short action-wise of the massive hype surrounding the event.

HBO and Showtime tonight (May 9) will simultaneously air a replay of last Saturday's Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight, and while the action in the ring didn't quite live up to expectations, the fight's pay-per-view performance is shaping up to be a knockout for the industry.

Fight co-distributors HBO and Showtime are still saying that it’s still too early to project a PPV buy number for the heavily hyped "fight of the century," but satellite, cable and telco distributors are reporting record-breaking numbers that are poised to easily push the fight beyond the industry record 2.5 million buy mark set by the 2007 Mayweather-Oscar De La Hoya fight and the $152 million PPV revenue record pinned down by the 2013 Mayweather-Canelo Alvarez fight.

The fight could approach the rarified air of 3 to 4 million buys and more than $300 million in PPV revenues if early buy numbers are any indication, according to industry observers.

Satellite provider DirecTv alone drew more than 1 million buys for the fight despite facing some challenges with processing a multitiude of same-day fight purchases, DirecTv chairman Mike White said during the company’s first quarter earnings call last week.

“There's no doubt that sports, particularly live sports, continues to draw massive audience. We were thrilled with the results of the fight … it was a record for us,” he said. “We had some challenges getting everybody through, but we did get everybody through. We were ready to go by the end and we learned a lot out of it, but we just blew the doors off in terms of sales, which was nice because it will help the second quarter."

Cable industry PPV event aggregator In Demand would not reveal specific numbers, but a spokesperson said that, “early estimates indicate that the MayPac event will shatter both the buy and revenue records for a single event in the PPV category.” 

Telco provider Verizon also set a company PPV buy record with the fight, which had generated more than 250,000 purchases, according to Bob Elek, Verizon spokesman. He added that the provider experienced “minor” problems with order processing due to a 500% increase in fight buys on the day of the event compared to the number of buys generated prior to the May 2 bout.

Even reported illegal streaming of the fight from social media apps Periscope and Meerkat could stop the PPV momentum for Mayweather-Pacquiao.

While the fight generated what many observers called a lackluster 12-round majority decision win for Mayweather, talk about a potential rematch had begun to build throughout the week – especially when it was revealed that Pacquiao suffered a shoulder injury in training which may have hampered his performance in the ring.

But Mayweather all but squashed any talk of a fight sequel in an interview with Showtime that will air in its entirety tonight. After initially revealing that he would be open to a rematch, Mayweather told Showtime reporter Jim Gray that Pacquiao doesn't deserve a rematch. “Did I text Stephen A. Smith and say I will fight him again?  Yeah, but I change my mind,” said Mayweather.  “At this particular time, no, because he’s a sore loser and he’s a coward… If you lost, accept the loss and say, ‘Mayweather, you were the better fighter.’” 

There’s no question the May 2 Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao pay-per-view event will knock out all pay-per-view records. What industry observers are asking now is how high is up.

At press time, fight co-promoters Showtime and HBO were still adding up all the numbers for the mega fight and would not provide specific figures.

But it’s clear the fight as predicted will eclipse the record 2.48 million buys generated by HBO’s 2007 Mayweather-Oscar De La Hoya fight and the $152 million in PPV revenue set by the Showtime’s 2013 Mayweather-Canelo Alvarez fight.

Heading into the fight, the networks reported early fight buys had put the fight on a record-setting pace. With most buys taking place the day of the event, industry observers believe the fight could approach or surpass the 3 million buy mark.

With a record high $89 suggested retail price – some operators charged $99 for the high definition feed – industry estimates of at least $300 million in PPV revenues are not far-fetched.

Verizon has already declared Mayweather-Pacquiao as its biggest PPV event ever, generating more than 250,000 PPV buys, said Bob Elek, Verizon spokesman.

The fight generated big PPV numbers despite some distributors struggling to process the slew of last-minute buys coming in for the fight. Many fans took to social media Saturday night to complain about being unable to purchase and view the fight.

