The mega-bout between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao has long been expected to feature the biggest fight purse in the history of boxing, and fans are beginning to realize that it truly will be.
Bleacher Report wrote that the May 2 fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas will feature very expensive tickets, especially for boxing fans who aim to sit ringside. The demand for tickets continues to rise and it is likely that majority will not be released to the general public.
Dan Rafael of ESPN wrote that there might only be around 1,000 tickets sold to the public, the cheapest of which will be sold at $1,000. The rest will be provided to preferred clients, celebrities and fight sponsors. The MGM Grand sold out within 15 minutes after the big fight was officially announced so a huge frenzy is expected should the tickets be released limitedly to the public.
Scott Spreitzer of ESPN Radio 1100 initially tweeted that to get ringside tickets to the fight, the buyer should have at least $250,000 credit line with MGM Grand to at least be considered.
No pay-per-view rates have been released yet, but it will be a joint effort between Pacquiao and Mayweather's networks, HBO and Showtime. Rafael predicted that the pay-per-view price will be around $89.95.
Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, said on ESPN 1100, "Nobody is going to get these tickets without paying for them. The type of calls I'm getting, it's unbelievable. I could spend the rest of the day on the phone and sell out the entire place."
He added, "The biggest block (of tickets) is with MGM. When I get a call from a celebrity, or I assume when Mayweather gets a call from a celebrity, we immediately send them to MGM and tell them to fill the order."
Arum said, "Because of the price of the tickets, MGM, for example, will only give ringside tickets to its customers who have a $250,000 line of credit," Arum said.
Later, Spreitzer updated his Twitter information, saying that his brother who is in the Las Vegas casino industry said that the buyer should be willing to pay $250,000, and not merely have a credit line with MGM Grand.
There is no announcement on the official prices of tickets yet, but Forbes reported that the secondary market should expect to pay at least $4,000.
The fight is the most anticipated in the history of the sport and is expected to rake revenues between $250 million to $500 million.