Mayweather Vs. Pacquiao: Marketing the Fight of the Century

On May 2, 2015 five-division boxing world champion, Floyd Mayweather, took on eight-division world champion, Manny Pacquiao. Sure, this may sound like just another fight to most-- but for many the Mayweather Vs. Pacquiao fight was promised to be the "Fight of Century" - whether is actually was is to be debated.

History

Floyd Mayweather is 38 years old and, in 47 fights, has never lost. In June 2008, Mayweather announced his retirement despite a lingering rematch with fighter Oscar De La Hoya. While Mayweather stepped away from the limelight, Pacquiao defeated the infamous Oscar De La Hoya, bringing the spotlight on himself. While Pacquiao climbed the latter of fame, defeating one undefeated fighter after the other, Mayweather decided to return from his short retirement in 2009. Talks to arrange a fight between the up-and-coming and the legend began, and a fight was arranged for 2010. With the papers signed and the tickets sold, Mayweather requested an Olympic style drug test to ensure that Pacquiao wasn’t doping, to which Pacquiao refused. With a drop of the hat, Mayweather Vs. Pacquiao was dead.

There was a second round of negoations where Pacquiao declared that he would agree to Mayweather’s demands, but on the same day, Mayweather decided he would be taking the rest of 2010 and possibly 2011 off. In December of 2014, negotiations for tonight’s fight began. Mayweather proposed a May 2^nd fight with Pacquiao citing the people and his fans as the reason for the newest fight attempt. On January 13, Pacquiao agreed and the fight was on. Both fighters agreed to an Olympic style drug test. Tickets for the fight sold out within minutes. Some second hand ticket sellers are asking in the six figure range for the best seats in the house.

The Broadcast

Pacquiao Vs. Mayweather will be a joint broadcast with HBO and Showtime. The fight will be on pay-per-view for $89.95, a 40% increase from the cost of Mayweather’s previous fights. Recently, representatives of the two fighters sued illegal downloading sites to prevent illegal viewing of the fight.

The Marketing

While this fight could have basically marketed itself from the previous hype of failed fights, some brilliant marketing ploys have been utilized. In Pacquiao’s home country of the Philippines, McDonalds came out with an advertisement for their McFlurry, stating, “Beat the May Weather”. This clever advertising capitalized on the bias of the Philippines to their native Pacquiao while positioning themselves to sell McFlurries to Pacquiao supporters.

In addition to external marketing ploys, there was also a bit of marketing genius employed by the event creators. Word on the street is that front row tickets for the fight sold originally for close to $300k. Moreover, Forbes reports that "Tickets for the fight did not go on sale until April 23, less than two weeks before the bout, as Top Rank, Mayweather Promotions and the MGM Grand squabbled over ticket allotments."

Good work, guys.

Where to Watch

Since Mayweather Vs. Pacquiao is going to the "Fight of the Century", it would be a shame to miss the excitement. Some cities have published a list of places, such as bars, restaurants, and hotels, where the fight will be aired. If you can’t make it out for the fight... or don’t want to leave the comfort and safety of your own home but still don’t want to pay all 90 bucks... having a viewing party will cut the cost. Do a potluck and ask everyone to donate 5 dollars to the cause. The more the merrier!

The fight has obviously taken place since this blog was first published. Who did you root for? Were you surprised by the outcome? Let us know in the comments below :)