Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view is a type of pay television or webcast service by which a viewer can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it.
Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guide, an automated telephone system, or through a live customer service representative. There has been an increasing number of pay-per-views distributed via streaming video online, either alongside or in lieu of carriage through television providers. In 2012, the popular video sharing service YouTube began to allow partners to host live PPV events on the platform.
Events distributed through PPV typically include combat sports events such as boxing and mixed martial arts, sports entertainment such as professional wrestling, and concerts. In the past, PPV was often used to distribute telecasts of feature films, as well as adult content such as pornographic films, but the growth of digital cable and streaming media caused these use cases to be subsumed by video on demand systems instead, leaving PPV to focus primarily on live event programs.
History
The earliest form of pay-per-view was closed-circuit television, also known as theatre television, where professional boxing telecasts were broadcast live to a select a number of venues, mostly theaters, where viewers paid for tickets to watch the fight live. The first fight with a closed-circuit telecast was Joe Louis vs. Jersey Joe Walcott in 1948. Closed-circuit telecasts peaked in popularity with Muhammad Ali in the 1960s and 1970s, with "The Rumble in the Jungle" fight drawing 50million buys worldwide in 1974, and the "Thrilla in Manila" drawing 100million buys worldwide in 1975. Closed-circuit television was gradually replaced by pay-per-view home television in the 1980s and 1990s.United States
The Zenith Phonevision system became the first home pay-per-view system to be tested in the United States. Developed in 1951, it used telephone lines to take and receive orders, as well as to descramble a television broadcast signal. The field tests conducted for Phonevision lasted for 90 days and were tested in Chicago, Illinois. The system used IBM punch cards to descramble a signal broadcast during the broadcast station's "off-time". Both systems showed promise, but the Federal Communications Commission denied them the permits to operate.One of the earliest pay-per-view systems on cable television, the Optical Systems-developed Channel 100, first began service in 1972 in San Diego, California through Mission Cable and TheaterVisioN, which operated out of Sarasota, Florida. These early systems quickly went out of business, as the cable industry adopted satellite technology and as flat-rate pay television services such as Home Box Office became popular.
While most pay-per-view services were delivered via cable, there were a few over-the-air pay TV stations that offered pay-per-view broadcasts in addition to regularly scheduled broadcasts of movies and other entertainment. These stations, which operated for a few years in Chicago, Los Angeles and some other cities, broadcast "scrambled" signals that required descrambler devices to convert the signal into standard broadcast format. These services were marketed as ON-TV.
Professional boxing during 1960s1970s
The first home pay-per-view cable television broadcast was the Floyd Patterson vs. Ingemar Johansson rematch in 1960, when 25,000 TelePrompTer subscribers mailed $2 to watch Patterson regain the heavyweight title. The third PattersonJohansson match in 1961 was later viewed by 100,000 paid cable subscribers. Muhammad Ali had several fights on early pay-per-view home television, including Cassius Clay vs. Doug Jones in 1963, and Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston which drew 250,000 buys on cable television in 1964.Professional boxing was largely introduced to pay-per-view cable television with the "Thrilla in Manila" fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in September 1975. The fight sold 500,000 pay-per-view buys on HBO. There was also another major title fight aired on pay-per-view in 1980, when Roberto Durán defeated Sugar Ray Leonard. Cable companies offered the match for $10, and about 155,000 customers paid to watch the fight.
1980s2000s
A major pay-per-view event occurred on September 16, 1981, when Sugar Ray Leonard fought Thomas "Hitman" Hearns for the World Welterweight Championship. Viacom Cablevision in Nashville, Tennessee – the first system to offer the event – saw over 50 percent of its subscriber base purchase the fight. Leonard visited Nashville to promote the fight, and the event proved such a success that Viacom themed its annual report for that year around it. Viacom marketing director Pat Thompson put together the fight, and subsequently put together additional PPV fights, wrestling matches, and even a televised Broadway play.After leaving Viacom, Thompson became head of Sports View and produced the first pay-per-view football game on October 16, 1983: a college football game between the University of Tennessee and the University of Alabama from Birmingham, Alabama. Sports View played a role in building pay-per-view networks, and became the early pioneer in developing TigerVision for Louisiana State University, TideVision for Alabama and UT Vol Seat for Tennessee. Sports View also produced the Ohio State-Michigan football game for pay-per-view in November 1983.
