We are a numbers obsessed society, I’m afraid. That is not to our credit, because so often, when we are talking numbers, obsessing over numbers, we are not trafficking in the realm of beings.
I tend to give shorter shrift to salaries, and pay-per-view numbers, and such, than some guys, because that’s not why I do this. I do this because I enjoy the art and science and self-instructive practice of studying the wonderful and horrific practices of the human animal. What a zoo we live in…
That said, one can’t ignore numbers, because behind those numbers are stories, and reasons and guides toward the future, as well as hints to help decipher the past.
So it is, I think, with the whisper number I’m hearing for the latest Floyd Mayweather fight, which took place on Saturday.
Showtime produced the event, the fourth installment in a six fight deal signed by them and Mayweather back in 2012. Mayweather-Maidana 2, dubbed Mayhem, drew approximately 925,000 buys, a birdy told me on Thursday late afternoon. They did 900,000 for the first scrap.
Have at it, numbers guys and gals.
Most of us who follow the sport as a methadone addict follows their dose, reflexively, with an oft muted joy, know that the PPV buying trend is down, in boxing and MMA. Wallet fatigue, lack of truly compelling matchups, a coalescence of consumer sentiment, exacerbated by the presence of “the new union,” the internet, which allows like minded folks to band together, and have their collective voices heard at a higher decibel level than previously they’d been afforded? That’s up for debate…
If you have not, do please register for our Forum, where you will find, as your conception of God is my witness, the best message board content within any and all fight games.
NOTE: Replay of this bout and some undercard action is Saturday, at 9 PM, on Showtime regular. The All Access epilogue runs after the fight replay.
Follow me on Twitter, ya’all. Mostly good stuff, some annoying crud. https://twitter.com/Woodsy1069
COMMENTS
-brownsugar :
I must say I'm shocked but not truly surprised. What better advertisement is there than when the furious media talking heads attempt to sabatoge a show by publically attacking the leading man?,
-deepwater2 :
Is Espinoza, using the alias John Smith,calling all the writers and telling them this number? Let's see the real numbers when they come out.
-riverside :
I need to see to believe, Showtime has not been to quick to release numbers before. Why Now?
-MCM :
I caught the fight at at my local (Ocean's 8) and they were charging $30 a head. Arrived about 11pm, walked downstairs, and . . . ghost town. I had my choice of stools, and although a thin crowd trickled in, it never amounted to much. Looked like a Wednesday afternoon in there. They would've done better business had they not shown the fight at all. I imagine they'll think twice about showing the next Mayweather fight unless it's vs. Cotto or Pacquiao.
-oubobcat :
What I really want to know is what was the total revenue from these fights? I was out myself at a theater. Last time I was at a theater, it was packed (sold out 30 minutes into the J'Leon Love fight). This was in Cleveland, OH. This time I was in Rochester, NY and there were about 10 people at the theater. No sell out, no standing room. Maybe the PPV did slightly better but did the total revenue generated do any better? And how is this deal working out for Showtime so far? Are they happy with it or having sever second thoughts? My guess is that latter.
-The Shadow :
-Radam G :
Exaggeration is fast in effect. Crooked-@$$, jealous-of-HBO Showtime is cooking the books -- as I said that they would -- with freebies given to military and government bases, posts and housing. Plus all the pirating hookups from cable outlets and, of course, the freebies at pubs and clubs. Holla at the pubs and clubs owners. They will tell you that they have a hookups with Showtime to count every customs and dey driver as individual PPV buyouts. TsOTT and OIs are every darn where. Holla!
-Radam G :
-Radam G :
Keep an upper stiff lip and LIE! It is American as Apple PIE. Holla!
-Skibbz :
I think we're missing the point here, close to one million people were left out of pocket. Robbed by a poor bill, an affair which didn't live up to the Mayhem tag and as has become the standard series of events regarding Mayweather; an intoxicating and scintillating campaign of hype before the fight and a borefest when the fight begins. I give thanks for BoxNation and praise HBO PPV's for never boring me to sleep.
-thegreyman :
It would be far more informative to know Showtime's profit margin on Maidana episode 2. That would give us more of an indication than straight PPV buys, which are most likely doctored. I want to know how much money Showtime are making after everyone's been given their cut; whether it's as much as they were hoping to make off Floyd's back, and whether they have an issue with the amount they're making. OK they may be doing 950'000 PPV buys, but that's irrelevant until we know what they want/need for their profits.
