Staggering numbers.....
Mayweather, Pacquiao Head Highest Paid Athletes List
By Jake Donovan
The 12 rounds of boxing that took place in the ring remain largely forgettable, but the massive money grab executed by Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao continues to shatter financial records.
Both fighters landed in the top spots of Forbes' annual World's Highest-Paid Athletes list . Additionally, the event is expected to top out at around $600 million, the amount good for highest-grossing single-day sporting event in history according to the publication .
The total take from the May 2 event at MGM Grand in Las Vegas eclipses the $500 million in revenue generated by Super Bowl XLIX earlier this year.
The numbers continue to justify the inconvenience of all parties setting aside their massive egos in order to make the fight happen. The bout was first heavily discussed in late 2009, following Mayweather's return to the ring after a 21-month hiatus and Pacquiao's welterweight title winning effort over Miguel Cotto.
More than five years of posturing, accusations and mud slinging came about, but the two camps finally locked themselves in a room to make the fight happen this year. It was never easy, and often required the intervention of CBS Corporation CEO Leslie Moonves in order to keep all parties on track.
Once the opening bell sounded, fans were naturally let down. Mayweather cruised to a landslide win, with controversy stemming from Pacquiao failing to disclose a recurring shoulder injury he allegedly reportedly reaggravated during training camp roughly three weeks prior to fight night.
What remains without dispute is the exceedinly high bar set by the financially record-breaking event. Mayweather earned $300 million in ring purses and endorsements over the past 12 months, the most any athlete has ever earned in a single year. Maintaining his place atop the list, the unbeaten pound-for-pound king amassed $285 million in ring earnings, with another $15 million in endorsements, whereas past revenue was entirely generated in the ring.
Of the $300 Mayweather earned in the past 12 months, 80% came from the May 2 fight alone. Once all receipts are calculated, the unbeaten World welterweight and junior middleweight champion will clear $240 million, also a record for a single event.
“Floyd Mayweather just pulled off the biggest score in the history of sports and entertainment,” Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe told Forbes’ Kurt Badenhausen.
The rest of Mayweather’s annual tally stems from his lone other fight in the past 12 months, a 12-round win over Marcos Maiden in their rematch last September in Las Vegas.
Mayweather tops Forbes’ Highest Paid Athletes list for the second year in a row, and third time overall.
Pacqauiao landed a distant second, although his $160 million take puts him far ahead of the rest of the field. The next highest grossing athlete over the past 12 months was renowned football (soccer to those in the United States) star Cristian Ronaldo, who earned $79.6 million on the year.
The top 100 athletes on the list earned $3.2 billion in salary and endorsements, up 17% from last year’s field.
As for Mayweather-Pacquiao, the revenue records set will likely never be broken. According to Forbes, the totals (some final, others estimated) are as follows:
$73 million in ticket sales, destroying the $20 million live gate for Mayweather’s 12-round win over Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in 2013
$13 million in sponsorship
$35 million in foreign TV rights, though Forbes estimates the amount will land closer to $50 million once all final receipts are tallied
$430 million in domestic Pay-Per-View revenue, nearly tripling the $150 million take from Mayweather-Alvarez
Mayweather (48-0, 26KOs) is due to return to the ring on September 12. His promotional company formally submitted a request to promote the event at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, which has hosted his last 11 fights and 14 overall among his Hall of Fame career. The Nevada State Athletic Commission will likely approve the request during its monthly agenda hearing, which takes place Thursday in Las Vegas.
The September 12 fight has been suggested to be the last of Mayweather's career, though few in the industry believe that will be the case. It will serve as the last of a six-fight record-breaking deal he signed with Showtime in 2013, having fought May and September on Pay-Per-View each year after signing with the cable network.
As for Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38KOs), rest and rehabiliation are in his future. The wildly popular Filipino superstar remains on the mend following shoulder surgery, and is likely out for the rest of the year. A ring return is targeted for next spring, which could be anything from a tune-up, to living up promoter Bob Arum's longtime dream of staging an event in Dubai, to a lucrative rematch with Mayweather.
With nothing set in place for either fighter in the immediate future, plenty of time exists for the world's two highest paid athletes to sit back and count their hundreds of millions of dollars.
