HBO’s Dec. 8 Floyd Mayweather-Ricky Hatton pay-per-view boxing event punched out 850,000 buys, providing a fitting end to a record-setting year for the pay TV network.
The fight, in which Mayweather scored a 10th round knockout over the previously undefeated Hatton to retain his welterweight championship, drew $47 million in revenue, the highest tally ever for a PPV boxing match that did not feature a heavyweight fighter such as Mike Tyson or Evander Holyfield, or a Latino fighter like Oscar De La Hoya.
“Mayweather-Hatton was one of boxing’s most memorable nights of the past decade and was the perfect ending to a resurgent year for the sport,” said Mark Taffet, HBO senior VP of sports operations and PPV.
Indeed, Mayweather-Hatton capped off a year in which HBO PPV generated a record 4.8 million buys and $255 million in PPV revenue, outdistancing the previous record of 4 million buys and $200 million in revenue set in 1999.
The 2007 revenue take included the May 5 Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather event, which registered a PPV record 2.4 million buys and $134 million in PPV revenue.
