May 23, 2007 Observer Newsletter: What wrestling could learn from Mayweather/de la Hoya PPV success

After a new standard was set in hyping a fight, and the results destroyed all revenue records, the question becomes what can be learned from the success of the Oscar de la Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight.

HBO reported this week that the fight drew 2,150,000 total buys and $120 million in revenue. The figures broke down to 1,225,000 in cable buys and 925,000 from satellite homes. This broke the Tyson-Holyfield record of 1.99 million buys set for their 1997 fight where Tyson bit Holyfield’s ear.

The show did a sellout 15,955 fans, which was 15,432 paid and a live gate of $18,419,200, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, the same site as Tito Ortiz vs. Chuck Liddell. The average ticket price of $1,194 was a record for this sort of thing, and the reality is, most people at the show spent $2,000 or more to be there live as most seats were gobbled up at the first minute by ticket brokers that were able to almost name their price.

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