Whispers a massive price hike from the usual fees have some British punters running for cover ahead of the Pay-Per-View reveal by the powers that be.
Sky Sports Box Office, favourites to land the broadcast, charge £19.95 for top of the line events likes Mayweather v Manny Pacquiao or Anthony Joshua v Wladimir Klitschko, whilst BoxNation and BT Sport may potentially be willing to charge higher in their quest to appeal more.
It’s debatable whether UK punters would go any further north than around £24.95, but this hasn’t stopped speculation Mayweather v McGregor could retail at far more.
Social media figures are upwards of £59.99 and some even over the three figure mark, although any price of that nature could represent suicide for the event across the Atlantic.
The likelier figure would be between the £19.95 or £24.95 (one off) as Mayweather and McGregor prepare to line their pockets with wads of cash next month.
Despite a US announcement earlier this month, prices for the Mayweather v McGregor Pay-Per-View on United Kingdom and Irish shores have been delayed, potentially even to early next week.
Mayweather v McGregor has settled on a fee of $89.95 (standard viewing) and $99.95 in HD for the United States market, although McGregor did say tongue-in-cheek that he wanted it to sell for $120.
Sky Sports, and BT Sport / BoxNation continue to be the frontrunners to land exclusive rights, and despite recently broadcasting the London leg of the ‘MayMac World Tour, ITV Box Office are said to be completely out of the bidding.
It’s no secret Sky Sports have the most pulling power – financially, although BT Sport have close ties to UFC which they will be hoping is a factor in the decision.
BT Sport and BoxNation together have already confirmed their new Pay-Per-View format will be used for Gennady Golovkin v Canelo Alvarez on September 16, which may leave Sky with a free run at ‘MayMac’.
On the matter, UFC President Dana White said: “When you talk about superfights, this is a superfight – two different guys from two different sports going in and putting it on the line.
“Obviously, you can’t charge what you would normally charge for a pay-per-view… it’s the biggest fight ever in the history of pay-per-view.”
