New De La Hoya-Mayweather Tally: 2.4 Million PPV Buys

HBO Adjusts Report for Record Fight

By R. Thomas Umstead -- Multichannel News, 10/30/2007 8:28:00 AM

Home Box Office’s record-setting May 5 Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather pay-per-view fight delivered an even bigger performance knockout than originally thought.

HBO on Monday said the event, in which Mayweather won a close decision, drew 2.4 million buys and $134.4 million in PPV revenue, up from original estimates of 2.15 million buys and $120 million in revenue. The new figures further extend the fight’s industry record-setting mark, exceeding the previous high of 1.99 million buys for both the 1997 Evander Holyfield-Mike Tyson and the $106 million generated by the 2002 Lennox Lewis-Tyson heavyweight fight.

HBO Sports senior vice president of sports operations Mark Taffet said late tallies from digital cable boxes accounted for the fight’s buy and revenue increases. Overall, cable systems drew 1.4 million buys while satellite services represented 1 million of the purchases for the fight, which retailed at $54.95.

“We had a very thorough sample at the time, but when both the cable and satellite distributors went back over the past couple of months and looked at the numbers, they had a number of buys that were recorded late,” he said.

“I’m really pleased for all of our distributors that the fight performed so well. Their support for this event and all of our HBO PPV events is outstanding and much appreciated, and it’s a real pleasure to see them reap the rewards of their hard work,” he added.