Gate
numbers, TV ratings for Canelo Alvarez confirm big boxing
weekend
Canelo
Alvarez (L) drew 1.036 million viewers to Showtime for his
win over Josesito Lopez (AP)Perhaps now, the boxing is dead
hacks will go away for a while.
All
indicators are that the expected big weekend for
the sport materialized. On
Monday, figures released by the Nevada Athletic
Commission showed the dueling shows in Las Vegas were
each officially sold out.
On Tuesday, television ratings from Nielsen Media Research
indicated that Showtime got a big boost in its ratings by
broadcasting Canelo Alvarez's fifth-round stoppage victory
over Josesito Lopez at the MGM Grand Garden.
Though the full breakdown is not yet available, Nielsen
numbers show that the Alvarez-Lopez fight drew a peak
audience of 1.036 million viewers Saturday. The main event
of the quadrupleheader drew a 2.6 rating.
The ratings for broadcast and cable shows always come in
earlier than the sales figures for pay-per-view
event. Sergio Martinez's decision win over Julio
Cesar Chavez Jr.
Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center was on HBO
Pay-Per-View. Though that figure is expected to be
released later this week or early next week, indications
are it should be around 500,000, which, if true, would
be an extrarordinarily good number.
The rating for the Alvarez-Lopez fight far exceeded
Showtime's average rating. However, to put it into
perspective, the last time Alvarez fought on HBO (not HBO
Pay-Per-View), he drew 1.469 million viewers for a 2011
bout against Kermit Cintron.
"I really believe we have two energized networks, HBO and
Showtime, who are both committed to the sport of
boxing and that's fantastic," said Golden Boy Promotions
CEO Richard Schaefer, who put on the Alvarez-Lopez show.
"It's great for the sport that you have two premium
subscription networks who are clearly serious for boxing.
For a long time, Showtime was there, but it was not really
there. Now, this shows they've stepped up and become a
serious player.
"What you saw this weekend was great news for this sport.
You had the MGM fight, the Wynn fight, all the sponsors
involved, the networks involved. That is encouraging for
everyone who is invested in the sport of boxing. It turned
out to be one of the biggest single nights for the sport."
Alvarez clearly provided a boost, both at the gate and in
the television ratings. On Sept. 8, Showtime drew
344,000 viewers
for its at the Hard Rock in Las Vegas for a main event
of Lucas Matthysse against Ajose Olusegun. That fight
went head-to-head with an HBO card featuring Andre Ward
beating Chad Dawson, that draw 1.3 million.
Ward's final fight on Showtime, the finale of the Super 6
World Boxing Classic on Dec. 17 against Carl Froch, drew an
audience of 580,000 fans.
The Nevada Athletic Commission's club report, which tracks
tickets sold and gate revenues, backs up claims of the big
weekend. The Chavez-Martinez fight officially sold 16,939
tickets, with zero unsold. There were 751 complimentary
tickets distributed. The live paid gate was $3.052 million.
The Alvarez-Lopez fight at the MGM Grand sold 12,860
tickets with zero unsold. There were 1,659 complimentary
tickets handed out. The live paid gate was $1.618 million
gate.
The official attendance of the Chavez-Martinez fight was a
Thomas & Mack Center record of 19,186. That number
includes all persons in the building, including commission
members, media and those working on the show. That is
typical for those people to be included in the final
attendance figure.
Sergio
Martinez (L) defeated Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Saturday
before 19,186 fans (AP)