Many boxing fans who shelled out $99.95 each to catch the so-called “Fight of the Century” Saturday night missed the fight because of technical difficulties, leading to a flood of angry comments on social media.
More than 4 million people had been expected to order the welterweight title fight from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeated Manny Pacquiao in a 12-round unanimous decision.
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But even before the fight, the Twittersphere lit up with angry fans who reported they could not access the pay-per-view broadcast they had purchased. Time Warner Cable, DirecTV and Charter were among the media giants that experienced issues. DirecTV reportedly posted a notice on the screen that the fight might not be available for 14 days.
Hang tight everyone, the big fight has not started yet.
— DIRECTV (@DIRECTV) May 3, 2015@DIRECTV Done hanging tight. Busy shopping for new provider. #MayweatherPacquiao
— Todd Colburn (@toddcolburn) May 3, 2015
The technical issues also led HBO and Showtime to delay the start of the fight 45 minutes. Some broadcast providers reported that the rush of pay-per-view orders — some 90 percent of the PPV orders came in just before the fight — caused technical problems with regular network broadcasts as well.
An HBO Sports executive told ESPN that Pacquiao’s strong support in the Western U.S., coupled with Mayweather’s large fan base in the South and Northeast, created the “perfect PPV storm.”