Yes, the Mayweather-Pacquiao championship fight was a huge cash cow for HBO and Showtime, bringing in a positively mind-blowing $400+ million in pay-per-view revenues last night. That’s potentially the largest haul ever for PPV, and even if the fight ultimately turned out to be something of a snoozer, it’s vindication for the networks’ massive promotion.
But that impressive success may still have come at a steep price, as cable companies turned out to be somewhat – to put it mildly – unprepared for the massive demand.Unprecedented service problems plagued cable and satellite providers across the country, leading promoters to delay the start of the match by 45 minutes. Even when the fight finally did begin, service outages continued apace, causing a crush of complaints so massive that Comcast reportedly just stopped taking phone calls, while Time Warner, in at least one instance, informed customers of a nearly 12-hour wait time to speak to customer service.
Source: #MayPac A Goldmine For HBO/Showtime, But Pirate Feeds Made Out Like Bandits | Deadline