some crazy money earned on this exhibition according to the huddle up newsletter
Mayweather vs. Paul Generates 1 Million PPV Buys
Floyd Mayweather and Logan Paul's exhibition match last weekend generated over 1 million PPV buys, but how much did each of the fighters make personally?
Joseph Pompliano
Jun 11
When Floyd Mayweather ended his two-year retirement to step into the ring with MMA superstar Conor McGregor four years ago, the results exceeded all expectations:
The fight generated 4.3 million domestic pay-per-view buys (2nd largest all-time) and more than $600 million in total revenue.
Floyd Mayweather's guaranteed paycheck was $100 million, but he ended up taking home a reported $280 million after his PPV cut, sponsorships, and more.
Conor McGregor’s guaranteed paycheck was $30 million, but he ended up taking home a reported $130 million after his PPV cut, sponsorships, and more.
Now, at 44-years-old with a grandson born in January, Floyd Mayweather decided to end his retirement for a second time, stepping into the ring for an eight-round exhibition with YouTube celebrity Logan Paul last Sunday.
Floyd Mayweather vs. Logan Paul Fight Results | PEOPLE.com
(Credit: Getty Images)
Despite squaring off on Sunday night just before 10 pm ET, early numbers from multiple sources indicate that the Floyd Mayweather-Logan Paul exhibition generated over 1 million buys on pay-per-view. At a purchase price of $49.99 via Showtime and Fanmio, that’s roughly $50 million in revenue.
Reminder: In addition to guaranteed payments, Floyd Mayweather’s contract included 50% of PPV sales, while Logan Paul was due to see 10% of PPV sales.
Twitter avatar for @mattdorta
Matias Dorta
@mattdorta
Floyd Mayweather Deal:
• $10 million guaranteed
• 50% of PPV sales
Logan Paul Deal:
• $250K guaranteed
• 10% of PPV sales
Floyd is on pace to clear over $500M total across his last three exhibition fights versus Logan Paul, Conor McGregor, and Tenshin Nasukawa.
June 7th 2021
1,219 Retweets4,841 Likes
Although I would love to make the math easy and tack on an additional $25 million (50% of PPV sales) to Mayweather’s $10 million guaranteed and call it a $35 million day, it doesn’t work that way.
Pay-per-view distributors end up taking a large chunk of that revenue, sometimes up to 50% or more. Networks get 100% of streaming purchases directly through their website, but if it’s through an app like Roku or Apple TV, they’ll take home 70% to 90%. It all depends on the specific contract.
Regardless, both fighters ended up making a lot of money. Floyd Mayweather claims he made $30 million off short sponsorships alone, and Logan Paul was promoting various products like Reign, Atari, and Blockfolio all week to his 50 million-plus followers on social media.
“They say, ‘It’s not all about the money.’ Well, your kids can’t eat legacy,” Mayweather said post-fight. “The patches on my trunks [earned me] $30 million alone.
“So who’s really the smartest one in the sport of boxing? When it comes to legalized bank robbing, I’m the best.”
But still, almost a full week after the fight has ended, more questions remain. Was this event considered a success? Is celebrity boxing here to stay? Is Floyd Mayweather actually going to retire for good?
Here’s how I think about it: Anytime you have 1 million pay-per-view buys, it’s a success. Only about 25 boxing matches in history have seen that many PPV purchases, and when you consider it was an exhibition with no judges and no declared winner, it makes it all the more impressive.
But looking at it from a different perspective, I have to imagine Showtime was expecting more. Floyd Mayweather could fight just about anyone and pull in close to 1 million purchases. Hate him or love him; that’s the truth. He’s been the biggest name in boxing for two decades.
Even more interesting, at 1 million PPV buys and $50M in revenue, this fight wasn’t nearly as successful as other recent “celebrity” boxing matches.
Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. had 1.6 million PPV buys and over $80 million in revenue.
Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren had 1.5 million PPV buys and over $75 million in revenue.
To be transparent, UFC’s Dana White claims those numbers aren’t true. Maybe it’s jealously, or maybe he’s right, but I’m not in a position to confirm or deny. Those are the figures that Triller reported.
As for Floyd Mayweather & Logan Paul, none of this really matters. There was obviously training & promotion that went into it, but they stepped into the ring on a Sunday night, sparred for about 30 minutes in total, and walked away with eight-figure paychecks each.
That’s incredibly impressive and further signifies the value that years of hard work & consistency in building a brand can have on your future. The point being, people purchased the fight because of what these guys had done in the past, not to see a good boxing match.
The final pay-per-view numbers are still coming in, and with technical issues causing Showtime to issue a perceived significant amount of refunds, they actually might end up lower than expectations.
But to be clear, this was still a successful event, and whether people like it or not, it only further strengthens the case for more celebrity boxing matches in the future.
As for myself, I don’t have a problem with it. By repeatedly calling it a “legalized bank robbery,” Floyd was very clear this was not meant to be taken seriously. Both fighters got paid, and we all knew what to expect going in.
“Nobody has to watch. Nobody has to pay. Do whatever makes you feel good, and I’m gonna do what makes me feel good.” — Floyd Mayweather to The Athletic before the fight
As I said, we all knew what to expect.
I hope each of you has a great weekend. Talk to you on Monday.
If you enjoyed today’s email, please share it with your friends!
