Not to be overly snarky by recalling P.T. Barnum’s quote, “There’s a sucker born every minute,” but more than a million people had no other plans for their 50 bucks?

Showtime projects the eight-round, curiosity-seeker special — the exhibition fight matching Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Logan Paul – totaled at least 1 million pay-per-view buys, according to industry source referenced in Sportico, USA Today and other outlets.

The event had a price tag of $49.99, and interest in these exhibitions is an unmistakable trend and it’s not going away.

Even at 44, “Money” Mayweather continues to be a cash cow. He fought in three of the top four pay-per-view fights all-time.

His matchup with Manny Pacquiao in 2015 brought a record 4.6 million buys.

One numbers-counting outlet, Tapology, pegged this Mayweather-Paul exhibition about 25th on the all-time list of PPV buys. And no winner was declared; there were no judges.

From a business standpoint, Showtime has to be more than pleased.

Sportico wrote: “Perhaps equally important for Showtime, Sunday was the network’s biggest day of new subscriptions since its Showtime Streaming Service launched in 2015, according to the person (source), who was granted anonymity because the numbers are private.” 

So how to evaluate this one?

Boxinginsider.com gives it a go: 

“Let that sink in. A 44 year old man and a social media kid got at least a million individuals to purchase an 8 round exhibition match between the two. Whether people approve of novelty matches like Mayweather-Paul or not, they’re clearly what the public wants. For if the above report is true, novelty boxing is not only burying other boxing pay per views, it’s beating up most UFC pay per views, as well.”

And that’s not from the circus-loving skeptics; it’s from an industry publication.

Add comment