Fight co-promoters HBO and Showtime announced during the fight telecast that it was delaying the Mayweather-Pacquiao main event to allow distributors to process all PPV buys.

Verizon representatives reported “minor” problems with order processing despite the fact the telco experienced a 500% increase in fight buys the day of the event compared to the number of buys generated prior to the event.

Mayweather-Pacquiao’ PPV performance also set records despite illegal streams of the fight from social media apps Periscope and Meerkat, according to several published reports. App users reportedly live streamed video of the fight from their television sets or live from the venue itself.

As for the fight, Mayweather used his superior defensive skills, speed and footwork to keep Pacquiao at bay to win comfortably in a unanimous decision that many observers said fell short of the massive hype generated for the event.

For those who missed the “Fight of The Century” HBO and Showtime will simultaneously telecast a replay of the event Saturday at 9 p.m. HBO will pair the fight the Canelo Alvarez/James Kirkland live boxing match, while Showtime will premiere its Inside Mayweather vs. Pacquiao Epilogue special.

Floyd Mayweather defeated Manny Pacquiao by unanimous decision in Saturday night's big boxing event, but at the end of the day it will be the pay-per-view industry that ends up the ultimate winner.

Mayweather used his quick hands and long jab to keep the more aggressive Pacquiao at bay for most of the 12-round fight, winning comfortably on all three of the official judges’ scorecards. Two judges saw the fight 116-112, while a third judge saw the fight 118-110 for the welterweight champion.

Mayweather remains undefeated at 48-0. He said after the fight that he will return to the ring in September in the last of his six-fight deal with Showtime.

HBO and Showtime will simultaneously air a replay of the fight next Saturday at 9 p.m. HBO will pair the fight the Canelo Alvarez/James Kirkland live boxing match, while Showtime will premiere its Inside Mayweather vs. Pacquiao Epiloge speical, said representatives from both networks.   

The highly anticipated Mayweather-Pacquiao fight is expected to break all PPV buy and revenue records. Prior to the fight, numeorus subscribers complained of having trouble accessing the fight feed, prompting Charter to send out a Tweet acknowledging the outages by saying, “we are working to resolve as soon as possible.”

The main event was even delayed for approximately 30 minutes to allow last minute PPV orders to be processed, according to fight announcers.

 HBO Sports senior vice president Mark Taffet said earlier in the evening that a record number of orders were being processed so fans should be “patient” as distributors processed the orders.

HBO officials are asking fans to be patient as pay-per-view orders continue to come in in advance of tonight's Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight.

Time Warner and Charter consumers in particular have taken to social media to complain of ordering issues surrounding the fight, which is expected to surpass the record 2.4 million PPV buys generated by the 2007 Oscar De La Hoya-Mayweather fight.

Earlier this evening Charter posted a message on Twitter saying: "We are aware of the issue impacting the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao feed. We are working to resolve s soon as possible."

HBO Sports senior vice president Mark Taffet told Multichannel News to be patient as operators process a record number of orders.  

“There are a record number of orders being placed. Fans should be patient and distributors will process their requests in an orderly manner,” he said. 

Today’s consumers often complain about the rising cost of a pay TV package, costing an average $75 for roughly 300 channels.

Yet two weeks before the blockbuster May 2 Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao pay-per-view event, sports fans don’t seem too upset about dropping a C-note to watch the most anticipated boxing match in decades.

With a record $89 suggested retail price set by HBO and Showtime  -- $99 charged by some distributors to watch the fight in high definition -- Mayweather-Pacquiao is the most expensive ever for consumers, costing upwards of $25 more than any previous event.

Some operators initially suffered “sticker shock” at the record-setting price point, but most are dealing with it within the scope of the massive interest the fight is generating, said Mark Boccardi, senior vice president of programming and business development for In Demand, which negotiates PPV licensing and marketing deals for most cable distributors.

“The price point has been in the marketplace for a while, and I haven’t seen any real groundswell of opposition with it,” he said. “What you’ll end up seeing is, you’ll have more and more groups of people getting together, and the commercial business for the fight will be off the charts.”

