McGregor vs Mayweather gate earnings stand at $55 million, second in all-time list
Floyd Mayweather Jr. v Conor McGregor
What's the story?
The famed 'Money Fight' between MMA exponent Conor McGregor and all-time boxing great Floyd Mayweather Jr. on August 27 was hailed as the biggest and most expensive fight in boxing history, given the hype and money involved. However, the fight stands in second place in terms of revenue generated from live gate earnings. The official figures were revealed earlier by @jedigoodman on Twitter, which show that the ticket sales brought in a sum of nearly $55.5 million, with a little 13000 tickets sold.
This means that an average ticket brought nearly $4,200 in revenue, with the official attendance at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas standing at 13,231.
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In case you didn't know
McGregor, who was making his pro boxing debut, was up against Mayweather, who had a flawless 49-0 record before the fight. That was to become 50-0 later as the American overtook Rocky Marciano's figures with a victory via technical knockout.
The heart of the matter
The all-time mark for live gate sales still stands at a whopping $72.2 million, which also featured Floyd Mayweather as he defeated Filipino great Manny Pacquiao in May 2015.
However, the $55 million mark still is a huge sum, despite the fact that the stadium wasn't even sold out and there were large concerns about generating enough sales given the costliness of the tickets.
Combining the gate receipts, pay-per-view sales and the personal sponsorships of both men, the Notorious is likely to take home a sum close to nearly $100 million, which will catapult him to the top of the Forbes rich list ahead of the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and LeBron James.
Floyd Mayweather, on the other hand, is expected to make triple the amount, nearly $300 million, which will make him the richest boxer of all-time and the only one to have crossed the $1 billion mark.
What's next?
For the Irishman, the next step is still unclear. He is under medical suspension until October and after that, a return to the UFC is on the cards. However, he has said to have turned heads with his show against Mayweather and might be in line for another bout in the ring.
As for Mayweather, he announced his retirement as soon as the fight was over and will sail into the sunset with his monstrous earnings.
Author's take
Despite it not breaking the all-time record, the figures generated by the fight are truly astounding.
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