November 25, 5:44 PM
Pittsburgh Fight Sports Examiner
Scott Heritage
Now that the fight is officially being discussed between Golden Boy and Top Rank representatives, the next issue that the bout will face is choosing a venue for the biggest fight of the decade.
Bob Arum has already said that the tax structures in New York and New Jersey will make it impossible to hold the fight there. Speaking about the issue of taxes, Arum said:
"No chance,'' Arum said. "Nothing would please me more than to have it at Yankee Stadium, but the way the tax structure in New York is set up, it's impossible.''
"It's just not economically feasible to do events like that in New York,'' Arum said. "It's ridiculous, really.''
The reason being that New York charges state, city and also non resident contractor taxes on anyone working inside the city. Meaning that according to Arum up to 15% of the revenue of the bout could be lost. Given that this is one of the biggest fights of all time in terms of money being generated, that would run Mayweather and Pacquiao into a several million dollar pay cut.
'If not New York then surely Las Vegas' I hear you cry, but in actual fact the favorite so far is neither of boxing's ancestral homes. The Cowboys Stadium is currently the front runner, due to the much lower taxes in Texas coupled with the size and facilities of the billion dollar stadium.
Other than Texas, the other two options being considered are Vancouver Canada, which has a large Filipino population, and the building of an temporary outdoor arena somewhere in Las Vegas. The Vancouver option would offer Pacquiao a lot of home support, but logistically might be a lot more difficult for both parties to agree to. Not least because Manny himself might find the temperature a little bracing that far north, especially if he trains in either Mexico or the Philippines again.
The consortium of casino owners offering to build a temporary outdoor stadium would be the other most viable option at the moment, especially as it would give the fight the appearance of a fight for the ages. Las Vegas also has a lot of facilities that mean any fight is an easy sell there, although of course this fight doesn't really need that so much.
The newcomer to the talks is James Carville, who is trying to get the fight for the New Orleans Super dome. A potentially decisive factor is that Carville is asking the government for a tax waiver for the event, which would line the already deep pockets of all involved even more than usual. Speaking to Nola.com, Car ville said:
"There is an incredible narrative here, this fight could signal a rebirth for boxing and the city of New Orleans. We could have one together. I told Ross Greenburg, 'Would you please tell Bob Arum that whenever this happens, we would be interested in making a proposal."
As the negotiations get closer to being completed, Bob Arum and Richard Schaefer can expect the offers to come flooding in from various cities and stadiums across the country. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of cities were willing to forgo some of the taxes that similar events would incur due to the amount of revenue that the fight will bring to all sectors of the local economy. Hotels, restaurants, car rentals, retail stores and everything in between will be stimulated by an event as big as this one, and with that kind of money floating around, suddenly everyone is a boxing fan.
Pittsburgh Fight Sports Examiner
Scott Heritage
Now that the fight is officially being discussed between Golden Boy and Top Rank representatives, the next issue that the bout will face is choosing a venue for the biggest fight of the decade.
Bob Arum has already said that the tax structures in New York and New Jersey will make it impossible to hold the fight there. Speaking about the issue of taxes, Arum said:
"No chance,'' Arum said. "Nothing would please me more than to have it at Yankee Stadium, but the way the tax structure in New York is set up, it's impossible.''
"It's just not economically feasible to do events like that in New York,'' Arum said. "It's ridiculous, really.''
The reason being that New York charges state, city and also non resident contractor taxes on anyone working inside the city. Meaning that according to Arum up to 15% of the revenue of the bout could be lost. Given that this is one of the biggest fights of all time in terms of money being generated, that would run Mayweather and Pacquiao into a several million dollar pay cut.
'If not New York then surely Las Vegas' I hear you cry, but in actual fact the favorite so far is neither of boxing's ancestral homes. The Cowboys Stadium is currently the front runner, due to the much lower taxes in Texas coupled with the size and facilities of the billion dollar stadium.
Other than Texas, the other two options being considered are Vancouver Canada, which has a large Filipino population, and the building of an temporary outdoor arena somewhere in Las Vegas. The Vancouver option would offer Pacquiao a lot of home support, but logistically might be a lot more difficult for both parties to agree to. Not least because Manny himself might find the temperature a little bracing that far north, especially if he trains in either Mexico or the Philippines again.
The consortium of casino owners offering to build a temporary outdoor stadium would be the other most viable option at the moment, especially as it would give the fight the appearance of a fight for the ages. Las Vegas also has a lot of facilities that mean any fight is an easy sell there, although of course this fight doesn't really need that so much.
The newcomer to the talks is James Carville, who is trying to get the fight for the New Orleans Super dome. A potentially decisive factor is that Carville is asking the government for a tax waiver for the event, which would line the already deep pockets of all involved even more than usual. Speaking to Nola.com, Car ville said:
"There is an incredible narrative here, this fight could signal a rebirth for boxing and the city of New Orleans. We could have one together. I told Ross Greenburg, 'Would you please tell Bob Arum that whenever this happens, we would be interested in making a proposal."
As the negotiations get closer to being completed, Bob Arum and Richard Schaefer can expect the offers to come flooding in from various cities and stadiums across the country. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of cities were willing to forgo some of the taxes that similar events would incur due to the amount of revenue that the fight will bring to all sectors of the local economy. Hotels, restaurants, car rentals, retail stores and everything in between will be stimulated by an event as big as this one, and with that kind of money floating around, suddenly everyone is a boxing fan.
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