THE OFFICIAL ATTENDANCE for Floyd Mayweather’s 10th-round technical knockout of Conor McGregor was just 14,623, almost 6,000 short of the venue’s capacity.
Several upper sections at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena remained completely empty for what was billed as the biggest combat sports event of all time, but officials are confident the low attendance will still exceed the boxing record of roughly $72 million in ticket revenue, this from Mayweather’s victory over Manny Pacquiao in May 2015 at the MGM Grand in the same city.
Tickets for last night’s event ranged from $500 to $10,000, with prices almost halving on average once on the black market. Almost 6,000 tickets would remain unsold come the final bell of Mayweather’s 50th professional victory in his adopted hometown.
The last main event at T-Mobile Arena – Canelo Alvarez’s ‘Battle for Mexico’ with an outmatched Julio Cesar Chavez earlier this summer – drew a capacity crowd of 20,510. It did not, however, generate nearly as much ticket revenue as last night’s scrap, because tickets were much cheaper.
Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe said during the post-fight press conference that he wasn’t disappointed with the attendance.
“I wouldn’t say that,” Ellerbe said. “Just sometimes you – it’s all about delivering. I think the fans enjoyed themselves, the ones who were here. It was a great event, you know, a wonderful turnout. You’re not always gonna get it right. We get it right more often than not, though.”
Mayweather himself, meanwhile, said at the presser that he expects the gate receipts to break $80 million, and smash the record he set versus Pacquiao just over two years ago.
