Pacquiao-Arum tandem could break all pay-per-view records
By Leo Reyes
The upcoming fight between eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao and former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios in Macau, China, could eclipse all past pay-per-view (PPV) records in boxing history.
The fight, scheduled for Nov. 24, targets the huge Chinese market as well as the regular PPV market in the US.
Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum, who owns Top Rank Promotions of the US, has been successful in breaking into the huge Chinese market with his initial venture featuring the professional boxing debut of Zou Shiming, China's most popular amateur boxer and Olympic gold medalist.
Shiming fought Mexican Eleazar Valenzuela last April 6 in Macau, winning his first fight as a professional boxer via a unanimous decision. The weekend event also featured former WBA flyweight champion Brian Viloria vs. Juan Francisco Estrada in the main undercard.
The initial success of Arum's market debut in China, must have pushed the Hall of Fame promoter to further explore what appears to be the world's biggest market for sports, particularly boxing.
On Nov.24, Arum will validate his initial success story in China with a powerhouse show featuring the world's most popular boxer, Manny Pacquiao, who will face a top fighter Brandon Rios. The main event will be supported by a powerhouse undercard, featuring the Penalosa brothers of the Philippines.
The 81-year-old boxing promoter could be looking at the growth of smartphones and tablets ownership in China which has reportedly surpassed the US figures. Tempo reported that "China has surpassed the US as the leading smartphone market this year with an estimated 250 million active accounts."
Assuming Arum gets 20 percent of the number, he could end up with 50 million subscribers and assuming further that he charges only $5.00 each, he could make $250 million in revenues from the fight.
This figure is unprecedented in boxing history. The biggest figure for a PPV fight was recorded in 2007 in a fight between Floyd Mayweather vs.Oscar de la Hoya which generated just about 2.4 million buys for revenue of $130 million.
Even if Arum gets just a little over 10 percent of the number of smartphones and tablets holders, he still ends up surpassing the the Mayweather- dela Hoya number without even counting the PPV proceeds for the US sales.
If these figures are validated on November 24, Pacquiao will have his biggest payday in his entire career. There are reports that Arum will guarantee Pacquaio his usual fee which is in the vicinity of $20-$30 million. But his share in the PPV proceeds will most likely be more than double his guaranteed purse, making him this year's world's highest paid athlete.
To drum up the promotions for the fight, Arum is starting early in July to sell the Macau fight to potential ppv buyers in China and in the US.
A three city tour has been scheduled in China to include Beijing,Shanghai and Guangzhou while a similar tour will take place later in the US mainland.
This opinion article was written by an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily intended to reflect those of DigitalJournal.com
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