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Guess the Buys for Hatton-Pacquiao

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You don't win anything, I'm just curious how well everyone thinks this will do on American PPV. In England it will do a million plus, I'm certain of that (Hatton against Mayweather did 1.4 million there and 910,000 in the States).

For a refresher, here are some notable recent boxing PPVs, with rough estimates of how many buys they did:

* This is the all-time PPV record ... ** This is the all-time PPV record for fighters of this size as headliners
Date Fight Buys
2007-05-05 de la Hoya-Mayweather 2.4M*
2007-12-08 Mayweather-Hatton 910K
2008-01-19 Jones-Trinidad 500K
2008-02-16 Pavlik-Taylor II 250K
2008-03-15 Marquez-Pacquiao II 400K**
2008-06-28 Diaz-Pacquiao 200K
2008-07-26 Cotto-Margarito 450K
2008-09-13 Marquez-Casamayor 100K
2008-10-18 Pavlik-Hopkins 195K
2008-11-08 Calzaghe-Jones 225K
2008-12-06 de la Hoya-Pacquiao 1.25M

 

There are several factors at work here, as well:

  1. The economy is still not good. Promoters tried to blame the weak numbers for Pavlik-Hopkins and Calzaghe-Jones on the economy, but I truly feel that you have to also consider that Pavlik has not sold on PPV yet, Hopkins has never been a superstar despite having all the skills to be one (except most of his fights aren't exciting), and Calzaghe-Jones was a hideous matchup that everyone overestimated as far as public interest went. Calzaghe was never a star in the States, either; his HBO fights with Hopkins and Kessler did rotten ratings.
  2. Two of Pacquiao's last three fights have been HUGE success. The rematch with Marquez doing "only" 400,000 buys seems disappointing until you remember no fighters of their size or lower headlining a PPV has ever done so well in America.
  3. Promotion has been excellent for this fight, including what is in my view the strongest "24/7" series to date. But "24/7" is sold to one-and-half types of people, really: Boxing fans that were already going to order (or not order), and those that subscribe to HBO. Phenomenal show, but I question how much it really means. It did zilch for Calzaghe-Jones. The other fights for which it has been used -- like this one -- were guaranteed sellers (Oscar-Floyd, Floyd-Ricky, Oscar-Manny).
  4. Both fighters have done mammoth buys (against Floyd and Oscar), but in neither instance were they the "A" side.

So take it all in: The depressed economy, the fact that neither man has ever single-handedly sold a massive show (not that they're doing this one single-handed, either), and the great promotion.

Where do you see this one ending up when the tallies are in?

Poll
How many American buys will Hatton-Pacquiao do on pay-per-view?
1,000,000 or more
56 votes
850-999,000
40 votes
700-849,000
51 votes
500-699,000
27 votes
Less than 500,000
6 votes

180 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs  |  Comment 16 comments |

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Buys

I might be predicting low here, but I think it does around 550,000. That would be right on target with Wrestlemania in the US I think, which is still pretty good.

by roheblius on May 1, 2009 7:20 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

I'm thinking...

722,500

Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.

http://CurseOfRonKarkovice.blogspot.com/

by Brent Brookhouse on May 1, 2009 7:26 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Down from my original estimate..

of 750,000

Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.

http://CurseOfRonKarkovice.blogspot.com/

by Brent Brookhouse on May 1, 2009 7:27 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

775k

The fact that this is $50 instead of $60 probably helps a little. What hurts a lot is that Mayweather-DLH was such a crappy fight. I’ve talked to a lot of non-boxing fans who are considering getting it, but probably won’t because that was the last fight they bought, and it ended up being a waste of money (in their view).

Vogt early, Vogt often.

by Brickhaus on May 1, 2009 7:32 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

About 750K in the US

But it will do better than Floyd vs Hatton in Europe. I predect 1.5 – 1.6 million in UK (No need to mention SE Asia)

Gimme 1 round!

by ItBurnzWhenIP on May 1, 2009 7:39 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

The thing holding it back in the US is actually the strongest market for the fight

Philipinos will basically have a national holiday tomorrow. But there won’t be massive buys from them because that target demographic will watch together as a family + all their Philipino friends. For every 20-30 that watches there will be 1 buy.

Gimme 1 round!

by ItBurnzWhenIP on May 1, 2009 7:42 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

To the best of my knowledge, they don't do it as PPV in SE Asia

I’m pretty sure they do it as a closed-circuit fight in the Philippines, and people buy tickets at movie theaters to watch.

Vogt early, Vogt often.

by Brickhaus on May 1, 2009 7:48 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

In the Philippines yes

It is bought and broadcast in movie theaters live and tape delayed (shortly) on national television is what i’ve seemed to gather. I was more refering to the less desperately poor of SE Asia such as Thailand which is huge on tourism. Bangkok and Phuket are somewhat outliers for the area but that is mostly what I was thinking about, I have a feeling that in Thailand it would be on a PPV of sorts especially for public places. I’m also refering to the rest of Asia not covered by saying SE Asia though I didn’t write it correctly. Japan will more than likely eat this fight up as well as Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Gimme 1 round!

by ItBurnzWhenIP on May 1, 2009 8:03 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

If they bother airing it in Japan

The Japanese fighters are huge, but they generally couldn’t care less about gaijin fighters, and I think the major networks have exclusive contracts with various promoters.

Vogt early, Vogt often.

by Brickhaus on May 1, 2009 11:21 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

And I'm not aware of PPV existing in Japan

And that’s someplace I’ve been a bunch of times, and I have family living there.

Vogt early, Vogt often.

by Brickhaus on May 1, 2009 11:22 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I’ll say 830k.

"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." - Sir Winston Churchill

by FlyByKnight on May 1, 2009 8:32 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

780,000 is my guess.

Boxing writer: "Iran, what are you going to do when you retire?"
Iran Barkley: "Rob your house"

by Matt Miller on May 2, 2009 1:20 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Probably between 750,000 and 850,000. It’s getting good press, which helps.

Boxing is like jazz. The better it is, the less people appreciate it.
-George Foreman

by jsims2 on May 2, 2009 4:02 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

775,000 is the bet.

"Pay me some respect..im a fucking war hero"- Random American tourist in Dam.

by dinkman on May 2, 2009 8:49 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

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