In 1985, the first pay-per-view cable channels in the United States – Viewer's Choice, Cable Video Store, First Choice and Request TV – began operation within days of each other. Viewer's Choice serviced both home satellite dish and cable customers, while Request TV, though broadcasting to cable viewers, would not become available to satellite subscribers until the 1990s. First Choice PPV was available on Rogers Cablesystems in the United States and Canada. After Paragon Cable acquired the Rogers Cablesystems franchise in San Antonio, Texas, First Choice continued to be carried until Time Warner Cable bought Paragon in 1996. In the United States, pay-per-view broadcasters transmit without advertisements, similar to conventional flat-rate pay television services.
The term "pay-per-view" did not come into general use until the late 1980s when companies such as Viewer's Choice, HBO and Showtime started using the system to show movies and some of their productions. Viewer's Choice carried movies, concerts and other events, with live sporting events such as WrestleMania being the most predominant programming. Prices ranged from $3.99 to $49.99, while HBO and Showtime, with their event production legs TVKO and SET Pay Per View, would offer championship boxing matches ranging from $14.99 to $54.99.
ESPN later began to broadcast college football and basketball games on pay-per-view through its services ESPN GamePlan and ESPN Full Court, which were eventually sold as full-time out-of-market sports packages. The boxing undercard Latin Fury, shown on June 28, 2003, became ESPN's first boxing card on pay-per-view and also the first pay-per-view boxing card held in Puerto Rico. Pay-per-view has provided a revenue stream for professional wrestling circuits such as WWE, Impact Wrestling, All Elite Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling, Ring of Honor and Lucha Libre AAA World Wide.
WWE chairman and chief executive officer Vince McMahon is considered by many as one of the icons of pay-per-view promotion. McMahon owns the domain name payperview.com, which redirects to the WWE Network website.
With the rise of direct broadcast satellite services in the 1990s, this meant more services exclusively for DBS users appeared. DirecTV had Direct Ticket, while Dish Network had Dish On Demand. PrimeStar, on the other hand, utilized pre-existing services like Viewer's Choice and Request TV, though promotional material bannered all PPV services under the name of PrimeCinema.
HBO PPV (professional boxing)
In 2006, HBO generated 3.7 million pay-per-view buys with $177 million in gross sales. The only year with more buys previously, 1999, had a total of 4 million. The former record fell in 2007 when HBO sold 4.8 million PPV buys with $255 million in sales. In 2014, HBO generated 59.3 million buys and $3.1 billion in revenue since its 1991 debut with Evander Holyfield-George Foreman.1999 differed radically from 2006: 1999 saw four major fight cards: De La Hoya-Trinidad, Holyfield-Lewis I, Holyfield-Lewis II and De La Hoya-Quartey. By contrast, only one pay-per-view mega-fight took place in 2006: De La Hoya-Mayorga. Rahman-Maskaev bombed with under 50,000. The other eight PPV cards that year all fell in the 325,000–450,000 range. Pay-per-view fights in that range almost always generate more money for the promoter and fighters than HBO wants to pay for an HBO World Championship Boxing license-fee.
In May 2007, the super-welterweight boxing match between Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. on HBO PPV became the biggest-selling non-heavyweight title fight, with a little more than 2.5 million buyers. The fight itself generated roughly in domestic PPV revenue, making it the most lucrative prizefight of that era. The record stood until 2015 before it was broken by Floyd Mayweather, Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao in a fight dubbed as the "Fight of the Century" on May 2, 2015 which generated 4.6 million ppv buys and a revenue of over $400 million.
The leading PPV attraction, Floyd Mayweather Jr. has generated approximately 24 million buys and $1.6 billion in revenue. Manny Pacquiao, ranked second, has generated approximately 20.1 million buys and $1.2 billion in revenue. Oscar De La Hoya, has "sold" approximately 14 million s in total, giving $700 million in domestic television receipts and stands third. In fourth place in buys, Evander Holyfield has achieved 12.6 million units ; and at fifth, Mike Tyson has reached 12.4 million units.
Ross Greenburg, then president of HBO Sports, called the expansion of pay-per-view "the biggest economic issue in boxing", stating "I can't tell you that pay-per-view helps the sport because it doesn't. It hurts the sport because it narrows our audience, but it's a fact of life. Every time we try to make an HBO World Championship Boxing fight, we're up against mythical pay-per-view numbers. HBO doesn't make a lot of money from pay-per-view. There's usually a cap on what we can make. But the promoters and fighters insist on pay-per-view because that's where their greatest profits lie."
