The early estimates are in for the Floyd Mayweather vs. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez pay-per-view are in, and it might not be a great sign for the WWE Night Of Champions buyrate.
Early estimates claim the Mayweather-Alvarez Showtime boxing pay-per-view generated approximately 2.2 million buys on pay-per-view, which due to the fact that the show came one night before the WWE’s “Night Of Champions” pay-per-view, and the fact that Triple H himself promoted the fight on his Twitter feed (not a major deal obviously, but not the smartest move either) it may not be a great sign for WWE.
Traditionally speaking, MMA and boxing pay-per-views don’t have a serious impact on WWE pay-per-views, outside of a few particular stars in general (Mayweather being one of them), it still spells trouble for the Night Of Champions show, as the Mayweather-Alvarez show was financially speaking the biggest pay-per-view of all-time, breaking the previous record for the Mayweather vs. Oscar De La Hoya pay-per-view. While their fight drew more than the Mayweather-Alvarez fight, due to the increased pay-per-view cost, it would take the top spot as the highest grossing pay-per-view event ever. Also, with the increased PPV price, and the fact that it fell the same weekend, one night prior to WWE’s show, one would assume it would have to have a negative impact on the Night Of Champions buyrate.
Below is the official Showtime press release sent to SESCOOPS.COM touting the Mayweather-Alvarez pay-per-view numbers:
MAYWEATHER-CANELO FIGHT SETS RECORD AS HIGHEST-GROSSING PAY-PER-VIEW EVENT OF ALL TIME
The SHOWTIME PPV® Event, Promoted by Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Premieres on SHOWTIME® this Saturday, Sept. 21 at 9:00 PM, ET/PT
NEW YORK (Sept. 19, 2013) — Last Saturday’s blockbuster boxing event — THE ONE: MAYWEATHER VS. CANELO — ranked as the highest-grossing pay-per-view of all time, with nearly $150 million in U.S. pay-per-view revenue reported to date. The news was announced today by Showtime Networks Inc., a division of CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS.A and CBS), in conjunction with event promoters Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions.
The SHOWTIME PPV presentation of THE ONE surpassed the previous record of $136 million generated by Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather boxing event in 2007.
Preliminary reports from distributors show pay-per-view buys projected to be 2.2 million. While not fully reported from all distributors, the total buys could challenge the existing record of 2.48 million pay-per-view buys set by De La Hoya vs. Mayweather. The initial report immediately following the De La Hoya vs. Mayweather event in 2007 was 2.15. THE ONE has already exceeded the previous #2 event, the infamous World Heavyweight Championship bout between Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson II (1.95 million, 1997).
The Saturday, Sept. 14, 2013 event, held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, was headlined by the #1-ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Floyd “Money” Mayweather, who already holds the all-time record in gross pay-per-view receipts, and wildly popular Mexican challenger Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in a super welterweight world championship bout. Mayweather dominated the exciting fight and won by decision to remain undefeated with 45 wins in his 17 years as a professional. Also on the pay-per-view boxing card was Philadelphia’s Danny “Swift” Garcia who emerged as the #1 boxer in the world at 140 pounds with an action-packed decision win over Lucas “The Machine” Matthysse of Argentina. Both of these bouts will premiere on SHOWTIME® on Saturday, Sept. 21 at 9:00 PM, ET/PT. The telecast will include never-before-seen ALL ACCESS: MAYWEATHER VS. CANELO footage from fight night. Then, on Wednesday, Sept. 25, SHOWTIME will conclude the ALL ACCESS series devoted to this event with “Epilogue,” premiering on SHOWTIME at 10:00 PM, ET/PT.
What had been called the biggest boxing event in years during the build-up proved worthy of the hype. Tickets for the event sold out within 24 hours of going on sale and set a new boxing record for live gate revenue at more than $20 million. Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions reported earlier a record number of sponsorship and sponsor activation for a boxing event and additional distribution records for live closed circuit viewing (over 26,000 tickets sold in Las Vegas alone) and live movie theatre screenings at more than 500 theatres nationwide. On Friday, before fight night, the crowd at the official weigh-in was believed to be the largest on record, featuring an announced attendance of more than 12,000 excited fans.
ABOUT “THE ONE: MAYWEATHER VS. CANELO”:
THE ONE: MAYWEATHER VS. CANELO was a 12-round fight for Canelo’s WBC, WBA and Ring Magazine Super Welterweight World Championships and Mayweather’s WBA Super Welterweight Super World Championship that took place Saturday, Sept. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, was promoted by Mayweather Promotions, Golden Boy Promotions and Canelo Promotions and sponsored by Corona, O’Reilly Auto Parts, AT&T, Valvoline, Mexico Tourism, Fred Loya Insurance and Nature Nutrition. In the 12-round co-featured attraction, WBC, WBA Super and Ring Magazine Super Lightweight World Champion Danny Garcia and thunderous puncher WBC Interim Super Lightweight World Champion Lucas Matthysse squared off in a fight presented in association with Swift Promotions and Arano Box Promotions. Also, Ishe Smith vs. Carlos Molina squared off in a 12-round battle for Smith’s IBF Junior Middleweight World Title which is promoted in association with Warriors Boxing. The opening bout on SHOWTIME PPV featured a 10-round welterweight showdown between Pablo Cesar Cano and Ashley Theophane. The mega-event was produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV® at 9:00 PM, ET/6:00 PM, PT. The event can be heard in Spanish using secondary audio programming (SAP).
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