Floyd Mayweather net worth explained: His earnings, who sponsors him, how much will Conor McGregor fight make?
Mayweather has generated around 19.5m in PPV buys and $1.3bn in revenue throughout his career, with the McGregor fight likely to boost his career earnings over the $1bn mark
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Your support makes all the difference.Floyd Mayweather is one of the biggest pay-per-view attractions of all time and one of a very elite group of athletes to see their career earnings nose above the $1bn mark.
A shrewd businessman and the greatest boxer of his generation — if not all time — Mayweather has been listed as the highest paid athlete in the world four times by the American business magazine Forbes.
Mayweather is so rich that he even changed his boxing identity to reflect his staggering wealth.
The American was known as “Pretty Boy” throughout his entire career, as a result of how little he got hit due to his superior defensive skills. But in 2007 before the biggest fight of his life against Oscar De La Hoya, Mayweather unleashed a new name: “Money.”
He is also known as the ‘PPV King’ due to his phenomenal success at the box office. His fight against Canelo Alvarez attracted over 2m buys and $150m (£116m) in revenue — but these numbers were dwarfed by his fight against Manny Pacquiao, with 4.6m buys and $400m (£308m) in revenue.
In total, he has attracted 19.5 buys and around $1.3bn in revenue.
But what is his estimated net worth? Who are his sponsors? And exactly how much money does he stand to make by fighting McGregor?
Here, we tell you everything you need to know about Mayweather’s extraordinary financial muscle.
What is Mayweather’s estimated net worth?
Floyd Mayweather is one of the very richest athletes in the world, topping the Forbes and Sports Illustrated lists of the 50 highest-paid athletes of 2012 and 2013 respectively, and the Forbes list again in both 2014 and 2015.
Mayweather has generated just under 20m PPV buys and over $1bn in revenue throughout his career, surpassing the likes of former top boxers such as Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis, Oscar De La Hoya, and Manny Pacquiao. His PPV buys and revenue dwarf that of McGregor.
In 2016, the American business magazine Forbes reported that Mayweather banked $32 million (£25m) from his ‘retirement’ fight against Andre Berto fight to bring his career earnings to around $700 million (£540m).
Given that Mayweather made roughly $250 million (£193m) for the Pacquiao fight, it can be safely assumed that his career earnings will surpass $1bn this summer.
According to Forbes: “Another massive purse awits the five-division world champion in August for his boxing match versus UFC star Conor McGregor. If Mayweather can secure a similar payday to his 2015 Manny Pacquiao bout, it will push his career earnings to $1 billion.”
How many other athletes have made over $1bn during their careers?
Not many. The only other athletes to earn such a large amount of money during their sporting careers are basketball player Michael Jordan ($1.5bn) and Tiger Woods ($1.4bn), who both enjoyed a number of lucrative sponsorships, principally with Nike.
There are three others if you adjust for inflation: golfers Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, and seven-time Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher.
Who sponsors Mayweather?
Perhaps surprisingly, Mayweather doesn't have that many active sponsorships. In 2015, he told Fortune magazine that this was not because brands were not interested in working with him, but because his baseline for entry is too high for most. How much does he demand? $1m.
This may only partially be the reason. Mayweather also has a chequered past, and has previously been charged with domestic violence and misdemeanor battery, which means that some brands may have been reluctant to work with him.
For the Pacquiao fight, three brands did decide to sponsor him however. Burger King, daily fantasy sports site FanDuel, and Swiss watchmaker Hublot all dished out over $1m.
Why did he split with Top Rank?
In 2007 Mayweather founded his own boxing promotional firm, Mayweather Promotions, after defecting from Bob Arum's Top Rank.
He broke ties with Top Rank after activating a $750k (£578k) break clause, believing that he could make more money promoting his own fights.
It proved to be a shrewd choice: he earned pay checks ranging between $25m-$40m (£19.3m-£31m) over the next six years, before he broke new records for his fight against Canelo Alvarez, which netted him over $70m (£54m).
What has his richest fight been?
Until now, it has been the contest with Pacquiao. Mayweather is believed to have made $220m (£175m) from the contest, with the fight generating an incredible $600m (£470m) in revenues.
For his last fight, a unanimous points decision win against Andre Berto, he secured far less: $32m (£25m).
And how much does Mayweather stand to earn from this fight?
If the PPV stays roughly in line with the Mayweather v Pacquiao fight, the Mayweather v McGregor fight purse is likely to be worth around $390m (£300m). Total revenues are meanwhile expected to exceed $500m (£390m).
Somewhat unfortunately, the two men signed a confidentiality agreement when they signed their contracts, meaning the exact split will not be revealed.
We know that Mayweather is getting more however, with estimates ranging in the 70-75% region.
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