Pay-per-view

Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television service by which a subscriber of a television service provider can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it (as opposed to video-on-demand systems, which allow viewers to see recorded broadcasts at any time). Events can be purchased using an on-screen guide, an automated telephone system, or through a live customer service representative. Events often include feature films, sporting events, and other entertainment programs. With the rise of the Internet, the term Internet pay-per-view (iPPV) has been used to describe pay-per-view services accessed online. PPV is most commonly used to distribute combat sports events, such as boxing, mixed martial arts, and sports entertainment such as professional wrestling.

North America

United States

The Zenith Phonevision system became the first pay-per-view system to be tested in the United States. Developed in 1951, it used telephone lines to take and receive orders, as well as to descramble a television broadcast signal. The field tests conducted for Phonevision lasted for 90 days and were tested in Chicago, Illinois. The system used IBM punch cards to descramble a signal broadcast during the broadcast station's "off-time". Both systems showed promise, but the Federal Communications Commission denied them the permits to operate.[1]

One of the earliest pay-per-view systems on cable television, the Optical Systems-developed Channel 100, first began service in 1972 in San Diego, California through Mission Cable[2] (which was later acquired by Cox Communications) and TheaterVisioN, which operated out of Sarasota, Florida. These early systems quickly went out of business, as the cable industry adopted satellite technology and as flat-rate pay television services such as Home Box Office (HBO) became popular.

Boxing was first introduced to pay-per-view with the "Thrilla in Manila" fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in September 1975 (which was also transmitted through HBO); there was also another major title fight aired on pay-per-view in 1980, when Roberto Durán defeated Sugar Ray Leonard. Cable companies offered the match for $10, and about 155,000 customers paid to watch the fight.[3][4]

A major pay-per-view event occurred on September 16, 1981, when Sugar Ray Leonard fought Thomas "Hitman" Hearns for the World Welterweight Championship. Viacom Cablevision in Nashville, Tennessee – the first system to offer the event – saw over 50 percent of its subscriber base purchase the fight. Leonard visited Nashville to promote the fight, and the event proved such a success that Viacom themed its annual report for that year around it. Viacom marketing director Pat Thompson put together the fight, and subsequently put together additional PPV fights, wrestling matches, and even a televised Broadway play.

After leaving Viacom, Thompson became head of Sports View and produced the first pay-per-view football game on October 16, 1983, a college football game between the University of Tennessee and the University of Alabama from Birmingham, Alabama. Sports View played a role in building pay-per-view networks, and became the early pioneer in developing TigerVision for Louisiana State University, TideVision for Alabama and UT Vol Seat for Tennessee. Sports View also produced the Ohio State-Michigan football game for pay-per-view in November 1983.

In 1985, the first pay-per-view cable channels in the United States – Viewer's Choice (now In Demand), Cable Video Store, First Choice and Request TV – began operation within days of each other. Viewer's Choice serviced both home satellite dish and cable customers, while Request TV, though broadcasting to cable viewers, would not become available to satellite subscribers until the 1990s. First Choice PPV was available on Rogers Cablesystems in the United States and Canada. After Paragon Cable acquired the Rogers Cablesystems franchise in San Antonio, Texas, First Choice continued to be carried until Time Warner Cable bought Paragon in 1996. In the United States, pay-per-view broadcasters transmit without advertisements, similar to conventional flat-rate pay television services.

The term "pay-per-view" did not come into general use until the late 1980s when companies such as Viewer's Choice, HBO and Showtime started using the system to show movies and some of their productions. Viewer's Choice carried movies, concerts and other events, with live sporting events such as WrestleMania being the most predominant programming. Prices ranged from $3.99 to $49.99, while HBO and Showtime, with their event production legs TVKO and SET Pay Per View, would offer championship boxing matches ranging from $14.99 to $54.99.

ESPN later began to televise college football and basketball games on pay-per-view through its services ESPN GamePlan and ESPN Full Court, which were eventually sold as full-time out-of-market sports packages. The boxing undercard Latin Fury, shown on June 28, 2003, became ESPN's first boxing card on pay-per-view and also the first pay-per-view boxing card held in Puerto Rico. Pay-per-view has provided a revenue stream for professional wrestling circuits such as WWE, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), Ring of Honor (ROH) and Lucha Libre AAA World Wide (AAA).

WWE chairman and chief executive officer Vince McMahon is considered by many as one of the icons of pay-per-view promotion. McMahon owns the domain name payperview.com, which redirects to the WWE Network website.[5]

HBO PPV

In 2006, HBO generated 3.7 million pay-per-view buys with $177 million in gross sales. The only year with more buys previously, 1999, had a total of 4 million. The former record fell in 2007 when HBO sold 4.8 million PPV buys with $255 million in sales.[6] In 2014, HBO generated 59.3 million buys and $3.1 billion in revenue since its 1991 debut with Evander Holyfield-George Foreman.[7]

1999 differed radically from 2006: 1999 saw four major fight cards: De La Hoya-Trinidad (1.4 million buys), Holyfield-Lewis I (1.2 million), Holyfield-Lewis II (850,000) and De La Hoya-Quartey (570,000). By contrast, only one pay-per-view mega-fight took place in 2006: De La Hoya-Mayorga (925,000 buys). Rahman-Maskaev bombed with under 50,000. The other eight PPV cards that year all fell in the 325,000–450,000 range. Pay-per-view fights in that range almost always generate more money for the promoter and fighters than HBO wants to pay for an HBO World Championship Boxing license-fee.

