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The Pacquiao-Mayweather bout is touted the “Fight of the Century,” but Bob Arum of Top Rank is predicting it to be “the biggest event in the history of Las Vegas.”
The city, like Pacquiao and Mayweather, is looking to make some serious cash on May 2.
Las Vegas, the neon dream town that rises from the dessert like a mirage, is in the grip of Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather fever.
Pacquiao arrived late Monday night, while Mayweather is expected to make his “grand arrival” Tuesday afternoon at the MGM Grand.
But already, A-listers and casino high rollers have been pouring in for the Saturday’s long-awaited welterweight showdown. And the Sin City is feeling it.
“It’s crazy,” Las Vegas resident Stephen Boggioni said Tuesday as he made his way to a Pacquiao pre-fight pep rally at the Mandalay Bay convention center.
“It’s just kicking off right now and I think it’s going to be out of control. I think it’s like the biggest event, even though to me, personally, I don’t think it’s that important of a fight.”
Vegas is expecting more than 100,000 ticketless fans to arrive. And this early hotels, restaurants, clubs and even strip joints are gearing in for maximum capacity, with hotels charging top dollar for in-demand rooms.
“From the travel industry to hospitality to night clubs it really is a boom in every sense of the economy, really for this sector of the country,” says executive vice president and general manager of Showtime Sports Stephen Espinoza.
Where top-tier clubs would charge USD$5,000-10,000 minimum for a table, on Saturday, these very tables in these very clubs are looking at USD$50-60,000. Cashing!
According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, Mayweather’s last Vegas fight in September 2014 against Marcos Maidana raked in USD$11 million for the city, while Pacquiao’s last Vegas fight, his April victory over Timothy Bradley, delivered someUSD$10.9 million into business coffers, apart from gambling revenues.
Story: AFP
