<
>

Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor pulled in 4.3M domestic PPV buys, $600M

The fight happened on Aug. 26, but on Thursday, Showtime released the pay-per-view figure for the novelty boxing match between Floyd Mayweather and UFC superstar Conor McGregor -- and it was a big one.

The fight generated 4.3 million domestic pay-per-view buys and more than $600 million in total revenue, Showtime announced.

Those figures are good for second place all time behind Mayweather's 2015 decision win against Manny Pacquiao in their long-awaited welterweight title unification showdown at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

That fight sold 4.6 million pay-per-view units and generated more than $600 million -- more than Mayweather-McGregor.

Mayweather (50-0, 27 KOs) ended a two-year retirement to face McGregor in a junior middleweight bout in his pro boxing debut and registered a 10th-round knockout at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas

In the days after the fight, Stephen Espinoza, the Showtime Sports executive vice president and general manager, said the fight would come in at more than 4 million buys, but the reason is took so long to announce a solid number was because they were uncertain whether the fight would break the Mayweather-Pacquiao record, and they didn't want to announce a figure without being certain.

By comparison, most PPV numbers typically take anywhere between one to three weeks to be announced.

"The pairing of Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor brought together two very significant and distinct global fan bases in one truly unprecedented event," Espinoza told ESPN. "The remarkable results are all the more impressive considering that the planning, marketing and execution took place across a span of just 72 days from the initial announcement to fight night. Together Showtime and Mayweather have now accounted for the three highest grossing pay-per-view events of all time."

Mayweather-McGregor already had locked down the second biggest gate ever with $55,414,865.79 in ticket sales, according to the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

Mayweather-Pacquiao set the record with ticket sales of $72,198,500.