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Paul and Tyson fight breaks record for largest non-Vegas boxing gate

Vaseline November 15, 2024

(L-R) Mike Tyson, Nakisa Bidarian and Jake Paul pose on stage during the press conference between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson Boxing at Texas Live! in Arlington, Texas, on May 16, 2024.

Kuiper Neill | Getty Images

The highly anticipated boxing match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson has already secured its place in the record books.

The fight’s promoter, Most Valuable Promotions, which Paul co-owns, told CNBC it expects more than 70,000 people to attend Friday night’s fight at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The Dallas Cowboys stadium has a seating capacity of 80,000.

The receipts alone have generated $17.8 million in revenue, the promoter said.

That makes it the largest boxing gate in history outside of Nevada. The previous record was $9 million in receipts for the 2021 fight between Canelo Álvarez and Billy Joe Saunders at AT&T Stadium.

MVP said the gate is also higher than any UFC fight outside Las Vegas except Conor McGregor vs. Eddie Alvarez in New York City in 2016.

The fight between Paul, a 27-year-old YouTube influencer turned boxer, and Tyson, a 58-year-old boxing legend, airs Friday at 8 PM ET on Netflix, free to subscribers.

The event will also feature one of the most anticipated women’s boxing rematches in history: undisputed super lightweight champion Katie Taylor versus unified featherweight champion Amanda Serrano.

Netflix has over 283 million paid memberships in more than 190 countries. The fight will also be a test for the streamer as it moves deeper into the sports world and as boxing bypasses the pay-per-view model.

“Numbers don’t lie,” Paul said at a press conference about the fight on Wednesday. “People want to see this and that’s a great achievement. … This is a statement that we had the largest live gate outside of Vegas in American boxing history.”

Tickets for Friday’s fight range on StubHub from about $58 to $1,500. MVP has also sold higher-priced packages, including a $2 million VIP experience that includes ringside seating. The promotion company says its 375 VIP seats are officially sold out.

By comparison, Vegas’ biggest fight in history took place in 2015 between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. That fight grossed more than $72 million in tickets, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.