What if?
What if Conor McGregor does the unthinkable and beats 49-0 boxer Floyd Mayweather on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena?
Sure, McGregor’s stock will sore and Mayweather’s legacy as one of the greatest boxers of all time takes a hit. But who really loses? Not Mayweather. He is expected to have more than 300 million reasons to get over the first loss of his professional career if things don’t break his way.
Who would really lose? The bookmakers in Vegas would be the biggest losers.
Odds are pointing to about a 90-percent certainty that the pay-per-view buys will top out well above the current record of around 4.6 million, according to sports betting analyst RJ Bell, who was a guest recently on The Adam Carolla Show.
That means money in Mayweather’s pocket, in McGregor’s pocket, for Mayweather Promotions and the UFC, as well as Showtime. But it does zilch for the bookies who have indicated that betting on this fight could rival betting on the Super Bowl.
There is a rumor that Mayweather may have dropped a $5 million bet on himself. That points to his confidence in himself being sky high, but even if he were to lose, that’s a pittance compared to the dollars that he’ll amass from his numerous fight-related revenue streams. It would be significant, but even that massive bet wouldn’t counter the fact that, from the beginning, money has been coming in hot and heavy on McGregor. And that is what would cost the Vegas sportsbooks.
“A lot of these books are so lop-sided now, so much McGregor money, they welcome the Mayweather money,” said Bell, who pointed to a significant hit if McGregor pulls off the upset.
“McGregor winning this fight would be a $10-plus-million loss for Vegas.”