In May 2007, the super-welterweight boxing match between Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. on HBO PPV became the biggest-selling non-heavyweight title fight, with a little more than 2.5 million buyers.[8] The fight itself generated roughly $134.4 million in domestic PPV revenue, making it the most lucrative prizefight of all time at that time. The record stood until 2015 before it was broken by Floyd Mayweather, Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao in a fight dubbed as the "Fight of the Century" on May 2, 2015 which generated 4.6 million ppv buys and a revenue of over $400 million.[9]

The leading PPV attraction, Floyd Mayweather Jr. has generated approximately 19.5 million buys and $1.3 billion in revenue. Manny Pacquiao, ranked second, has generated approximately 19.2 million buys and $1.2 billion in revenue.[10][11] Oscar De La Hoya, has "sold" approximately 14 million units in total, giving $700 million in domestic television receipts and stands third. In fourth place in buys, Evander Holyfield has achieved 12.6 million units ($550 million); and at fifth, Mike Tyson has reached 12.4 million units ($545 million).[12]

Ross Greenburg, then president of HBO Sports, called the expansion of pay-per-view "the biggest economic issue in boxing", stating "I can't tell you that pay-per-view helps the sport because it doesn't. It hurts the sport because it narrows our audience, but it's a fact of life. Every time we try to make an HBO World Championship Boxing fight, we're up against mythical pay-per-view numbers. HBO doesn't make a lot of money from pay-per-view. There's usually a cap on what we can make. But the promoters and fighters insist on pay-per-view because that's where their greatest profits lie."[13]

"It's a big problem," Greenburg continues. "It's getting harder and harder to put fighters like Manny Pacquiao on HBO World Championship Boxing. If Floyd Mayweather beats Oscar, he might never fight on HBO World Championship Boxing again. But if HBO stopped doing pay-per-view, the promoters would simply do it on their own [like Bob Arum did with Cotto-Malignaggi in June 2006] or find someone else who will do it for them."[13]

Former HBO Sports President Seth Abraham concurs, saying, "I think, if Lou (DiBella) and I were still at HBO, we'd be in the same pickle as far as the exodus of fights to pay-per-view is concerned."[14]

Boxing

Select HBO, Showtime, and Top Rank PPV boxing buy-rates between 1988 and 2017:

