SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Licensed Nevada sports betting enterprises are expecting between $50-$60 million to be wagered on the 2 May mega fight between Unbeaten Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather vs Manny ‘Pac-Man’ Pacquiao. Licensed Las Vegas sportsbooks expect the weekend of 2 May to rival betting wagers placed on this year’s NFL Super Bowl.
Last week Mayweather vs Pacquiao fight officials revealed that the fight gate of 15,000 at the MGM Grand had broken the $70 million mark. With the fight’s cheapest tickets priced at $1500 the events live gate is set to surpass this year’s 70,000 Super Bowl XLIX gate by an estimated $10 million.
The eagerly awaited fight which has been six years in the making has been dubbed the ‘$300 million fight’ as it’s expected to break all Pay per View sports and entertainment records worldwide. Las Vegas sportsbooks have welcomed the events hype, labelling the boxing duel as a ‘pickem’ fight.
At present the majority of sportsbook lines have Mayweather as a 1/2 favourite, however as fight night approaches Pacquiao has seen his odds shorten from 4/1 to 2/1 as the popular Philippine fighter has received substantial fan backing.
A fight draw has been placed at around 22/1 with a KO victory for either fighter placed at 2.5/1. The mega fight which has not been short of daily hype or hoopla, has seen Rapper 50 Cent place a reported $1.6 million on a Mayweather win.
An additional bonus for Las Vegas sportsbooks enterprises sees the mega fight being placed on the weekend of the Kentucky Derby (2 May), the country’s biggest race day. Furthermore the 2 May sporting calendar has also been extra favourable to Las Vegas sportsbooks as they will see key matches take place in the NBA and NHL play-offs.
All Nevada licensed sportsbooks are set to be preparing for the May weekend by opening up multiple prop bets to eager customers. The licensed premises are expected to be manning their stalls with additional staff members to aid operations.
Long time Nevada bookmaker Jimmy Vaccaro commented on the upcoming May 2 weekend: “Other than Super Bowl Sunday, the single day will be as big as we’ve written in years. Look for May 2 to be approaching the Super Bowl handle on Super Bowl Sunday, and that’s saying a lot.”
