Umm... considering Mayweather made $30-35 million for the De La Hoya fight, this is actually a paycut. When they wanted De La Hoya, they would have paid a LOT more (He made $58 million off that fight).
Kevin Kelly: "Mr. Austin, would you like to comment on Wade Keller's Take that endorsing the XFL hurts your anti-authority character?"
Steve Austin: "Oh shit, he actually said that? I thought the boys in the back were ribbing me!"
Kelly: "No, he really said that. Did they tell you the part about you sitting in the stands, looking all skeptical?"
Austin: "AHAHAHAHAHAHA. Yeah... oh man that was too much."
Originally posted by DirtyMikeSeaverUmm... considering Mayweather made $30-35 million for the De La Hoya fight, this is actually a paycut. When they wanted De La Hoya, they would have paid a LOT more (He made $58 million off that fight).
There is a big difference between being in the main event of the sport you are a star of and being in a throw away celebrity wrestling match that sure as hell isn't going to last even a quarter as long as a 12 round boxing match.
I don't care what you do, making $20 million for one night's work... no, for a few minute's work, is phenomenal.
also, considering that WWE only makes about $50 million net profit a year, this is a HUGE gamble. if it doesn't pan out, they basically threw away almost half their net profit for the entire year.
Do Vince and the powers-that-be really see mayweather bringing in an additional 400,000 buys at $50 a head? Really?
I don't see anybody who's interested in mayweather but not in wrestling shelling out $50 just to see that one match. They'll just view the clip on youtube the next day or read about it on si.com.
Anybody who's already intrested enough in wrestling to buy WM doesn't count towards the total. They would have bought it anyway.
So basically WWE is courting the inbetween fan who loves mayweather and is kinda interested in wrestling, and hoping there are Four Hundred Thousand of those??? I kinda doubt it.
Originally posted by DirtyMikeSeaverUmm... considering Mayweather made $30-35 million for the De La Hoya fight, this is actually a paycut. When they wanted De La Hoya, they would have paid a LOT more (He made $58 million off that fight).
There is a big difference between being in the main event of the sport you are a star of and being in a throw away celebrity wrestling match that sure as hell isn't going to last even a quarter as long as a 12 round boxing match.
Of course this match is drawing more interest than anything the E's done in years. When you look at how much money this match is poised to draw, it'll pay for Mayweather ten times over.
Originally posted by DirtyMikeSeaverUmm... considering Mayweather made $30-35 million for the De La Hoya fight, this is actually a paycut. When they wanted De La Hoya, they would have paid a LOT more (He made $58 million off that fight).
There is a big difference between being in the main event of the sport you are a star of and being in a throw away celebrity wrestling match that sure as hell isn't going to last even a quarter as long as a 12 round boxing match.
Of course this match is drawing more interest than anything the E's done in years. When you look at how much money this match is poised to draw, it'll pay for Mayweather ten times over.
Didn't Tyson get a similar figure for WM14?
Tyson got about 3 million for the match.
As for Mayweather...WM 23 drew 1.2 million buys, the biggest in WWE history. To justify the cost of Mayweather, they would need another 400,000 or so to purchase it, as they have nothing to showcase to really provide long-term profit from it. Is anyone really going to see HHH and suddenly start watching WWE? I don't see it.
also, considering that WWE only makes about $50 million net profit a year, this is a HUGE gamble. if it doesn't pan out, they basically threw away almost half their net profit for the entire year.
Do Vince and the powers-that-be really see mayweather bringing in an additional 400,000 buys at $50 a head? Really?
You would probably know better than me, but it would seem to me that the problem with this math is that it assumes the only way Mayweather can have a positive impact on WWE finances is through Wrestlemania PPV buys. I would assume WWE is hoping the massive exposure Mayweather's presence gets them draws some extra business in a long-term sense.
Of course, when they did that with Tyson, it was brilliant, because it was the same PPV that crowned the biggest star the company's ever had. This time, it looks like there will be nothing new to keep a potentially new audience.
Originally posted by Guru ZimYour math assumes that the cable company / satellite company / PPV company aren't getting a cut. I assure you, they are.
And a sizable cut at that, if I recall correctly. I don't recall (and maybe never knew) the exact percentages, but I think WWE would need something like 800,000 extra orders to turn a profit, not an extra 400,000.
Of course, advertising costs money too, and with the Mayweather signing, they're getting a fair bit of it for free (apparently - I haven't seen any, but I don't watch real sports or sports channels - presumably it's out there).
It's on yahoo? It HAS to be true. Oh wait, they got their news from Floyd's manager and Shane McMahon? Ok, now I believe it. They would never ever exaggerate.
Please wake me when somebody that's not Beth Harris reports on this. Perhaps something on WWE corporate website, where they have to address the stockholders.
First off Shane (Spear, not McMahon) is right. $20m is likely the maximum value of the contract which'll probably never be realised. Kinda like a standard NFL contract where only a fraction of that is guaranteed.