Date Fight Result Carrier Buy rate
Jun 27, 1988 Mike Tyson vs. Michael Spinks Tyson wins by KO in round 1 HBO 700,000[15]
Oct 25, 1990 Buster Douglas vs. Evander Holyfield Holyfield wins by KO in round 3 Showtime 1,000,000[15]
Apr 19, 1991 Evander Holyfield vs. George Foreman Holyfield wins by UD (116–111, 117–110, 115–112) HBO 1,400,000[16]
Oct 18, 1991 Ray Mercer vs. Tommy Morrison Mercer wins by KO in round 5 HBO 200,000[17]
Jun 19, 1992 Evander Holyfield vs. Larry Holmes Holyfield wins by UD (117–111, 116–112, 116–112) HBO 730,000[18]
Nov 13, 1992 Evander Holyfield vs. Riddick Bowe Bowe wins by UD (117–110, 117–110, 115–112) HBO 900,000[19]
Jun 7, 1993 George Foreman vs. Tommy Morrison Morrison wins by UD (117–110, 117–110, 118–108) HBO 600,000[20]
Nov 6, 1993 Riddick Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield II Holyfield wins by MD (115–113, 115–114, 114–114) HBO 950,000[21]
Nov 18, 1994 James Toney vs. Roy Jones Jr. Jones Jr. wins by UD (119–108, 118–109, 117–110) HBO 300,000[22]
May 6, 1995 Oscar De La Hoya vs. Rafael Ruelas De La Hoya wins by TKO in round 2 HBO 330,000[23]
Aug 19, 1995 Mike Tyson vs. Peter McNeeley Tyson wins by DQ in round 1 Showtime 1,550,000[16]
Nov 4, 1995 Riddick Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield III Bowe wins by TKO in round 8 HBO 650,000[24]
Mar 16, 1996 Frank Bruno vs. Mike Tyson II Tyson wins by TKO in round 3 Showtime 1,370,000[16]
Sep 7, 1996 Bruce Seldon vs. Mike Tyson Tyson wins by TKO in round 1 Showtime 1,150,000[16]
Nov 9, 1996 Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield Holyfield wins by TKO in round 11 Showtime 1,590,000[16]
Apr 12, 1997 Pernell Whitaker vs. Oscar De La Hoya De La Hoya wins by UD (115–111, 116–110, 116–110) HBO 720,000[25]
Jun 28, 1997 Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson II Holyfield wins by DQ in round 3 Showtime 1,990,000[16]
Sep 13, 1997 Oscar De La Hoya vs. Héctor Camacho De La Hoya wins by UD (120–106, 120–105, 118–108) HBO 560,000[25]
Oct 4, 1997 Lennox Lewis vs. Andrew Golota Lewis wins by KO in round 1 HBO 300,000[26]
Nov 8, 1997 Evander Holyfield vs. Michael Moorer II Holyfield wins by RTD in round 8 Showtime 550,000[27]
Jan 16, 1999 Mike Tyson vs. Francois Botha Tyson wins by KO in round 5 Showtime 750,000[28]
Mar 13, 1999 Evander Holyfield vs. Lennox Lewis Draw (116–113, 113–115, 115–115) HBO 1,200,000[29]
Sep 18, 1999 Oscar De La Hoya vs. Félix Trinidad Trinidad wins by MD (115–113, 115–114, 114–114) HBO 1,400,000[16]
Nov 13, 1999 Evander Holyfield vs. Lennox Lewis II Lewis wins by UD (116–112, 117–111, 115–113) HBO 850,000[29]
Apr 29, 2000 Lennox Lewis vs. Michael Grant Lewis wins by KO in round 2 HBO 340,000[29]
Jun 17, 2000 Oscar De La Hoya vs. Shane Mosley Mosley wins by SD (116–112, 115–113, 113–115) HBO 590,000[25]
Sep 9, 2000 Roy Jones Jr. vs. Eric Harding Jones Jr. wins by RTD in round 10 HBO 125,000[30]
Oct 20, 2000 Mike Tyson vs. Andrew Golota Tyson wins by TKO in round 3 (later changed to an NC) Showtime 450,000[31]
Nov 11, 2000 Lennox Lewis vs. David Tua Lewis wins by UD (119–109, 118–110, 117–111) HBO 420,000[29]
Mar 3, 2001 Evander Holyfield vs. John Ruiz II Ruiz wins by UD (116–110, 115–111, 114–111) Showtime 185,000[32]
Apr 7, 2001 Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Naseem Hamed Barrera wins by UD (116–111, 115–112, 115–112) HBO 310,000[33]
Nov 17, 2001 Hasim Rahman vs. Lennox Lewis II Lewis wins by KO in round 4 HBO 460,000[34]
Jun 8, 2002 Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson Lewis wins by KO in round 8 HBO/Showtime 1,970,000[16]
Sep 14, 2002 Oscar De La Hoya vs. Fernando Vargas De La Hoya wins by TKO in round 11 HBO 935,000[25]
Feb 22, 2003 Mike Tyson vs. Clifford Etienne Tyson wins by KO in round 1 Showtime 100,000[32]
Mar 1, 2003 John Ruiz vs. Roy Jones Jr. Jones Jr. wins by UD (118–110, 117–111, 116–112) HBO 525,000[32]
Sep 13, 2003 Oscar De La Hoya vs. Shane Mosley II Mosley wins by UD (113–115, 113–115, 113–115) HBO 950,000[25]
Oct 4, 2003 James Toney vs. Evander Holyfield Toney wins by TKO in round 9 Showtime 150,000[35]
Nov 8, 2003 Antonio Tarver vs. Roy Jones Jr. Jones Jr. wins by MD (117–111, 116–112, 114–114) HBO 302,000[36]
May 15, 2004 Roy Jones Jr. vs. Antonio Tarver II Tarver wins by KO in round 2 HBO 360,000[37]
Sep 18, 2004 Bernard Hopkins vs. Oscar De La Hoya Hopkins wins by KO in round 9 HBO 1,000,000[25]
Dec 11, 2004 Vitali Klitschko vs. Danny Williams Klitschko wins by TKO in round 8 HBO 120,000[38]
Mar 19, 2005 Érik Morales vs. Manny Pacquiao Morales wins by UD (115–113, 115–113, 115–113) HBO 345,000[39]
Jun 11, 2005 Mike Tyson vs. Kevin McBride McBride wins by TKO in round 7 Showtime 250,000[40]
Jun 25, 2005 Arturo Gatti vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. Mayweather Jr. wins by RTD in round 6 HBO 340,000[39]
Oct 1, 2005 Antonio Tarver vs. Roy Jones Jr. III Tarver wins by UD (117–111, 116–112, 116–112) HBO 405,000[41]
Jan 21, 2006 Manny Pacquiao vs Érik Morales II Pacquiao wins by TKO in round 10 HBO 360,000[42]
Apr 8, 2006 Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Zab Judah Mayweather Jr. wins by UD (116–112, 117–111, 119–109) HBO 375,000[42]
May 6, 2006 Ricardo Mayorga vs. Oscar De La Hoya De La Hoya wins by TKO in round 6 HBO 925,000[43]
May 6, 2006 Manny Pacquiao vs. Óscar Larios Pacquiao wins by UD (117–110, 118–108, 120–106) Top Rank 120,000[44]
Nov 4, 2006 Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Carlos Baldomir Mayweather, Jr. wins by UD (120–108, 120–108, 118–110) HBO 325,000[42]
Nov 18, 2006 Manny Pacquiao vs Érik Morales III Pacquiao wins by KO in round 3 HBO 350,000[42]
Apr 14, 2007 Manny Pacquiao vs Jorge Solís Pacquiao wins by KO in round 8 Top Rank 150,000[45]
