Mayweather-Pacquiao: Tussle Breaks Out Over Fees
The most lucrative fight in boxing history continues to have sidebar drama from every angle. Welterweight champions Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao will finally collide on May 2nd from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
HBO (representing Pacquiao) and Showtime (representing Mayweather) are coming together to stage the highly anticipated pay-per-view event.
To date, neither network has revealed the pay-per-view price tag. There appears to be a good reason for the delay.
According to the Dow Jones Business News, HBO/Showtime requested a 70-30 split from the pay-television distributors. The paper says typically the split for a pay-per-view event between distributors and programmers is around 50-50. The pay-per-view is expected to have, according to DJBN, a suggested price of $90 dollars - a record high.
The HBO/Showtime offer of 70-30 was quickly rejected by providers. DJBN says there has been little movement from either side since.
"Everybody at some point will hopefully be rational and we'll be able to put our heads together and come up with a good solution. We're not there yet," said Michael Berman, executive vice president and general counsel of iN Demand, which negotiates on behalf of big cable operators including Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable Inc.
Because of the high demand for this fight, HBO and Showtime are balking at a 50-50 split. The representatives of both fighters will have to sign off on any split agreement.
"I wouldn't agree to [a 50-50 split]," said Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum, who promotes Pacquiao. "I really believe everybody agrees that there has to be a more generous split and they are in the process of working out what it will be."
http://www.boxingscene.com/mayweather-pacquiao-tussle-breaks-out-over-fees--89108