Is Floyd Mayweather Really Making $20 Million For WrestleMania?

A week after the Associated Press broke the story that World Wrestling Entertainment is paying Floyd Mayweather $20 million for his involvement at WrestleMania XXIV, many people are doubting whether that figure is legit. One source within WWE told the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Mayweather is actually receiving $1-2 million plus a percentage of the PPV revenue.

ESPN.com claims, “The payday is undoubtedly an exaggeration” while still giving Vince McMahon his due as a master promoter. “Various news outlets, including some reputable ones that should’ve known better, reported it as fact. Chalk one up for Floyd and Vince.”

At the very least, there is some resentment within the WWE lockerroom. There is fear that Mayweather’s payday will result in less money going to the wrestlers. Others believe the number to be a work and are not worried about it.

In a recent interview with the Orlando Sentinel, a WWE spokesman Kevin Hennessy declined to comment on the $20 million figure.

Since WWE is publicly traded company, they can not deceive stock holders by claiming a bogus $20 million expense. However, there are a number of ways around this. Aside from giving him a smaller flat fee plus a % of PPV sales, it would also be possible for Vince McMahon to pay Mayweather a large portion of the $20 million himself – in which case the expense would never hit WWE’s books for the public to see.

For WWE to cover Mayweather’s alleged $20 million fee, WrestleMania would need to do around 1.8 million buys (50% more than last year). As we’ve reported, WWE is charging more for this year’s WrestleMania than in previous years – $54.95 for the standard definition broadcast and $69.95 for HD.

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