May 5, 2007 Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. Mayweather Jr. wins by SD (116–112, 115–113, 113–115) HBO 2,400,000[16]
Oct 10, 2007 Manny Pacquiao vs. Marco Antonio Barrera II Pacquiao wins by UD (118–109, 118–109, 115–112) HBO 350,000[46]
Dec 8, 2007 Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Ricky Hatton Mayweather Jr. wins by TKO in round 10 HBO 920,000[47]
Mar 15, 2008 Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Márquez II Pacquiao wins by SD (115–112, 114–113, 112–115) HBO 400,000[48]
Jun 28, 2008 David Díaz vs. Manny Pacquiao Pacquiao wins by TKO in round 9 HBO 206,000[49]
Nov 8, 2008 Joe Calzaghe vs. Roy Jones Jr. Calzaghe wins by UD (118–109, 118–109, 118–109) HBO 225,000[50]
Dec 6, 2008 Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao Pacquiao wins by RTD in round 8 HBO 1,250,000[16]
May 2, 2009 Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton Pacquiao wins by KO in round 2 HBO 850,000[51]
Sep 19, 2009 Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Juan Manuel Márquez Mayweather Jr. wins by UD (120–107, 119–108, 118–109) HBO 1,060,000[47]
Nov 14, 2009 Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto Pacquiao wins by TKO in round 12 HBO 1,250,000[52]
Mar 13, 2010 Manny Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey Pacquiao wins by UD (119–109, 119–109, 120–108) HBO 700,000[53]
Apr 3, 2010 Bernard Hopkins vs. Roy Jones Jr. II Hopkins win by UD (118–109, 117–110, 117–110) HBO 150,000[54]
May 1, 2010 Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Shane Mosley Mayweather Jr. wins by UD (119–109, 118–110, 119–109) HBO 1,400,000[16]
Nov 13, 2010 Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito Pacquiao wins by UD (120–108, 118–110, 119–109) HBO 1,150,000[55]
May 7, 2011 Manny Pacquiao vs. Shane Mosley Pacquiao wins by UD (119–108, 120–108, 120–107) Showtime 1,340,000[56]
Sep 17, 2011 Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs Victor Ortiz Mayweather Jr. wins by KO in round 4 HBO 1,250,000[57]
Nov 13, 2011 Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Márquez III Pacquiao wins by MD (115–113, 114–114, 116–112) HBO 1,400,000[58]
Dec 3, 2011 Miguel Cotto vs. Antonio Margarito II Cotto wins by RTD in round 9 HBO 600,000[59]
May 5, 2012 Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Miguel Cotto Mayweather Jr. wins by UD (117–111, 117–111, 118–110) HBO 1,500,000[60]
Jun 9, 2012 Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley Bradley wins by SD (115–113, 115–113, 115–113) HBO 890,000[61]
Sep 15, 2012 Sergio Martínez vs. Julio César Chávez Jr. Martínez wins by UD (118–109, 118–109, 117–110) HBO 475,000[62]
Dec 8, 2012 Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Márquez IV Márquez wins by KO in round 6 HBO 1,150,000[63]
May 4, 2013 Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Robert Guerrero Mayweather Jr. wins by UD (117–111, 117–111, 117–111) Showtime 1,000,000[64]
Sep 14, 2013 Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Canelo Álvarez Mayweather, Jr. wins by MD (117–111, 116–112, 114–114) Showtime 2,200,000[65]
Oct 12, 2013 Timothy Bradley vs. Juan Manuel Márquez Bradley wins by SD (115–113, 116–112, 113–115) HBO 375,000[66]
Nov 24, 2013 Manny Pacquiao vs. Brandon Ríos Pacquiao wins by UD (119–109, 120–108, 118–110) HBO 475,000[67]
Mar 8, 2014 Canelo Álvarez vs. Alfredo Angulo Álvarez wins by TKO in Round 10 Showtime 350,000[68]
Apr 12, 2014 Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley II Pacquiao wins by UD (116–112, 116–112, 118–110) HBO 800,000[69]
May 3, 2014 Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Marcos Maidana Mayweather Jr. wins by MD (114–114, 117–111, 116–112) Showtime 900,000[70]
Jun 7, 2014 Miguel Cotto vs. Sergio Martínez Cotto wins by RTD in round 10 HBO 315,000[71]
Jul 12, 2014 Canelo Álvarez vs. Erislandy Lara Álvarez wins by SD (115–113, 117–111, 113–115) Showtime 300,000[72]
Sep 13, 2014 Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Marcos Maidana II Mayweather Jr. wins by UD (116–111, 116–111, 115–112) Showtime 925,000[70]
Nov 23, 2014 Manny Pacquiao vs. Chris Algieri Pacquiao wins by UD (119–103, 119–103, 120–102) HBO 400,000[73]
May 2, 2015 Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao Mayweather Jr. wins by UD (116–112, 116–112, 118–110) HBO/Showtime 4,600,000[74]
Sep 12, 2015 Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Andre Berto Mayweather Jr. wins by UD (120–108, 118–110, 117–111) Showtime 400,000[75]
Oct 17, 2015 Gennady Golovkin vs. David Lemieux Golovkin wins via TKO in round 8 HBO 150,000[76]
Nov 21, 2015 Miguel Cotto vs. Canelo Álvarez Álvarez wins by UD (117–111, 119–109, 118–110) HBO 900,000[77]
Apr 9, 2016 Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley III Pacquiao wins by UD (116–110, 116–110, 116–110) HBO 400,000[78]
May 7, 2016 Canelo Álvarez vs. Amir Khan Álvarez wins by KO in round 6 HBO 600,000[79]
July 23, 2016 Terence Crawford vs. Viktor Postol Crawford wins by UD (118–107, 118–107, 117–108) HBO 55,000[80]
Sep 17, 2016 Canelo Álvarez vs. Liam Smith Álvarez wins by TKO in round 9 HBO 300,000[81]
Nov 5, 2016 Manny Pacquiao vs. Jessie Vargas Pacquiao wins by UD (118–109, 118–109, 114–113) Top Rank 300,000[82]
Nov 19, 2016 Sergey Kovalev vs. Andre Ward Ward wins by UD (114–113, 114–113, 114–113) HBO 165,000[83]
Mar 18, 2017 Gennady Golovkin vs. Daniel Jacobs Golovkin wins by UD (115–112, 115–112, 114–113) HBO 170,000[84]
May 6, 2017 Canelo Álvarez vs. Julio César Chávez Jr. Álvarez wins by UD (120–108, 120–108, 120–108) HBO 1,000,000[85]
Jun 17, 2017 Andre Ward vs. Sergey Kovalev II Ward wins by TKO in round 8 HBO 130,000[86]
Aug 26, 2017 Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor TBC Showtime TBA
Sep 16, 2017 Gennady Golovkin vs. Canelo Álvarez TBC HBO TBA

UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship)

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a relative newcomer on the pay-per-view scene, matched the once-dominant World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. in pay-per-view revenues during 2006 and surpassed boxing titan HBO. The three companies make up the bulk of the pay-per-view business. According to Deana Myers, a senior analyst at Kagan Research LLC (which tracks the PPV industry), "UFC has reinvigorated the pay-per-view category."[87]

The highest buy rates for the UFC as of February 2017 are as follows:

SOURCE:[88]

Note: The UFC does not release official PPV statistics, and the following PPV numbers are as reported by industry insiders.

No. Date Event Buy rate Revenue
1 Nov 12, 2016 UFC 205: Alvarez vs. McGregor 1,300,000 [89]$65 million[90]
2 Aug 20, 2016 UFC 202: Diaz vs. McGregor 2 1,650,000[91]$82.5 million[92]
3 Mar 5, 2016 UFC 196: McGregor vs. Diaz 1,500,000[93]$65 million[90]
4 Jul 11, 2009 UFC 100: Lesnar vs. Mir 2 1,600,000 $82 million
5 Dec 12, 2015 UFC 194: Aldo vs. McGregor 1,400,000 [94] $90 million
6 Jul 9, 2016 UFC 200: It's Time 1,200,000 [95]
7 Jul 3, 2010 UFC 116: Lesnar vs. Carwin 1,160,000 $55 million
8 Nov 15, 2015 UFC 193: Rousey vs. Holm 1,100,000 $60 million
9 Dec 30, 2016 UFC 207: Nunes vs. Rousey 1,100,000[96]
10 Dec 30, 2006 UFC 66: Liddell vs. Ortiz 2 1,050,000 $53 million
11 May 29, 2010 UFC 114: Rampage vs. Evans 1,050,000
12 Oct 23, 2010 UFC 121: Lesnar vs. Velasquez 1,050,000 $45 million
13 Dec 28, 2013 UFC 168: Weidman vs. Silva II 1,025,000[97]
14 Nov 15, 2008 UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar 1,010,000 $47 million
15 Dec 27, 2008 UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 1,000,000
16 Mar 16, 2013 UFC 158: St-Pierre vs. Diaz 950,000
17 Jul 7, 2012 UFC 148: Silva vs. Sonnen II 925,000
18 Jan 31, 2009 UFC 94: St-Pierre vs. Penn 2 920,000
19 Aug 1, 2015 UFC 190: Rousey vs. Correia 900,000
20 Jul 29, 2017 UFC 214: Cormier vs. Jones 2 860,000
21 Aug 8, 2009 UFC 101: Declaration 850,000
22 Jul 11, 2015 UFC 189: Mendes vs. McGregor 825,000
23 Apr 30, 2011 UFC 129: St-Pierre vs. Shields 800,000
24 Jan 3, 2015 UFC 182: Jones vs. Cormier 800,000
25 Dec 11, 2010 UFC 124: St-Pierre vs. Koscheck 2 785,000
26 Dec 30, 2011 UFC 141: Lesnar vs. Overeem 780,000
27 Mar 27, 2010 UFC 111: St-Pierre vs. Hardy 770,000

Professional wrestling

Professional wrestling has a long history of running pay-per-view events. WWE (then WWF) launched its first pay-per-view event in 1985 with The Wrestling Classic and has run numerous others throughout the years. Other major organisations such as WCW, ECW and TNA have also run pay-per-view events.

The highest buy rates for professional wrestling events as of June 2015 are as follows:[98]

No. Date Event Buy rate
1 Apr 1, 2012 WrestleMania XXVIII 1,217,000
2 Apr 1, 2007 WrestleMania 23 1,200,000
3 Apr 3, 2005 WrestleMania 21 1,085,000
4 Apr 3, 2011 WrestleMania XXVII 1,059,000
5 Mar 30, 2008 WrestleMania XXIV 1,058,000
6 Apr 7, 2013 WrestleMania 29 1,048,000
7 Apr 1, 2001 WrestleMania X-Seven 1,040,000
8 Mar 14, 2004 WrestleMania XX 1,007,000
9 Apr 2, 2006 WrestleMania 22 975,000
10 Apr 5, 2009 WrestleMania XXV 960,000
11 Mar 28, 2010 WrestleMania XXVI 885,000
12 Mar 17, 2002 WrestleMania X8 880,000
13 Apr 2, 2000 WrestleMania 2000 824,000
14 Mar 28, 1999 WrestleMania XV 800,000
15 Jul 22, 2001 Invasion 770,000

Other events

In 2015, with the Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of the Grateful Dead the pay-per-view set a new record for a music event with more than 400,000 subscriptions, surpassing a 1999 simulcast by the Backstreet Boys which drew 160,000 subscriptions.[99]

Canada

In Canada, most specialty television providers provide pay-per-view programming through one or more services. In all cases, prices typically range from around C$4.99 (for movies) up to $50 or more for special events.

Initially, there were three major PPV providers in Canada; Viewers Choice Canada operated in Eastern Canada as a joint venture of Astral Media, Rogers Communications, and TSN, while Western International Communications operated a separate service also branded as Viewers Choice, which used the brand under licence after previously operating as Home Theatre.

Viewers Choice Canada was a partner in a French-language PPV service known as Canal Indigo, which is now entirely owned by Videotron. Bell Canada also launched a PPV service for its ExpressVu television provider known as Vu! in 1999.

Home Theatre was later acquired by Shaw Communications; after gaining permission to operate nationally, it re-branded as a white-label PPV known internally as Shaw PPV in December 2007. In 2014, due to Bell Media's majority ownership of Viewers Choice because of its acquisition of Astral, and because both Bell and Rogers now ran their own in-house PPV operations (Vu! and Sportsnet PPV), Viewers Choice was shut down.[100]

South America

Per nations with Pay-Per-View or PPV system in South América

Argentina

Torneos y Competencias, is a producer and sports events organization that broadcasts live main matches of Argentine Soccer in four categories on TyC Sports and TyC Max

Brazil

In the soccer main matches of Serie A (Six games per matchday) and Serie B (Four games per matchday) in two categories of Brazilian Soccer are broadcast live on Premiere FC and SporTV. The Serie C Championship are broadcast live on SporTV with two games per matchday in Pay TV. In other sports are broadcast live on NBB TV (Exclusive channel of Brazilian Basketball League in Premium system)

Chile

In Chile the exclusive rights of Chilean Soccer are owned by TV Fútbol and broadcast live on a channel called Canal Del Fútbol (The Soccer Channel), also known CDF. Sports Field S.A. has exclusive rights to games on the Chilean professional basketball league, which are broadcast live vía CDO (Premium Signal)

Paraguay

The Teledeportes business have exclusive rights to broadcast live main matches of Paraguayan Soccer in four categories vía Tigo Max and Tigo Sports. Teledeportes have live broadcast live of Paraguayan Basketball League is broadcast live Monday at 7:55 pm on Tigo Max (K.O 20:10) and Thursday at 8:00 pm on Tigo Sports (K.O 20:15).

