Video was recently posted on the social network of UFC president Dana White speaking with Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contenders series alternate co-announcers Urijah Faber and Snoop Dogg. In it the boss said MayMac sold 6.5 million pay per view buys.
The clip was posted by MMA writer for Sports Illustrated and Senior Editorial Director for Fan Sided Mike Dyce.
To put that astonishing figure into context, according to Business Insider, this is the top 10 PPVs in combat sports and entertainment history. Although it doesn’t explicitly say so, these are the North American totals.
10: Floyd Mayweather vs. Miguel Cotto — 1.5 million PPV buys
9: Mike Tyson vs. Peter McNeeley — 1.55 million PPV buys
8: Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield — 1.59 million PPV buys
7: Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir II — 1.6 million PPV buys
6: Nate Diaz vs. Conor McGregor II — 1.65 million PPV buys
5: Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson — 1.97 million PPV buys
4: Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson II — 1.99 million PPV buys
3: Floyd Mayweather vs. Canelo Álvarez — 2.2 million PPV buys
2: Oscar de la Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather — 2.4 million PPV buys
1: Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao — 4.6 million PPV buys
6.5 million buys would appear to be larger than the biggest boxing PPV of all time, plus the biggest MMA PPV of all time. However, Dave Meltzer for MMA Fighting added some caveats, and Meltzer knows more about PPVs in combat sports than anyone in media.
Meltzer says that figure is a worldwide count, not just North America. Further, he said early indications were that MayMac beat MayPac in Canada, the UK, and Ireland, but not necessarily in the USA. Meltzer estimates MayPac did around 5.5 million buys worldwide.
However, not all buys are equal. PPV cost $99.95 in the US, but just around $25 in the UK, and a little over $30 in Ireland. The real figure is how much money the event grossed; that number will be released sometime in the next week. McGregor and Mayweather will be paid a percentage of the gross sales, but from that total sum the cable or satellite providers will keep perhaps 30%. Normally they keep around 50%.
The bottom line, of course, is that Floyd Mayweather will make more money than anyone made ever in sports, Conor McGregor will make a high multiple of the most money anyone ever made in MMA, and the UFC will do well too. It was a win for them. Fans who had their stream fail from UFC.tv, not so much.
