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.

The Grateful Dead's successful trio of pay-per-view concerts over the July 4th weekend continued what has been a strong showing from an invigorated PPV event category in 2015.

While cable, satellite and telco distributors are still counting buys from the July 3-5 Fare Thee Well final tour from the legendary rock band, estimates from executives close to the event say the PPV buys will most likely range between 120,000 and 150,000. If the numbers finish up on the higher end, the concert package will reach rarified territory within the PPV music category.

It has been more than 16 years since a PPV music event has approached a similar six-figure buy mark, when a 1999 Backstreet Boys concert generated 160,000 PPV buys.

Add to the Dead's figures an approximate additional 200,000 online buys of a streaming package including the three PPV concerts plus two other Dead shows, and together they will most likely measure up as one of the most successful PPV music events of all time.

That would go hand in hand with the record-breaking performance of the May 2 Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao PPV boxing event, which obliterated all PPV event records in generating more than 4 million buys and $4.4 million in PPV revenue. Distributors are still counting buys from that event, which could push those totals even higher.

The UFC, coming off a successful UFC 189 PPV event this past Saturday (July 12), is also in the midst of pinning down one of its best performing PPV years ever.
The combination of quality and -- in the case of the final Grateful Dead shows and the much anticipated Mayweather-Pacquiao bout -- once-in-a-lifetime events, along with a strong marketing push from affiliates, has yielded a successful one-two punch for the PPV event category.

Industry executives are hoping to continue the momentum with a number of possible fall music and ring sports events being discussed, although one major PPV fight may go by the wayside.

The industry had been preparing for a Sept. 12  Mayweather PPV event -- the sixth and last fight for the pound-for-pound champ as part of his deal with Showtime -- but recent reports point to Mayweather fighting his next fight on broadcast network CBS.

Mayweather has not officially announced who he's fighting in September. The PPV industry generally needs two to three months of lead time to market and promote a major PPV event, so the longer Mayweather delays in making an announcement, the greater the chance the fight will end up on free TV.

Still, the lack of a September Mayweather fight won't take the shine off of what has been a terrific year so far for the PPV event category.

Finally the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight is upon us. Once the official weigh-in takes place all that’s left is for the boxers to step into the ring tomorrow night (May 2). The fight, pitting the two biggest draws in boxing today, is projected to obliterate all PPV records. Here are five reasons why Mayweather-Pacquiao will go down as the most successful PPV event of all time.

1.       It’s the fight the fans wanted: No fight in recent memory has been more in demand by boxing fans more than Mayweather-Pacquiao. This fight has played out in fans’ minds for the better part of five years, and viewers would have turned their backs on any other PPV events featuring the two fighters against other opponents. This is the fight fans called for, and millions will pay $89 to $99 to watch it.

2.       A heavyweight social media presence: Some observers are calling the fight the first true social media-driven PPV event. Both Mayweather and Pacquiao have huge social media followings, and those fans can’t get enough Tweets, digital videos and photos of the two fighters. It’s not a stretch to predict that by fight time #MayPac will be among the top trending subjects on Twitter.

3.       It’s must-see TV: Live sports programming is virtually DVR-proof, and events like ESPN’s January college football championship telecast have already set ratings records in 2015. The enormous publicity surrounding the fight will compel both hardcore and casual boxing fans to tune in live to see and discuss every punch round-by-round.

4.       Major marketing muscle: If you’ve watched virtually any TV sports event over the past week you couldn’t escape the massive marketing push built around the fight by co-promoters HBO and Showtime. The two networks have done a terrific job in getting the word out, and consumers will respond in kind.

5.      Pent-up energy from fight fans: The PPV industry hasn’t offered a PPV boxing event since November 2014 so fans are itching for a big event. Add the fact that there hasn’t been a major PPV boxing match where both fighters had huge star appeal among both hardcore and casual boxing fans since the 2007 Mayweather-Oscar De La Hoya fight, and you’re looking at a record-setting payday for all parties involved.  

Showtime in April will launch a four-part documentary that will go inside the training camp of Floyd Mayweather leading up to his highly anticipated May 2 fight with Manny Pacquiao.

The series, Inside Mayweather vs. Pacquiao will debut April 18 and will showcase the undefeated Mayweather’s public persona while chronicling his preparation for what is expected to be the biggest pay-per-view boxing event in history.

“Showtime has set itself apart with its coverage of the biggest fights in boxing and our viewers have come to expect the unique access we provide,” said Stephen Espinoza, executive vice president & general manager for Showtime Sports in a statement.  “Inside Mayweather vs. Pacquiao will not only welcome viewers into Mayweather’s camp before the fight, but also give viewers a window into those dramatic and often poignant moments immediately before and after this historic fight.” 

Residential pricing for the PPV bout, which will be co-distributed by Showtime and HBO, still has yet to be revealed. The fight is expected to break the record $150 million in PPV revenue genrated by the 2013 Mayweather-Canelo Alvarez PPV bout.