Record Betting Handle Near $80 Million for Mayweather vs McGregor
Hype Fight of Century Concludes with Mayweather Win and near Mega $100 Million Handle in Las Vegas
What many thought was a farce, turned out to be a fight. And MMA fighter Conor McGregor stood toe-to-toe with undefeated boxing champion Floyd Mayweather for 9 rounds Saturday night at T-Moble arena in Las Vegas. In the end, just over a minute into the 10th round, the fight was stopped with Mayweather a winner by technical knockout (TKO). The sports books in Nevada breathed a sigh of relief, and were still counting their money Sunday following the event that drew remarkable interest around the world. In Las Vegas, a new live gate record was set with over $80 million. Seats at T-Mobile arena started at $3,500 for the mega HypeFight.
Mayweather, who closed as a minus-500 favorite at the South Point sports book in Las Vegas, improved his record to 50-0 and announced immediately after the bout that this was his final fight. The ‘money’ man who lives in Las Vegas, Mayweather rewarded many big bettors with a return on their money, although the fight was much more competitive than most insiders expected.
“It was a really good result,” said MGM Resorts sports book director Jay Rood, who estimated the win in the $1 million neighborhood.
The final ticket count at MGM Resorts books, Rood said, was 17,273 to 1,531 in favor of McGregor, yet a majority of the money was on Mayweather. Overall, more than 90% of the bets place on the fight in Las Vegas were on the MMA underdog, McGregor. While more than 75% of the money was on ‘money’ Mayweather, a McGregor victory, and especially if stopped in the early rounds, would have been a huge knockout to the sports books.
At least six $1 million wagers were reported in Las Vegas — two at MGM’s books, two at the Wynn and one each at the South Point and William Hill books — and all were on the favorite.
Nick Bogdanovich, William Hill Sports Director of Trading, described the betting action as “insane” and said, “This has got to get to $80 million, and $90 million would not be surprising,” Bogdanovich said. “I could never dream we would be writing these kind of numbers on this fight.”
In total, the betting handle rivaled that of Super Bowl betting in Las Vegas. All to watch an Irish kid who less than five years ago was a plumber turned MMA fighter and champion, then turned his trash talking and story into the American dream. A greater than $25 million payday was scored by McGregor, although he believes he will make more than $100 million for the bout when all the cash streams are counted. Floyd ‘money’ Mayweather pocketed nearly $100 million in his final FightHype. The pay-per-views and cable companies got in on the big-money action, but underdog McGregor bettors could not cash in on their fighter.