-thegreyman :
-The Shadow :
-SouthPawFlo :
Can someone tell me the last non Mayweather fight that topped 900,000 buys. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
-Radam G :
-amayseng :
-brownsugar :
To piggy back off what Shadow was saying earlier (and i do believe Shadow is secretly employed by tsAH... LOL...) indicators suggest a 20% increase in DISHTV (used by many hispanics)subscriptions and an increase in DirectTV and ATT subscriptions. There is a smoking gun that can validate the unusually high buy rate. As I said earlier, I was astonished to see professional journalists blatantly accuse Mayweather publically on national television off of prior cases he'd already been tried for and or served sentencing for.......in addition to prematurely pronouncing him guilty in connection with the allegations levelled by Ms Jackson. This extra media attention in addition to the poor choice of comments Floyd used to respond to questions regarding Ray Rice served to pique the interest of casual fans enough to drive up subscription rates and purchases.
-brownsugar :
Sometimes being a big illiterate dummy can pay off in America...... Only in America.
-amayseng :
-SouthPawFlo :
I thought this was a post about PPV buys, and I asked a question about PPV Buys, I didn't comment on anything else other than what the post was about.... Who I like as a fighter really has nothi to do with the topic, this isn't a who's your favorite fighter thread is it????
-SouthPawFlo :
Idk if that number is true or not, but if it is I think it has more to do with Chino than Mayweather... After how close the first fight was a lot of people really felt that Chino would be able to do a little more in the 2nd, and the All access showing Robert G. Trying to tweak certain things definitely helped... Maidana is a bonafide star after his Broner Beatdown and his good performance in his first fight, also they did a 5 city media tour for this one and the fans were definitely cheering on Chino, even in the Crowd at the fight it seemed to be more fighters rooting for Chino.... People really wanna see Floyd Lose and obviously they're willing to pay $75 to see it live on PPV.
-Radam G :
That "birdy" must be a small-brained dodo birdy with a short-term memory. Knuckleheads were fibbing that Mayweather-Maidana I did a mil or 1.2mil -- whichever fib you wanted to believe. Now it is 900thou. And this Mayweather-Maidana II now mysteriously did more than 925thou, more than the first dance. And it was not expected to do more than 700thou, because that is probably what it did. Somebody ought to cut da crap. These bigwig inflators think between the ears ev'ybodee and dey momma have a gap. Holla!
-brownsugar :
-Carmine Cas :
Controversy sells, but there comes a point where too much of it tarnishes the brand and consumers second guess their decision to buy. Men lie, women lie, and numbers can be altered. However depending on the loyalty of the fan, they will still purchase fights. Look at the Ray Rice situation, there are female Raven's fans criticizing the punishment and supporting him. It all depends on how much of a fan are you. But in this case I think there some seasoning added to the PPV numbers. But the media attention helped too.
-brownsugar :
-The Commish :
-Radam G :
The truthfulness of the count is just like doing your American income tax. You can make up all type of syet. Is $howtime being honest? Heck no! Is it giving you a gross count, or a net gross? Is it counting all the freebies and pirated? Yes. $howtime is full of syet. It is probably counting freebies that American Forces Network shoots out to the local population in Asia, especially Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, American Samoa, The Marshall Islands, Yap, Japan, The P-Islands, Korea and Singapore. "Mayhem" probably had 250thou on the U.S. mainland. The Commish, B-Sug, D2, SouthpawFlo and dey kinfolks and bill collectors were about the only cats in this Universe to buy. Hehe! Holla!
-Kid Blast :
I'd rather be water boarded than watch this again. :mad:
-SouthPawFlo :
Espn's Boxinf page Reported that the Live Gate Generated the 5th highest revenue in Nevada Boxing history, and that 4 of the 5 highest grossing fights in Nevada history featured Floyd.... PPV King & Cash King of Boxing, but the question is for how long.....
-Radam G :
-brownsugar :
-deepwater2 :
-Radam G :
-Radam G :
-SouthPawFlo :
Can somebody with some knowledge about PPV buys tell me the last Non Mayweather bout to Top 900,000 buys....
-Radam G :
-SouthPawFlo :
Ok now I have two questions: What was the last Non Mayweather fight to Top 900,000??? What were the numbers for Canelo's two PPV fights this year???? Don't worry I'll wait...
-Radam G :
->http://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=MKLGTDH7io8. Holla!
-SouthPawFlo :
The Reason I'm asking 4 PPV numbers is because, I myself think that 925,000 number for this fight seems a little bloated, but I wanna compare the preflight "hype" of this fight to another fight with "comparable" numbers.. And also, I think that Canelo is a bonafide star but idk him as the A Side of a promotion is ready to compete with a Mayweather fight.
-deepwater2 :
Oh well the so called source( Espinoza aka john smith) might be wrong. ESPN Spanish station is reporting 700,000 which is a dud.
-SouthPawFlo :
I was thinking somewhere between 700-750,000 myself... I guess we gotta wait for the "Offical" numbers to come out
-Radam G :
-Radam G :
Hehehe! My Tio Mamoy said that the Showtime and company's PPV counting crew are some soaphead bums and then in Spanish he said: "La casa del jabonero es toda un resbaladero" -- The house of a soap maker is a slippery place." In other words, these ____ _____ _____ are slippery with bringing the true. And you might need to wash their mouths out. Holla!