Uruguay

The Tenfield producer business and sports events organization have television exclusive rights for the main matches of Uruguayan soccer and basketball, which are broadcast on VTV Max and VTV Sports.

Europe

Romania

Cable communications operator UPC Romania has notified the National Audiovisual Council (CNA) on the intention to introduce in January, February 2014 at the latest, an on-demand audiovisual media service called Agerpres. According to the manager of UPC Romania-owned Smaranda Radoi UPC, will allow customers to watch movies on demand or live events; as well as broadcasts of performances, concerts and sporting events.

Albania

In November 2008, pay-per-view made its debut in Albania through Digitalb on terrestrial and satellite television, with the channel DigiGold.[101]

United Kingdom

Viewers in the United Kingdom can access pay-per-view via satellite, cable and over-the-internet television services, mainly for films – with services such as Sky Box Office. Broadcasters (most notably PremPlus) have largely abandoned their aspirations to introduce PPV into the sports market due to poor take-up; as of 2009 it carries only occasional boxing matches and all of the WWE pay-per-view events. In February 2014, WWE launched their subscription-based video streaming service, the WWE Network, which was launched in the UK and Ireland on 13 January 2015; this would have a considerable impact on pay-per-view services in the UK.

France

Launched in the late 1990s, Canalsat (Ciné+) and TPS (Multivision) operate their own pay-per-view service. While CanalSat holds the rights to live soccer matches for France's Ligue 1, TPS had the rights for Boxe matches. In 2007, Multivision service ceased by the end of TPS service which merged with Canalsat. Nowadays, Ciné+ is the only existing pay-per-view service in France.

Croatia

Fight Channel is broadcasting martial arts events organized by the world's most prominent fighting organizations, such as the UFC, K-1, HBO Boxing, Dream, Glory WS, World Series of Boxing etc. and its pay-per-view service covers the Balkans region.

Australia and the Pacific Islands

Foxtel and Optus Vision introduced pay-per-view direct to home television in Australia in the mid-to-late 1990s. Foxtel had Event TV (until it transformed into its current form; Main Event) while, Optus Vision had Main Attraction Pay-Per-View as its provider. As of 2005, Main Event is the current pay-per-view provider through Foxtel and Optus cable/satellite subscription.

Sky Pacific started a service in Fiji in 2005 and then expanded into American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati (East), Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu, with one, out of their 25 channels, being Pay-Per-View.[102]

Netflix is available in Australia and increasing in popularity.[103]

Asia

Malaysia

In Malaysia, Astro's Astro Box Office service launched in 2000 in the form of the free-to-air "Astro Showcase".

Japan

SkyPerfecTV subscribers can receive one-click pay-per-view access to hundreds of channels supplying domestic and international sporting events (including WWE events), movies, and specialty programming, either live or later on continuous repeat on its channel.

India

In India a pay-per-view service operates; however, pay-per-view sports broadcasts are not available.

