Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor fight threatens PPV sales record

Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs Conor McGregor
Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs Conor McGregor

Conor McGregor's improbable challenge of Floyd Mayweather was a box-office smash. The fight reached between 4 million and 5 million pay-per-view sales with an estimated 50 million people watching in the United States alone.

According to preliminary numbers by Showtime PPV, the fight threatens the 4.6 million benchmark set by Mayweather's 2015 fight with Manny Pacquiao. At $99.95 a buy, the fight is tracking to generate more than $450 million in television revenue, much of which will be shared by the two fighters.

Estimates vary, but if an average of 10 people watched each pay-per-view Saturday night, the total audience would be in the 50 million range -- or about one in six Americans. Mayweather estimated after the fight he would make $300 million. McGregor said his take would be about $100 million. Mayweather stopped McGregor in the 10th round.

ESPN