-thegreyman :
At this rate, Radam would soon have us believe only 5 people actually bought the fight
-Radam G :
-SouthPawFlo :
As a fan I can say that I've probably purchased about 30 PPV bouts over the last 6-7 Years and some of my fight parties have been jam packed and some not so much... Oscar vs Floyd Floyd Vs Canelo Manny Vs Margarito Manny vs Clottey (that was a waste) Floyd vs Marquez (Mismatch) Manny vs Hatton (Mismatch) Manny vs Rios (mismatch) Cotto vs Martinez (BeatDown) Are some of the major ones and in the main events there was at least some doubt about who was gonna win, and for the Maidana Scrap a lot of people (especially in Texas) people really felt Maidana had his number or would at least Challenge him.. That's the thing with PPVs you never know how the fights are gonna turn out, but you just pay your money and enjoy as a fan!!!
-Carmine Cas :
-Radam G :
-Carmine Cas :
-thegreyman :
I wonder what's in it for Buffet though? Maybe he gets a kick out of seeing all those sweating pugs at the Mayweather Gym.
-oubobcat :
-Radam G :
-deepwater2 :
It seems the phony source (Espinoza) inflated the PPV numbers. Word on the "street " is the PPV fell under the first fight. The Showtime boss might not be secure in his job as he was last year.
-amayseng :
-Radam G :
-deepwater2 :
-brownsugar :
-oubobcat :
770,000 does sound much more in line with what I was expecting. I am just going be my own experience. Full theater in May that was sold out before the first fight ended and handful of people at theater in September. To me, it does not seem logical that the PPV numbers would be as high as was originally stated.
-The Shadow :
-Skibbz :
-brownsugar :
-deepwater2 :
-The Shadow :
-Radam G :
When this so-called "Cold War" started, I told four-eyed Ernest Joe and ev'ybodee and dey momma what da haps were go to be: "SHO is full of syet, and is gonna get its arse handle and handed to it." Has anyone ever broke down "Nostradamus?" DO IT, and you will SEE "radam" all up in the midsection of it. Hehe! Nost/RADAM/us. My predictions on type of jive and syet have creep up to 92 percent with the year closing out. Holla!
-The Shadow :
-Radam G :
-deepwater2 :
Where do I begin? My main point is tsAH will not save boxing. Boxing will survive like it always has. Other points: 1) Vince Mcmahon is a great businessman and he monopolized WWF/WWE. Do you really want professional boxing monopolized by one person? 2) Most wrestling fans think that the WWE is watered down and boring compared to what it once was due to VM taking over and forcing it into a monopoly. 3) The WWE is losing money and its business model is failing. Recent example from business insider: 'Things are looking grim for World Wrestling Entertainment and its money-losing streaming video service, the WWE Network. In a sign of how hard the company is working to sign up new subscribers, the WWE announced Monday it will once again offer a one-week free trial to anyone who wants it. The offer, which doesn't even require people to provide a credit card number, is one of several recent indicators that the company isn't getting much closer to the 1.4 million global subscribers it needs to make the WWE Network profitable. The WWE Network gives fans access to the WWE's monthly special events ? which were previously available only on pay-per-view for a price of ~$55 each ? as well as old wrestling shows and new wrestling-related programming. The bad news for the company started in April, when it announced the WWE Network had only 667,000 subscribers after telling investors the service could have as many as 2 million subscribers by the end of the year. The following month, it released an adjusted business outlook that said the network would lose the company $50 million this year if subscription rates did not increase. That news, combined with a disappointing new TV rights contract, caused company stock to crash so badly that CEO and chairman Vince McMahon lost a third of his fortune in one day. " - Giving away free subscriptions might be a bad sign for Showtime when looking at this bit of info.? A good product sells itself it does not need incentives. -No wonder the PPV numbers that were leaked were way inflated. 4)Monopolies don't tend to work over periods of time,the free market usually breaks them up. 5) We have been getting a taste of terrible matchups on Showtime, including the undercard of Floyd's fight. If this is asign of how boxing will improve it better self destruct as soon as possible. 6)The cold war is coming to an end so instead of rooting for tsAH lets root for the great fights. This can go on but its already took up too much space.
-The Shadow :
-brownsugar :
I here you Shadow.... Just no more breaking the pimp code....lol.
-The Shadow :
-thegreyman :
If you're a fan of boxing then you should root for Al Haymon That's a lot of love you have for Haymon Shadow- are you certain it's well placed? Yes he works with fighters for their benefit- their financial benefit, and also for easy routes through the ranks of fighters to world titles. But I'm also a fan of good match ups, and that is not something that I need Haymon for. The more middlemen the worse as far as I'm concerned- be it networks, promoters, sanctioning bodies or Haymons- they're all usually just obstacles to what we as boxing fans actually want to see- fights!
-The Shadow :
-Skibbz :