"It's a big problem," Greenburg continues. "It's getting harder and harder to put fighters like Manny Pacquiao on HBO World Championship Boxing. If Floyd Mayweather beats Oscar, he might never fight on HBO World Championship Boxing again. But if HBO stopped doing pay-per-view, the promoters would simply do it on their own or find someone else who will do it for them."
Former HBO Sports President Seth Abraham concurs, saying, "I think, if Lou and I were still at HBO, we'd be in the same pickle as far as the exodus of fights to pay-per-view is concerned."
Ultimate Fighting Championship
The Ultimate Fighting Championship, a mixed martial arts promotion, was a relative newcomer to the PPV market. However, the promotion experienced a surge in popularity in the mid-2000s, credited initially to the popularity of an associated reality show on the cable channel Spike, The Ultimate Fighter. UFC 52—the first UFC event since its premiere, broke the promotion's record with almost 300,000 buys. PPV numbers escalated further in 2006, with its events taking in a gross revenue of $222 million. In October 2016, it was reported that 42% of the UFC's "content revenue" in 2015 came from pay-per-view buys, followed by U.S. and international media rights.In 2018, UFC 229 would pull an all-time record for the promotion, with estimates indicating that the event attracted nearly 2.4 million buys, breaking the 1.65 million buy record set by UFC 202.
In March 2019, as part of a larger contract with ESPN for media rights in the United States, it was announced that future UFC pay-per-views will only be sold to subscribers of the network's streaming service ESPN+.
Professional wrestling
has a long history of running pay-per-view events. WWE launched its first pay-per-view event in 1985 with its annual flagship event WrestleMania and has run numerous others throughout the years. Although it still offers its events via traditional PPV outlets, they have also been included at no additional charge as part of a larger, subscription-based streaming service known as WWE Network. The service also includes original programming and an on-demand archive of events and television episodes from WWE's library. Following WrestleMania 34, the service had 2.12 million subscribers. Other major organizations such as World Championship Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling, Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor, and All Elite Wrestling have also run pay-per-view events.Concerts
In 2009, The live streaming Broadcast of The Allman Brothers Band 40th Anniversary show, live from the Beacon Theater in NYC, was the largest on line pay per view streaming concert event, grossing in excess of $300 thousand dollars. The event was produced by Onstream Media for Moogis.com.In 2015, PPV broadcasts of the tour set a record for buys for a music event, with over 400,000.
United Kingdom and Ireland
Viewers in the United Kingdom and Ireland can access pay-per-view via satellite, cable and over-the-internet television services, mainly for films, boxing and American professional wrestling via services such as Sky Box Office and BT Sport Box Office. The last couple of years has seen the number of pay-per-view boxing events significantly increase and currently all of the UK's top fights are only available via pay-per-view. Broadcasters have abandoned their aspirations to introduce PPV into other sports market due to poor interest from the public.Canada
In Canada, most specialty television providers provide pay-per-view programming through one or more services. In all cases, prices typically range from around C$4.99 up to $50 or more for special events.Initially, there were three major PPV providers in Canada; Viewers Choice operated in Eastern Canada as a joint venture of Astral Media, Rogers Communications, and TSN. Western International Communications operated a separate service in the west initially known as Home Theatre; it was later rebranded as Viewers Choice under license.
Viewers Choice Canada was a partner in a French-language PPV service known as Canal Indigo, which is now entirely owned by Videotron. Bell Canada launched a PPV service for its ExpressVu television provider known as Vu! in 1999.
Home Theatre was later acquired by Shaw Communications; after gaining permission to operate nationally, it re-branded as a white-label PPV known internally as Shaw PPV in December 2007. In 2014, due to Bell Media's majority ownership of Viewers Choice because of its acquisition of Astral, and because both Bell and Rogers now ran their own in-house PPV operations, Viewers Choice was shut down.
Mainland Europe
In Romania, cable communications operator UPC Romania has notified the National Audiovisual Council on the intention to introduce in January, February 2014 at the latest, an on-demand audiovisual media service called Agerpres. According to the manager of UPC Romania-owned Smaranda Radoi UPC, will allow customers to watch movies on demand or live events; as well as broadcasts of performances, concerts and sporting events.In November 2008, pay-per-view made its debut in Albania through Digitalb on terrestrial and satellite television, with the channel DigiGold.
In France, launched in the late 1990s, Canalsat and TPS operate their own pay-per-view service. While CanalSat holds the rights to live soccer matches for France's Ligue 1, TPS had the rights for Boxe matches. In 2007, Multivision service ceased by the end of TPS service which merged with Canalsat. Nowadays, Ciné+ is the only existing pay-per-view service in France.
