Regardless of the result, there will be two big winners in Las Vegas this Saturday…
With just days left to go until Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor, the hype is reaching fever pitch. Not everyone is sold on the idea, as one glimpse at Ticket Master shows the T-Mobile Arena is far from being sold out.
Apparently even after their shallow four-day world tour, Mayweather and McGregor are unlikely to break the attendance record. That said, the grossly inflated ticket prices will probably make this the highest gate, or in the ball park.
Given the high profile nature of both athletes, is it possible for MayMac to flop?
Credit: ESPN’s Darren Rovell
So McGregor will be making some serious cheese, but there’s a lot more on the line. Mayweather will be making in the region of $183K per second, both figures are assuming the fight goes the 12-round distance.
Ironically the MMA or McGregor fans who are placing bets in Vegas could actually break the bank. An insane 95% of bets placed are for McGregor, and the Vegas bookies are literally bricking it:
Money in The Drain or a Drain on Vegas?
According to a report on Bloody Elbow, the Sin City betting offices are sweating like crackheads:
“This is like hanging -3 on the Super Bowl and seeing the line move to -8,” Jay Rood, vice president of MGM Resorts race and sports, told ESPN, revealing his company’s current ticket ratio of 25-1. Last month it was 50-1. “This could be the worst loss in the history of MGM Resorts.”
“Ultimately, we want to be in a position where we win a significant amount on Mayweather, but we don’t want to be destroyed if McGregor wins,” John Murray, a manager and oddsmaker at the Las Vegas Westgate Superbook, said. “We don’t want this fight to cost us our whole year.”
According to UFC welterweight veteran Dan Hardy, it’s Conor McGregor vs. the entire boxing world:
McGregor vs. Boxing
“One thing that stuck out for me during the press tour is that Conor doesn’t necessarily feel like he’s against Floyd Mayweather in this fight,” Hardy said. “I think he feels like he’s against boxing, because all the criticism and disrespect that’s coming toward Conor in the buildup to this fight is coming from respected people in the boxing community and people who work for Showtime.”
“When Floyd’s on the stage saying they can fight in the octagon, with four-ounce gloves, he says it with that tough guy attitude – but everybody in the arena knows he’s full of (expletive),” Hardy said. “The general fans, even the boxing fans, whether they’re lying to themselves or not, are educated enough to know the reality without it playing out.
“We don’t need to see Floyd step into the octagon and get James Toney-ed, to know that’s exactly what would happen. It’s a foregone conclusion and not even up for question. The only reason people would tune into that is for the satisfaction of seeing Floyd getting his little head squeezed off.”
“There is a question of what would happen if we take an MMA fighter and put him in with one of the best boxers of all time,” Hardy said. “That’s the argument in and of itself, because millions of people will buy pay-per-views to see that question be asked and answered. That wouldn’t happen if Floyd Mayweather crossed over into MMA.”