See also

References

  1. ↑ FCC Squares Off to Face Subscription TV Dilemma", Broadcasting-Telecasting, November 15, 1954, p31-32
  2. ↑ Mullen, Megan Gwynne (2003). The Rise of Cable Programming in the United States: revolution or evolution?. University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-75273-3.
  3. ↑ Steve Seepersaud. "Money in Boxing: The Pay-Per-View Craze". Ca.askmen.com. Retrieved 2011-11-03.
  4. ↑ Steve Seepersaud. "Money in Boxing: The Pay-Per-View Craze". Ca.askmen.com. Retrieved 2011-11-03.
  5. ↑ "PayPerView.com – WWE Online Pay-Per-View". Whois.domaintools.com. Retrieved 2011-11-03.
  6. ↑ "Mayweather-Hatton pay-per-view a smashing success". Sports.espn.go.com. 2007-12-17. Retrieved 2011-11-03.
  7. ↑ Dan Rafael (April 29, 2015). "Mayweather-Pacquiao on PPV 'a perfect storm'". ESPN.
  8. ↑ "Sports TV Ratings: How Many People Watched Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, The Kentucky Derby And NFL Draft?". 2015-05-04. Retrieved 2016-06-30.
  9. ↑ "HBO’s Taffet Still Stunned By 4.6M Buys For May-Pac". Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  10. ↑ Kurt Badenhausen (April 9, 2015). "Manny Pacquiao Set To Retire After Bradley Fight With $500 Million In Career Earnings". Forbes.
  11. ↑ http://boxingjunkie.usatoday.com/2016/11/15/bob-arum-manny-pacquiao-jessie-vargas-fight-300k-ppv-buys/
  12. ↑ Where Manny Pacquiao ranks among the biggest PPV boxing draws of all-time. Yahoo! Sports (April 8, 2014). Retrieved on 2016-06-25.
  13. 1 2 The Boxing Scene By Thomas Hauser
  14. ↑ Archived January 26, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
  15. 1 2 Douglas-Holyfield Draws Record Pay-per-view Fans, Orlando Sentinel article, 1990-10-12, Retrieved on 2014-03-15
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Emen, Jake (2011-10-30). "Biggest boxing PPVs of all time – UFC". Sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2011-11-03.
  17. ↑ Low Numbers For Tyson-Botha, Boxing Insider article, 2013-01-22, Retrieved on 2013-08-06
  18. ↑ Pay-per-view Sales High For Holyfield-Bowe, Philadelphia Daily News article, 1992-11-13, Retrieved on 2013-11-16
  19. ↑ , Box Rec, Retrieved on 2014-03-15
  20. ↑ Black (Box) Art of Steal-Per-View, N.Y. Times article, 1995-04-21, Retrieved on 2013-10-15
  21. ↑ , Box Rec, Retrieved on 2014-03-15
  22. ↑ "James Toney vs. Roy Jones Jr.". Box Rec. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
  23. ↑ "About. com Top Pay Per View Events in Boxing History". about.com. Retrieved 2014-03-15.
  24. ↑ "Bowe-Holyfield Knocks Out $26 Mil". Variety.com. 1995-11-12. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
  25. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pay-Per-View History at about.com
  26. ↑ "Rawling awards Lewis clean sweep". BBC. 2000-11-12. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
  27. ↑ "MEDIA NOTES". Sports Business Daily. 1997-11-14. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
  28. ↑ Low Numbers For Tyson-Botha, N.Y. Times article, 1999-01-20, Retrieved on 2013-08-05
  29. 1 2 3 4 Sandomir, Richard (2000-11-16). "PLUS: TV SPORTS; LEWIS-TUA ATTRACTS 420,000 BUYERS". N.Y. Times article. Retrieved 2014-01-04.
  30. ↑ , Cyber Boxing Zone article, 2000-09-17, Retrieved on 2014-03-15
  31. ↑ Rarely A Pay-per-view Draw, Lewis Seeks Smashing Win, Philadelphia Inquirer article, 2000-11-11, Retrieved on 2013-08-11
  32. 1 2 3 "525,000 Buys for Jones Bout". N.Y. Times article. 2003-03-05. Retrieved 2014-01-04.
  33. ↑ "Marquez-Barrera pulls in $10.1 million in TV revenue". ESPN.com. 2007-03-24. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
  34. ↑ "Hasim Rahman vs. Lennox Lewis (2nd meeting)". BoxRec. 2015-01-03. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
  35. ↑ "Holyfield considering retirement". USA TODAY　article. 2003-10-15. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
  36. ↑ Roy Jones Jr. Says He's the Draw, But it He?, FightHype.com article, Retrieved on 2014-01-08
  37. ↑ Tarver v Jones II PPV did 360,000 buys, SecondsOut.Com article, Retrieved on 2014-01-08
  38. ↑ TAKING A DIVE Boxing ratings drop HBO to the canvas, N.Y.DailyNews.com article, 2004-12-19, Retrieved on 2014-04-10
  39. 1 2 Mayweather-Pacquiao: 17 Years to a Superfight - 04/05, BoxingScene.com article, Retrieved on 2015-03-26
  40. ↑ Tyson-McBride 250,000 PPV Buys, BoxingScene.com article, Retrieved on 2014-01-08
  41. ↑ "HBO release PPV Tarver/Jones buys". SecondsOut.Com article. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  42. 1 2 3 4 Mayweather-Pacquiao: 17 Years to a Superfight - 2006, BoxingScene.com article, Retrieved on 2015-04-01
  43. ↑ "Ricardo Mayorga vs. Oscar De La Hoya – Boxrec Boxing Encyclopaedia". Boxrec.com. Retrieved 2011-11-03.
  44. ↑ "Mayweather-Pacquiao: 17 Years to a Superfight". BoxingScene. April 1, 2015.
  45. ↑ Nick Giongco. "Pacquiao fight sold $ 1.3-M tickets.(Sports News)". Manila Bulletin.
  46. ↑ Rold, Cliff (2015-04-09). "Mayweather-Pacquiao: 17 Years to a Superfight - 2007". BoxingScene. Retrieved 2015-04-09.
  47. 1 2 "Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Shane Mosley fight does 1.4 million pay-per-view buys". LA.Times.com. 2010-05-11. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
  48. ↑ "Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Manny Pacquiao (2nd meeting)". Boxrec.
  49. ↑ Rold, Cliff (2015-04-16). "Mayweather-Pacquiao: 17 Years to a Superfight – 08-09". BoxingScene. Retrieved 2015-04-16.
  50. ↑ Rold, Cliff (2015-04-16). "HBO releases official PPV numbers: 1.25 million". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
  51. ↑ "Pacquiao-Hatton PPV numbers something to celebrate, even if Arum refuses".
