Dana White teases Mayweather vs. McGregor on track to break all time record
It might have seemed like a long shot a couple of months ago, but it appears Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor is en route to becoming the most lucrative fight in pay-per-view history.
That’s according to UFC president Dana White, who has been blown away by the numbers generated by the super fight pitting Mayweather against McGregor on Aug. 26 in Las Vegas.
The current record holder for pay-per-view is Mayweather’s fight against Manny Pacquiao that totaled out at over 4.6 million buys in 2015.
Obviously the final figures won’t be unveiled until several weeks after the event happens, but White seems to believe everything is pointing towards a record breaking show with pay-per-view buys going over 4.9 million.
“I think we’ve done a good job working with Showtime in that they do the things that they’re good at, we do the things that we’re good at. There’s a lot of things boxing doesn’t do. For instance, most of the times you’re dealing with a network, networks aren’t too excited to go OTT [over the top], not a big thing that they’re into. We have the capabilities, we do it all the time and I believe we’re one of the best to do it. The numbers are tracking huge,” White said during a media conference call on Wednesday.
“We’re gonna do the numbers that everyone has been talking that we’re going to do. The line in Vegas, the over/under, is 4.9 million [buys]. Everything is tracking right now to say that we’re going to kill this thing. So it’s looking really good.”
When the fight was first announced, there was speculation on whether or not Mayweather vs. McGregor would come close to the gaudy numbers generated by Mayweather vs. Pacquiao but it seems that a ton of fans are ready to put down their money to see the event.
It also helps that the UFC has worked closely with Showtime to make the fight available through more outlets than just pay-per-view providers on cable and satellite providers.
For the first time ever, Showtime will offer the option to purchase the pay-per-view through an app made specifically for this fight while Mayweather vs. McGregor will also be available via UFC.tv and the UFC app as well.
Combining those additional outlets with a broader international audience certainly seems to suggest that Mayweather and McGregor are trending towards a humongous number for pay-per-view buys on Aug. 26.
