Shortly after UFC superstar Conor McGregor went toe-to-toe with undefeated pugilist legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. inside the squared circle back in the summer of 2017, UFC President Dana White proclaimed the event a grand success. “Notorious” lost his professional boxing debut by way of TKO, but still walked away with an estimated $100 million for his performance.
Beyond that, White would go on to claim that the highly anticipated sporting event shattered the esteemed record for most pay-per-view sales previously held by Mayweather vs. Pacquiao. However, Showtime quickly came forward with a contested statement soon after.
Showtime posted a global press release which claimed that Mayweather vs. McGregor was only the second highest selling pay-per-view, rather than the record breaking first.
Here is Showtime’s full press release:
SHOWTIME SPORTS confirmed today that the SHOWTIME PPV presentation of Mayweather vs. McGregor on August 26, 2017 generated 4.3 million pay-per-view buys in North America. This includes traditional television distribution and online portals such as the new SHOWTIME PPV app and SHOWTIMEPPV.com as well as UFC.TV in U.S. and Canada.
Mayweather vs. McGregor, a four-fight SHOWTIME PPV boxing event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, officially stands as the second largest pay-per-view event of all time behind Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, which set the North American pay-per-view mark at 4.6 million buys in 2015. The SHOWTIME PPV totals for Mayweather vs. McGregor far exceed the now third best event in history—nearly doubling the 2.48 million buys for Oscar De La Hoya vs. Mayweather in 2007.
The total global revenue from the event including ticket sales, sponsorship and international distribution exceeds $600 million, which—along with Mayweather vs. Pacquiao— is among the largest for a single-day sporting event of all time. Mayweather and SHOWTIME PPV now account for the three highest grossing pay-per-view events in television history with the third-ranked event Mayweather vs. Canelo from 2013.
Dana White would go on to criticize Showtime for the report, claiming the promotion is “full of sh*t.”
Speaking to Yahoo Sports, White stated:
“I don’t give a sh*t about Showtime’s f**king full of sh*t press release they put out, it’s the biggest fight ever, ever in combat sports history. The thing did over 6.7 million buys, and if the service didn’t drop we would have got closer to 7 million. It was the biggest boxing event ever, without a boxer… The way that they handled that press release, and what they did. I didn’t trust those guys before and now I despise those f**king guys. I’ll never work with them again, ever.”
Executive vice president and general manager of Showtime, Stephen Espinoza was quick to retaliate with some criticism of his own. Firing back at Dana White, Espinoza stated:
“Sounds like he’s upset because we committed the cardinal sin of telling the truth (when we released the accurate total for N. American PPV buys on MayMac).
“Strange that telling the truth, in a press release vetted by all parties in advance, is something to be ‘despised’ for.”
Sounds like he's upset because we committed the cardinal sin of telling the truth (when we released the accurate total for N. American PPV buys on MayMac).
Strange that telling the truth, in a press release vetted by all parties in advance, is something to be "despised" for. https://t.co/rFxKXz0Bjz
— Stephen Espinoza (@StephenEspinoza) January 5, 2018
Now “Notorious” himself has decided to get involved in the heated exchange. Taking to Twitter, Conor McGregor offered a heated message to the Showtime executive.
“Shut your weasel mouth. Who gives a f*ck about the North American numbers when we are the GLOBAL KINGS you shmuck. WORLDWIDE. No.1!”
Shut your weasel mouth. Who gives a fuck about the North American numbers when we are the GLOBAL KINGS you shmuck. WORLDWIDE. No.1! https://t.co/tq5Gj1Os7Y
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) January 5, 2018
