Floyd Mayweather vs. Marcos Maidana: Is Boxing Pricing out Its Biggest Fans?
Thinking about becoming a boxing fan? You might want to reconsider, because on top of all the other shenanigans boxing fans have to put up with on a regular basis—promotional battles keeping the best fights from being made, incompetent judges ruining those that do get made and the overall dysfunction and discord that permeates the sport—being a boxing fan is really expensive.
Boxing fans pay a premium to enjoy the sport. Unlike in football, baseball, basketball and other sports, in order to watch boxing, fans have to part with their hard-earned money at almost every turn. Whether watching from the living room or in person, a boxing spectator has to pay.
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It starts with the sport's two largest cable distributors in the U.S., HBO and Showtime. Both services are add-ons to already skyrocketing monthly cable bills. Intend to follow the sport closely? You’ll need both, totaling around $30 a month.
Of course, HBO and Showtime won’t air the biggest and best fights as part of their regular subscription packages. Nope, those fights—the ones every boxing follower needs to watch in order to enjoy the biggest and best stars the sport has to offer—will run $50 to $75 apiece. And don’t worry, those happen almost every month.
Of course, all that’s just so you can enjoy watching fights on television. Want to attend a fight in person? You’ll have to pay much more.
BoxingInsider.com's Ivan Goldman noted how crazy things were getting before last year's Floyd Mayweather vs. Saul "Canelo" Alvarez bout. "The death of boxing has been predicted many times, and the predictors were always wrong," Goldman said. "They’re still wrong, but it’s in a bad way and sinking."
A good gauge of just how outrageous the situation has become is Saturday’s Mayweather vs. Marcos Maidana 2 event at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Tickets range from $350 to $1,600 on Ticketmaster. Mayweather is the biggest star in the sport. Want to see him do this thing in person? You’ll have to cough up the dough.
Of course, ringside seats are sold out after being snatched up by ticket brokers, a practice that ends up costing fight fans even more. At the time of publication, StubHub was offering ringside seats starting around $3,200.
Mariel, a 34-year-old general manager from the Washington D.C. area, told Bleacher Report spending an exorbitant amount of money on tickets was one of the worst things about being a boxing fan.
"I hate purchasing tickets for more than the obvious reason of it being so expensive. For most venues, the really good seats are also typically already bought up by third parties prior to the presale. There has only been a handful of times that I was able to get the front row. For the most part, they start selling tickets at row five and beyond."
Still, Mariel says she’s used third-party brokers like StubHub that charge double the retail price to get the seat she wanted.
Mariel isn’t alone.
Jimmy, a 39-year-old private banker from Phoenix, said he uses big fights as a way to take mini-vacations with his family at least twice a year. And what’s the prevailing theme of his trips?
"The cost seems to go up each time we go," he said.
Other sports aren’t immune to high ticket prices. Fans of the NFL and NBA, in particular, have been shoved higher and higher into the nosebleeds—and sometimes even back to their couches—as businesses continue to scoop up tickets with the idea that sporting events can be used to help lure big-money clients into potential business deals.
Moreover, sports in general have turned into a booming enterprise. According to NJ.com, Super Bowl tickets last year ranged from $800 to $2,500 at face value and were marked up by brokers accordingly in the secondary market.
Still, boxing fans seem to consistently get the short end of the stick. While the Super Bowl is a pricey ticket, it’s also the culmination of a playoff between the best teams of America’s most popular sport. If boxing were run like the NFL, for example, how many times would Mayweather have faced Manny Pacquiao by now?
Instead, boxing is a sport governed by independent agencies with competing interests. The long and short of a system like this is that there are way too many fights that never get made.
Yet, it’s important to note that those who love boxing shoulder the burden willingly. There’s just something that seems to draw them to the sport. So despite the increase in prices, demand remains high for events such as Mayweather-Maidana.
"When Mayweather and Maidana met in May, the average price [for a ticket on the secondary market] was $881.41," said Ashley Kubiszyn, a marketing and communications director for TicketCity. "For this weekend’s match, it is up to $1,167.98, an impressive increase of 33%. That definitely shows that the demand is high and fans are excited."
Boxing offers an atmosphere unlike any other sport in the world. There are simply no moments in sports as full of electrifying intensity as those before a professional prizefight.
Colin, a 33-year-old from Scotland, said he attended his first two fights over the last year to experience the spills and thrills of boxing firsthand.
"I've been watching fights on TV for years, and this year, and since time and finances allowed it, I decided to attend a couple in person to sample the atmosphere and compare the difference between watching the fights in person to on TV," Colin said.
Then there is Morrison, who traveled to Belfast for Carl Frampton vs. Hugo Cazares and New York for Miguel Cotto vs. Sergio Martinez. He was not disappointed.
"On both trips, I loved the atmosphere," Morrison said. "The highlight for a hardcore boxing fan like me, though, was definitely being there in person, seeing the boxers in the flesh, how they move in the ring, being able to clearly see footwork, which TV sometimes doesn't capture, and how they pick their shots and react to being hit."
While Morrison conceded ticket prices are getting too high in general, he also didn’t seem that concerned.
"I think the high-end tickets generally are too expensive…but the good thing about boxing is that there are many price categories, so you should be able to find something that suits your budget," he said. "I understand the promoters are trying to make money and the fighters need to be well-rewarded for their efforts, so I think most of the time the pricing structure for boxing is correct."
Still, with tickets, travels costs and other expenses, Morrison said putting the money away for the trips he took over the last year required significant effort.
"I worked a boatload of overtime to cover the costs of both trips so I wasn't taking money out of the household budget or savings," he said.
As Morrison shows, fight fans are some of the most dedicated people in the world. Promoters would be wise to recognize their value as catalysts for change—and listen to their ideas as to how to make boxing better.
Mariel said for the large amount of money fans are expected to pay on fight night, the events have been a bit lackluster in her experience, especially the undercards. Mariel believes fights that appear to be mismatches should cost much less.
"They are way too expensive," she said. "It’s a shame that the ticket I bought for the Guillermo Rigondeaux-Joseph Agbeko fight cost $225.75, and the place was empty.
"There were plenty of seats available, and I’m sure the promoter knew that it would not sell out, as it was already placed in the small ballroom of Boardwalk Hall. For a fight like that, tickets should have been less expensive, such as it was for Terence Crawford-Yuriorkis Gamboa, which was $114.50 for ringside and CenturyLink Center arena was packed!”
Mariel said she believes promoters would be wise to offer repeat customers special deals or even season passes, something other sports' fans already enjoy.
Though the fans interviewed have been big spenders in the past, all are passing on Mayweather-Maidana 2 this weekend.
"No way," Mariel said. "I went to the Mayweather fights last year, and the tickets were way overpriced. I paid $400 for some nosebleed seats and everything at the resorts were overpriced during that time frame compared to a non-Mayweather weekend."
And while Mayweather remains the biggest draw in the sport, many criticize him for not taking the most challenging fights.
"I think it's pretty much a foregone conclusion as to who will win this fight and how," said Morrison, who expects "Money" to win on points. "The excitement of going to a 50-50 matchup is missing in this one."
Jimmy said he wouldn't be going either, meaning at least three fans will be saving their money this weekend by watching Mayweather-Maidana from home.
Of course, they won’t be saving all of their money. After all, this is boxing.
Kelsey McCarson writes for Bleacher Report and TheSweetScience.com. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand.
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