While the fight is almost a lock to knock out the $152 million PPV-revenue record, some observers believe the phenomenon of watching in groups — whether it’s 20 people in a house or 100 in a local bar — could jeopardize the fight’s ability to match or surpass the record 2.4 million buys generated by 2007’s Mayweather-De La Hoya fight.

Yet so far, the price doesn’t seem to be affecting early buys. Showtime Sports executive vice president and general manager Stephen Espinoza said some operators are already experiencing Mayweather-Pacquiao purchases at numbers comparable to those that usually come in two or three days before other huge PPV fights, a phenomenon also confirmed by several distributors.

And that’s before the lion’s share of Mayweather-Pacquaio marketing campaigns begin this week.

“We think there’s an enthusiasm that’s been pent up for many years for this fight and an awareness that this is a premium event,” Espinoza said. “It is slightly more expensive than a typical PPV, but then again, what the consumers are getting is not a typical PPV either.”

For boxing fans anticipating for more than five years this fight between arguably the two most well-known and popular fighters in the sport, the steep price tag could end up being well worth the money.

HBO will gather several boxing legends to discuss the May 2 Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight as part of new special debuting later this month.

The 30-minute special, Mayweather/Pacquiao: The Legends Speak premieres April 25 and features HBO boxing analyst Max Kellerman interviewing a number of ex-boxing champions to size up the matchup between arguably boxing’s two biggest pay-per-view draws.

Kellerman will interview former Mayweather and Pacquiao opponents Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosely, Miguel Cotto and Ricky Hatton about how to prepare for both fighters, said the network. In addition, the show will feature a panel of ex-boxing champions including George Foreman, Lennox Lewis and Bernard Hopkins discussing the upcoming event.

HBO Tuesday announced it will develop a special profiling the May 2 Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao pay-per-view fight.

The one-hour special, Mayweather/Pacquiao: At Last will premiere April 18 following the network’s Boxing After Dark live show and will follow Pacquiao as he prepares for the much anticipated boxing event. The special will also air in primetime on HBO April 23, said the network.

“This is the mega-fight fans have been anticipating for many years, and we are thrilled to chronicle Manny Pacquiao’s path to this defining moment in his career,” says Rick Bernstein, executive producer, HBO Sports in a statement. “This special will provide viewers with a narrative of how this fight came to be and spotlight Team Pacquiao’s preparations heading into the biggest challenge Manny has confronted in the ring. It will be a terrific primer for any viewer eager to go behind the scenes in the lead-up to May 2.”

The announcement comes a week after Showtime, which will co-distribute the PPV fight with HBO, announced a four-part documentary, Inside Mayweather vs. Pacquiao debuting April 18, that will showcase the undefeated Mayweather’s preparation for what is expected to be the biggest pay-per-view boxing event in history.   

TruTv is the latest cable network to add boxing to its primetime lineup, partnering with Top Rank to create a live Friday primetime series launching May 1.

The new series, in association with Turner Sports and HBO Sports, will launch on the eve of the May 2 Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao pay-per-view fight with a card featuring two title bouts inside The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

The card will feature a lightweight world championship fight between Takahiro and Ray Beltran as well as a NABF welterweight championship fight between Mikael Zewski and Konstantin Ponomarev.

“We’re excited to partner with Top Rank and our colleagues at HBO Sports to bring this high-caliber boxing series to truTV,” said Lenny Daniels, president of Turner Sports in a statement.  “We share a common vision to present these events in a new and inventive way and look forward to offering this compelling content to our viewers.”

Added Chris Linn, truTV president and head of programming: “We see this as a great opportunity to bring more coveted live sports programming to the network and believe Friday night primetime fights will resonate with truTV’s young audience.”

truTV is the latest in a growing list of networks launching live boxing shows. Cable network Spike TV along with broadcast networks NBC, CBS and Bounce TV have announced deals with Premier Boxing Champions for upcoming live boxing cards.