Las Vegas: This weekend’s heavyweight fight between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder will generate more than $200 million, according to one of its promoters.
The much-anticipated title fight on Saturday night in Las Vegas, is on pace to be “the biggest boxing match in years,” said Bob Arum, chief executive officer of Top Rank Boxing, which represents Fury. .
The biggest source of revenue will be US pay-per-view purchases, which Arum projected would be $160 million (about two million buys at $79.99 a pop). The second-biggest pool is likely PPV purchases in Fury’s native UK, which are expected to be around $20 million, despite the fight airing in the middle of the night.
Ticket sales at the MGM Grand Garden Arena are on pace to top $16 million. Add in revenue from merchandise, sponsorships, closed-circuit sales and other foreign media, and the fight will eclipse $200 million, Arum said.
Once the networks and satellite providers get their cut and shared costs are removed, the pool available to the two sides should be around $150 million, which Arum said will be split evenly with each fighter’s promoter. The total paid to each fighter directly depends on his deal with his promoter - Arum said Fury’s deal gives the boxer 70 per cent, with Top Rank keeping the remaining 30 per cent.
Using rough maths, that means Fury could clear around $50 million from the bout, regardless of the outcome.
“It’s a huge, huge, huge pot of money,” Arum said.
Premier Boxing Champions, which has a deal with Wilder, declined to comment on the financial details of the fight, or its deal with the fighter.
While the fight may set revenue records for a heavyweight bout, it won’t be the most lucrative fight in history. Floyd Mayweather’s long-awaited fight with Manny Pacquiao in 2015 generated a reported as much as $600 million, by far the most ever for a boxing match.
This is the second time that Wilder (42-0-1) and Fury (29-0-1) have fought. Their first bout, in December 2018, ended in a draw after Fury was knocked down in the final round and improbably got back up to keep fighting.
