 |
|
Boxers Floyd Mayweather
Jr., left, and Manny Pacquiao pose for photographers during a press conference
Wednesday, April 29, 2015, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
|
The most-anticipated fight of all time. The best-known horse
race. The premier baseball rivalry. The NFL draft. And those are just the
highlights.
Super Saturday — perhaps
a day unlike any other in the history of sport — awaits.
Stock the refrigerator,
replace the remote batteries, get the weekend errands done early, invite your
friends, fire up that grill and if you're very fortunate, confirm those
flights. For the sports consumer, an amazing number of options will be
available. From the Floyd
Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight that could generate US$400 million and topple
every known record in boxing history, to the 141st edition of the Kentucky
Derby, to the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox colliding for the 2,142nd
time to the NFL draft's finishing rounds and so much more, it's a sports
enthusiast's dream.
The fight in Las Vegas is
overshadowing all, with good reason.
"I don't plan on
being there," said Masters champion Jordan Spieth, "but I may
be."
Here's the translation.
Spieth is playing in the Match Play Championship at San Francisco — another
really big event that won't generate much of a blip this weekend because of
everything else happening in the sports world. If he's ousted before Saturday,
his consolation prize is a trip to Vegas.
"There are
tickets," Spieth said.
Tickets, yes — ones he
doesn't want to use, but at least he has them. Most people didn't have a chance
at getting into the MGM Grand this weekend, and some deep-pocketed folks have
spent more than US$250,000 for a pair of prime seats.
"I've never seen
anything like this in my life," said Freddie Roach, Pacquiao's trainer.
He meant the spectacle
surrounding the fight.
He could have just as
easily been talking about the worldwide hubbub of what awaits on Super
Saturday.
"It's time to fight
now ... the biggest fight in boxing history," Mayweather said.
THE FIGHT
The pay-per-view in the
U.S. for Mayweather-Pacquiao will cost around US$100 to watch in your home,
although at least one company is offering to comp the purchase for new
subscribers to their service.
There are plenty of other
options.
Pacquiao fans will be
paying US$34 apiece for a seat at Skinny Mike's Sports Bar in Manila — on
Sunday morning there, remember.
Front-row seats to watch
from a casino are online for about US$200, though that casino is actually in
Hammond, Indiana, and not Las Vegas.
And in New York, you and
10 of your friends can watch at a club for US$3,000, a steep price but one that
includes six bottles of champagne, three bottles of liquor and platters of
nachos, sliders, chicken fingers and pizza.
THE DERBY
A field of 20 will run
for the roses at Churchill Downs, and while the Kentucky Derby might not be the
best race of the year, it is certainly the most anticipated, unless a Triple
Crown hopeful emerges.
About US$125 million was
bet on the Derby last year, more than 160,000 fans are expected at Churchill
and it's not implausible to think — based on recent years — that 15 million or
so will watch on television in the U.S. alone.
"It has become such
an event," Eclipse Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher said.
And to think, it's just
part of the show on Saturday.
MORE CHOICES
NASCAR has qualifying at
Talladega on Saturday, no small event on its schedule either. There's an LPGA
tournament, plus Detroit and Kansas City are squaring off in a matchup of two
of baseball's best teams early this season.
Yes, those will appeal to
auto racing, golf and baseball fans.
But to those who love the
magnitude of over-the-top events, they won't compare to the big show in Vegas.
"They may not follow
sports much but they like the big events," said Stephen Espinoza,
executive vice president and general manager for Showtime Sports. "And
this is a big event."
AROUND THE WORLD
The Mayweather-Pacquiao
fight will be broadcast in at least 52 countries, and who knows how many will
be able to access it online globally.
But there's some other
big events around the globe Saturday as well, although again, they'll all likely
pale in comparison.
The European Rugby
Champions Cup Final between a pair of French clubs will be going on, Real
Madrid will face Sevilla in a potentially very big Spanish soccer match, and
the women's singles and men's doubles world champions in table tennis will be
crowned in China.
THE PLAYOFFS
LeBron James will have
Saturday off — he and the Cleveland Cavaliers won't be playing again until
Monday, so you know he'll likely be watching this fight someplace.
The NHL playoffs will be
going on, with Washington and the New York Rangers playing Game 2 of their
Eastern Conference semifinal series. Depending on what happens in other games,
the NBA might have nothing scheduled that day, which would only give fans and
players more time to enjoy everything else.
There's also a chance the
NBA could see one or two Game 7s to end the first round.
THE NFL DRAFT
Finally, there's the big
event of the NFL offseason — the draft, with the final four rounds coming on
Saturday. It starts Thursday night, then resumes with rounds two and three on
Friday.
This weekend the mighty
NFL feels like an appetizer.
The last pick in the
draft gets the title of "Mr. Irrelevant."
Given all going on in the
sports world on Saturday, that may never be more appropriate.
No comments:
Post a Comment