By Jackie Kallen
The Mayweather/Pacquaio fight may not have done Floyd any favors (except financially, of course.) Tickets were astronomically high, both on PPV and in person, and fans hated the fight. They resented paying so much for so little. They were disappointed and bored. Many vowed never to pay for a Mayweather fight again and that seems to be the case with this Saturday’s Mayweather/Berto fight.
Ample seats are still available at the MGM and there is no scramble for those. The scalpers are dying on the vine with theirs and will probably end up selling them for face value or less. The reported advance PPV numbers are weak and unless something dramatic happens to make this fight worth watching, most fight fans are passing.
It’s no disrespect to either fighter. It’s just that most fans already know the predicted outcome and don’t want to spend money to find out. Though Mayweather insists this will be his last hurrah in the ring, that’s obviously not enough to get the fans to dig into their wallets one last time.
Have the fans had enough of Mayweather? He is admittedly the P4P best and with this win he will tie Rocky Marciano’s unbeaten record. However, it seems like his fans are satisfied with that and are already looking for the “next” Floyd. They have seen him mow down everyone who stood in front of him and few expect Berto to succeed where so many others have failed.
The Sports Book numbers are down, also, since many betters don’t feel this one is worth the money. They have to lay down too much to win anything on Mayweather and Berto is too much of a longshot to seem worth the risk.
Hotels are not selling out rooms like they did for previous Mayweather fights and that means revenue will be down in the clubs and restaurants as well. Merchandising will no doubt be less lucrative since there will be less people there to buy shirts and hats. Though it’s being billed as Mayweather’s last fight, which is a great reason to get a souvenir, many fight fans aren’t buying that as a fact. It will surprise no one if Mayweather fights again next year.
Instead of going out with a bang, it looks like Mayweather will go out with a whimper.
