SPORTS:Mayweather- Pacquiao Big Fight: The Money Behind Sport’s Richest Fight

IT was always expected to be the richest bout in sports history but new reports reveal the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight is blowing all revenue projections out of the water.
ESPN.com reports those involved in the welterweight fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on May 2 are confident it will generate more than $400 million but some are tipping it could reach half a billion dollars.
The increased projections are largely because of unprecedented demand for the 15,000 tickets available for the fight.
Promoters originally hoped for gatetakings of around $40 million — which would have doubled the $20 million record set at Mayweather’s fight against Canelo Alvarez in 2013.
But high demand has allowed them to rescale the prices from the cheapest ticket to $1500 (up from $1000) to the most expensive to $10,000 (up from $7500).
This could see the gate reach $74 million.
The bulk revenue will come from pay-per-view sales.
Promoters expect around 3 million people to pay to watch the fight on television, which would break the record of 2.4 million set by Mayweather’s fight against Oscar De La Hoya in 2007.
At roughly $100 a pop, that will generate around $300 million.
And that’s just in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico. International sales could add another $35 million to the tally.
All that takes us past the $400 million mark and we still haven’t considered sponsorship.
Take the booze for example.
Beer companies Tecate and Corona went to war over being the beer sponsor for the fight — Tecate trumping Corona with a $5.6 million offer.
“Tecate’s bid is by far the record,” Pacquaio’s promoter Bob Arum told ESPN.com.
“We’ve never see anything like that on a beer sponsor. Both companies were after it. It’s a huge number.”
So who gets all the cash?
The long-negotiated fight contract sees Mayweather’s team get 60 per cent of the revenue and Pacquaio’s side 40 per cent.

-news.com.au