  52. ↑ "Pacquiao-Cotto tops Mayweather in PPV". ESPN.com. 2009-11-20. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
  53. ↑ "Pacquiao-Clottey earns big PPV bucks". ESPN.com. 2010-03-23. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  54. ↑ "Jones-Hopkins II does about 150K PPV buys". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  55. ↑ "Manny Pacquiao generates another 1 million PPV buys". Sports.espn.go.com. 2010-11-23. Retrieved 2011-11-03.
  56. ↑ "Bout draws more than 1.3 million buys". Espn.go.com.
  57. ↑ "The Numbers Are In! Mayweather-Ortiz Is Second Highest Grossing Non-Heavyweight Fight". Fighthype.com. 2011-10-28. Retrieved 2011-11-03.
  58. ↑ "Pacquiao vs Marquez III draws 1.4 million PPV". BoxingNews24. December 13, 2011. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
  59. ↑ "“Fighting Words” — Deontay Wilder Gets A Reality Check - Boxing News". www.boxingscene.com.
  60. ↑ "Floyd Mayweather-Miguel Cotto rakes in $94M in PPV sales". Espn.go.com. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
  61. ↑ "Pacquiao-Bradley II set for April". espn.com. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
  62. ↑ "Viewers flock to Martinez-Chavez". ESPN.com. 2012-09-21. Retrieved 2014-06-13.
  63. ↑ "Marquez-Pacquiao another big draw". ESPN.com. 2012-12-15. Retrieved 2012-12-15.
  64. ↑ Satterfield, Lem (2013-05-10). "Mayweather-Guerrero: Over a million PPV buys". The Ring. Retrieved 2015-04-30.
  65. ↑ Floyd Mayweather and Canelo Alvarez PPV sales at 2.2 million, setting revenue record, Yahoo Sports, October 2, 2013.
  66. ↑ Top Rank president Todd duBoef says Bradley-Marquez pay-per-view did 375,000 sales, Yahoo Sports, November 4, 2013.
  67. ↑ "Manny Pacquiao-Brandon Rios fight sells 475,000 PPVs, according to HBO Sports". Sports.Yahoo. 2013-12-05. Retrieved 2013-12-20.
  68. ↑ "Canelo Alvarez scores on PPV". ESPN.com. 2014-03-14. Retrieved 2014-06-13.
  69. ↑ "Pacquiao-Bradley II numbers down". Espn.go.com.
  70. 1 2 "Source: Mayweather-Maidana II does 925,000 pay-per-view buys". Yahoo.Sports. 2014-09-18. Retrieved 2015-01-30.
  71. ↑ "Cotto-Martinez fight brings in disappointing pay-per-view audience". SI.com. 2014-06-26. Retrieved 2014-06-27.
  72. ↑ "Golovkin-Rubio up next?". ESPN.com. 2014-08-15. Retrieved 2014-08-29.
  73. ↑ "Pacquiao vs Algieri gets over 400K in PPV buys". ABS-CBNnews.com.
  74. ↑ Idec, Keith (2015-11-10). "HBO's Taffet Still Stunned By 4.6M Buys For May-Pac". BoxingScene. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
  75. ↑ "Bob Arum: Pacquiao-Bradley III lost money, had 'terrible' PPV numbers". Espn.go.com. April 21, 2016.
  76. ↑ Thompson, Ben (2015-10-20). "Golovkin vs. Lemieux does roughly 150,000 PPV buys" fighthype.com. Retrieved 2015-10-20.
  77. ↑ Rafael, Dan (2015-12-03). "Canelo Alvarez-Miguel Cotto pay-per-view approximately $58M in revenue". ESPN. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
  78. ↑ Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley Jr. III PPV numbers 'terrible', says Top Rank promoter Bob Arum. Espn.go.com (April 21, 2016). Retrieved on 2016-06-25.
  79. ↑ Rafael, Dan (May 14, 2016). "Canelo Alvarez, Amir Khan fight sells close to 600,000 pay-per-view buys, Golden Boy Promotions says". ESPN. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  80. ↑ Arum says he lost about $100k on Crawford-Postol PPV. Espn.go.com (September 3, 2016). Retrieved on 2016-09-10.
  81. ↑ "Canelo-Smith PPV: Golden Boy Pleased With 300K Buys". boxingscene.com. September 25, 2016.
  82. ↑ "Bob Arum: Pacquiao-Vargas fight surpassed 300K PPV buys; Is Pacquiao-Mayweather II possible?". USA Today. November 15, 2016.
  83. ↑ "Ward-Kovalev: $3.3 Million Live Gate From 10,066 Tickets Sold". BoxingScene. December 5, 2016.
  84. ↑ "Loeffler Confirms Golovkin-Jacobs Did About 170K PPV Buys". BoxingScene. March 24, 2017.
  85. ↑ "Canelo Alvarez-Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. hits 1 Million Pay-Per-View Buys". ESPN. May 19, 2017.
  86. ↑ Idec, Keith (June 28, 2017). "Ward-Kovalev Rematch Replay Peaked at 947K Viewers on HBO". BoxingScene. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  87. ↑ Goldman, Adam. "Extreme fight on for pay-per-view crown", Associated Press, 28 February 2007.
  88. ↑ Pay Per View Buyrate, Tapology, 2015
  89. ↑ "UFC 205: Alvarez vs. McGregor - MMA Event Page - Tapology". Tapology.
  90. 1 2 Keeney, Tim (12 November 2016). "How to Order UFC 205 McGregor vs. Alvarez PPV".
  91. ↑ "Diaz-McGregor 2 looks to have broken PPV record". MMA Fighting. 7 September 2016.
  92. ↑ Keeney, Tim (19 August 2016). "How to Order UFC 202 McGregor vs. Diaz 2 PPV".
  93. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (September 7, 2016). "Dana White: UFC 196 did 1.5 million PPV buys". MMAFighting.com. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  94. ↑ "Highest Grossing UFC PPV Fights Of All Times". 15 February 2016.
  95. ↑ Staff (2016-07-16). "UFC 200 estimated over 1M PPV buys; 199 does 320K". mmapayout.com. Retrieved 2016-07-20.
  96. ↑ Dave Meltzer (2017-01-08). "UFC 207 does over 1 million buys". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
  97. ↑ Event Page, Tapology, 2013
  98. ↑ "Home".
  99. ↑ Zumberge, Marianne (July 25, 2015). "Grateful Dead Farewell Concerts Set Pay Per View Record", Variety. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  100. ↑ Gibbons, Kent (2014-07-22). "Viewers Choice Canada Winding Down: Bell, Rogers-Owned Pay-Per-View Provider Closing Sept. 30". Multichannel News. Retrieved 2014-07-23.
  101. ↑ "Digitalb – Pay per View :: Digigold". Digitalb.al. Retrieved 2011-11-03.
  102. ↑ Sky Pacific 'About Us' Page Retrieved 10th June 2015.
  103. ↑ "Pay Per View in Australia". customernumbers.com.au.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.