Publicising the upside allows WWE to push it as the richest fight in wrestling history, and Floyd to talk up what a big draw he is. The throwing out money thing kinda emphasises that it's a publicity stunt.
Second, whatever, he's being paid shouldn't be compared directly to Tyson's. The latter is a bigger name without question, but the PPV business was a relative young pup and his boxing career was heading pooper-wards when he went to WM. Floyd's bargaining position is much stronger.
Third, it's not one night's work. He's already been at a couple live events, and will doubtless attend a lot of PR events over the next month too. Like this one. Not that his hourly rate will be anything to sniff at, but let's not exaggerate.
The 'what about the effect on morale?' argument I have some sympathy with as whatever he actually takes away will dwarf what most of the guys on the roster earn. That said, if the guys in question are under the illusion that they should be paid according to the hours they put in and not the money they can draw, they may have misunderstood the concept of capitalism and the WWE really shouldn't have to pander to silly. Even the lowest of low estimates for the revenue (direct and indirect) Floyd will attract will be several times higher than the revenue that say, Trevor Murdoch or Val Venis are likely to account for over the next twelve months.
Finally, even ignoring all of the above, dividing his earnings by WWE's take of a PPV buy doesn't give you the number of buys they need for this to work. His presence will also generate revenue through:
a. Free publicity. WM will now be discussed in more main stream media, and advertsing taken out during any programming when it is discussed may prove more effective (drip, drip effect of marketing).
b. Online advertising. Plenty folks will hop along to wwe.com to find out about Floyd's appearance meaning more views for the Adserver. It should also attract a few new advertisers. Some of these may find the views and click-through rates achieved will be higher than elsewhere and direct ad revenue to the WWE over the long term.
c. Merchandising. I'm assuming they'll have some Mayweather-memorabilia kicking around at WM.
Throw in the possibility of attracting more crossover stars in the future, retaining lapsed viewers who will now buy WM, the impact on the WWE brand of being associated with Mayweather and a multitude of other things I'm too lazy to list and the equation becomes much too complex for any of us to offer an informed opinion.
I hope I don't come across as a wise ass. It's really not my intention. I haven't a scooby if this'll work out financially for them. My point is just that, right now, none of us do so debating it is a little futile.
Originally posted by BigDaddyLocoJust what kind of buys did his big fight with De La Hoya get? What about his non De La Hoya fights? Does he pull in big numbers for boxing?
According to Wikipedia, Mayweather/DLH got 2.4M buys (which set a record, besting Tyson/Holyfield II).
As for his last fight vs. Ricky Hatton, Wikipedia doesn't say, but if I remember right, it was somewhere near 850,000 buys (someone can feel free to correct this if I'm off).
I just hope that Mayweather does the J-O-B to the Big Show, but most wrestling fans know that is a virtual impossibility thus making the match all that worthless to begin with. Poor Big Show - you'd think he'd know by now that messing with a superstar from another sport will do jack and squat for his career. Hopefully he's getting compensated well for making that punk look good.
Originally posted by BigDaddyLocoJust what kind of buys did his big fight with De La Hoya get? ... Does he pull in big numbers for boxing?
Originally posted by farticleHowever, few expected it to break the all-time record for buys or the all-time revenue record.
HBO PPV announced on Wednesday that the match between Mayweather -- the pound-for-pound king -- and De La Hoya -- the sport's most popular fighter -- eclipsed the buy mark of 1.99 million, set by the 1997 Evander Holyfield-Mike Tyson heavyweight championship ear-bite rematch, and the revenue record of $112 million, set by the 2002 Lennox Lewis-Tyson heavyweight title fight.
The new records: an astonishing 2.15 million buys, a number that will increase once all the buys are fully accounted for (the fight could easily surpass 2.2 million buys), and a gargantuan $120 million in pay-per-view revenue.
That said, I am far from convinced that the big round exorbitant-sounding figure of $20 million is real. I am also far from convinced that this will be more successful than Trump, which just seemed like it made for a much more intriguing dynamic.
Originally posted by ReverendPoor Big Show - you'd think he'd know by now that messing with a superstar from another sport will do jack and squat for his career.
Jack and squat, he's going to get a main event payoff for a show that'll probably do a million buys.
Originally posted by JustinShapiroJack and squat, he's going to get a main event payoff for a show that'll probably do a million buys.
Yes, he will probably get a little boost in payoff from this like he did with Akebono, like Lashley and Umaga probably got from last year's crap with the Donald, like Bart Gunn probably did with Butterbean and like Bam Bam Bigelow probably did with Lawrence Taylor. He probably won't make a fraction of what Mayweather does and with the exception of the women's match, it's probably the least anticipated match on the card because 1) Fans know it will suck, and 2) Fans already know who's going to win.
I've always said that I won't consider that title worth anything until Triple H loses it to someone, and that person loses it *to someone else*. As long as it's either 1) Triple H's title, or 2)