The May 2 Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao fight was years in the making, and even though they were both past their prime the pent-up demand to see them finally meet in the ring was expected to produce more pay-per-view purchases than any other fight in history.
And it did. An estimated 4.4 million viewers paid a record price of $89.95 to $99.95 to watch the fight, generating more than $400 million in domestic revenue, Showtime, HBO and the fighters’ promoters said Tuesday. The pace of purchases was so great on fight night that the bout was delayed by about a half-hour to process the flurry of late orders.