In Croatia, Fight Channel is broadcasting martial arts events organized by the world's most prominent fighting organizations, such as the UFC, K-1, HBO Boxing, Dream, Glory WS, World Series of Boxing etc. and its pay-per-view service covers the Balkans region.
Sky Deutschland, accessible in Germany, Austria and partially in Switzerland, provides nine PPV-Channels called "Sky Select", where their regular Pay-TV customers can see movies or various sports events such as boxing or soccer.
South America
Per nations with Pay-Per-View or PPV system in South América:In Argentina, Torneos y Competencias is a producer and sports events organization that broadcasts live main matches of Argentine Soccer in four categories on TyC Sports and TyC Max.
In Brazil, in the soccer main matches of Serie A and Serie B in two categories of Brazilian Soccer are broadcast live on Premiere FC and SporTV. The Serie C Championship are broadcast live on SporTV with two games per matchday in Pay TV. In other sports are broadcast live on NBB TV.
In Chile, the exclusive rights of Chilean Soccer are owned by TV Fútbol and broadcast live on a channel called Canal Del Fútbol, also known CDF. Sports Field S.A. has exclusive rights to games on the Chilean professional basketball league, which are broadcast live vía CDO.
In Paraguay, the Teledeportes business have exclusive rights to broadcast live main matches of Paraguayan Soccer in four categories vía Tigo Max and Tigo Sports. Teledeportes have live broadcast live of Paraguayan Basketball League is broadcast live Monday at 7:55 pm on Tigo Max and Thursday at 8:00 pm on Tigo Sports.
In Uruguay, the Tenfield producer business and sports events organization have television exclusive rights for the main matches of Uruguayan soccer and basketball, which are broadcast on VTV Max and VTV Sports.
Australia and the Pacific Islands
and Optus Vision introduced pay-per-view direct to home television in Australia in the mid-to-late 1990s. Foxtel had Event TV while, Optus Vision had Main Attraction Pay-Per-View as its provider. As of 2005, Main Event is the current pay-per-view provider through Foxtel and Optus cable/satellite subscription.Sky Pacific started a service in Fiji in 2005 and then expanded into American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu, with one, out of their 25 channels, being Pay-Per-View.
Asia
In Malaysia, Astro's Astro Box Office service launched in 2000 in the form of the free-to-air "Astro Showcase".In Japan, SkyPerfecTV subscribers can receive one-click pay-per-view access to hundreds of channels supplying domestic and international sporting events, movies, and specialty programming, either live or later on continuous repeat on its channel.
In India a pay-per-view service operates; however, pay-per-view sports broadcasts are available. Now also live events like WWE.
List of pay-per-view bouts
Boxing
Worldwide
The following is a list of boxing fights that have generated over 1million pay-per-view buys worldwide. These figures include closed-circuit theatre television, pay-per-view home television, and pay-per-view online streaming.| Date | Fight | Network | Sales | Revenue ( | Revenue ( |
| Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier |
| ||||
| Muhammad Ali vs. George Foreman | $100,000,000 | ||||
| Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier III | $100,000,000 | ||||
| Muhammad Ali vs. Ken Norton III | |||||
| Roberto Durán vs. Sugar Ray Leonard | $30,000,000 | ||||
| Larry Holmes vs. Gerry Cooney | $20,000,000 | ||||
| Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Marvin Hagler | $60,000,000 | ||||
| Mike Tyson vs. Michael Spinks | $70,000,000 | ||||
| Evander Holyfield vs. George Foreman | $75,000,000 | ||||
| Mike Tyson vs. Donovan Ruddock II | |||||
| Mike Tyson vs. Peter McNeeley | |||||
| Frank Bruno vs. Mike Tyson II | $98,000,000 | ||||
| Mike Tyson vs. Bruce Seldon | |||||
| Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield | |||||
| Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield II | $180,000,000 | ||||
| Oscar De La Hoya vs. Félix Trinidad | $74,100,000 | ||||
| Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson | $112,000,000 | ||||
| Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. | $165,000,000 | ||||
| Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Ricky Hatton | $134,000,000 | ||||
| Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao | $100,000,000 | ||||
| Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton | $80,200,000 | ||||
| Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Juan Manuel Márquez | |||||
| Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto | |||||
| Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Shane Mosley | |||||
| Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito | |||||
| Manny Pacquiao vs. Shane Mosley | |||||
| Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs Victor Ortiz | |||||
| Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Márquez III | |||||
| Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Miguel Cotto | $94,000,000 | ||||
| Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Márquez IV | |||||
| Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Canelo Álvarez | $150,000,000 | ||||
| Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao | $500,000,000 | $500,000,000 | |||
| Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko | |||||
| Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor | 5,174,000 | $500,000,000 | $500,000,000 | ||
| Canelo Álvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin | $100,000,000 | $100,000,000 | |||
| Anthony Joshua vs. Joseph Parker | $60,000,000 | ||||
| KSI vs. Logan Paul | |||||
| Canelo Álvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin II | $117,000,000 | $117,000,000 | |||
| Anthony Joshua vs. Alexander Povetkin | $53,000,000 | ||||
| Andy Ruiz Jr. vs. Anthony Joshua II | |||||
| Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury II |
United States (closed-circuit theatre TV)
Select boxing buy rates at American closed-circuit theatre television venues between 1951 and 2015:| Date | Fight | Buys | Revenue | Revenue |
| Joe Louis vs. Lee Savold | $100,000 | $ | ||
| Sugar Ray Robinson vs. Randolph Turpin II | $ | $ | ||
| Rocky Marciano vs. Joe Walcott | $ | $ | ||
| Rocky Marciano vs. Archie Moore | $1,125,000 | $ | ||
| Sugar Ray Robinson vs. Carmen Basilio | $ | $ | ||
| Sugar Ray Robinson vs. Carmen Basilio II | $2,000,000 | $ | ||
| Floyd Patterson vs. Roy Harris | $763,437 | $ | ||
| Floyd Patterson vs. Ingemar Johansson | $1,032,000 | $ | ||
| Floyd Patterson vs. Ingemar Johansson II | $3,000,000 | $ | ||
| Floyd Patterson vs. Ingemar Johansson III | $2,500,000 | $ | ||
| Floyd Patterson vs. Sonny Liston | $3,200,000 | $ | ||
| Cassius Clay vs. Doug Jones | $500,000 | $ | ||
| Floyd Patterson vs. Sonny Liston II | $4,747,690 | $ | ||
| Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston | $5,000,000 | $ | ||
| Floyd Patterson vs. George Chuvalo | $800,000 | $ | ||
| Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston II | $4,300,000 | $ | ||
| Muhammad Ali vs. Floyd Patterson | $4,000,000 | $ | ||
| Muhammad Ali vs. Cleveland Williams | $ | $ | ||
| Muhammad Ali vs. Ernie Terrell | $ | $ | ||
| Muhammad Ali vs. Jerry Quarry | $3,500,000 | $ | ||
| Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier | $ | $ | ||
| Muhammad Ali vs. George Foreman | $ | $ | ||
| Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier III | $ | $ | ||
| Muhammad Ali vs. Ken Norton III | $ | $ | ||
| Roberto Durán vs. Sugar Ray Leonard | $22,000,000 | $ | ||
| Larry Holmes vs. Gerry Cooney | $20,000,000 | $ | ||
| Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns | $ | $ | ||
| Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Marvin Hagler | $40,000,000 | $ | ||
| Mike Tyson vs. Michael Spinks | $32,000,000 | $ | ||
| Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson II | $9,000,000 | $ | ||
| Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. | $ | $ | ||
| Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao | $ | $ |
United States (PPV home television)
Select PPV boxing buy-rates between 1960 and 2020:| Date | Fight | Result | Carrier | Buy rate |
| Floyd Patterson vs. Ingemar Johansson II | Patterson wins by KO in round 5 | TelePrompTer | ||
| Floyd Patterson vs. Ingemar Johansson III | Patterson wins by KO in round 6 | TelePrompTer | ||
| Floyd Patterson vs. Sonny Liston | Liston wins by KO in round 1 | TelePrompTer | ||
| Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston | Ali wins by RTD in round 6 | WHCT | ||
| Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier III | Ali wins by TKO in round 14 | HBO | ||
| Roberto Durán vs. Sugar Ray Leonard | Durán wins by UD | HBO | ||
| Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns | Leonard wins by TKO in round 14 | HBO | ||
| Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns | Hagler wins by TKO in round 3 | HBO | ||
| Marvin Hagler vs. Sugar Ray Leonard | Leonard wins by SD | HBO | ||
| Mike Tyson vs. Michael Spinks | Tyson wins by KO in round 1 | HBO | ||
| Donny Lalonde vs. Sugar Ray Leonard | Leonard wins by TKO in round 9 | HBO | ||
| Buster Douglas vs. Evander Holyfield | Holyfield wins by KO in round 3 | Showtime | ||
| Mike Tyson vs. Donovan Ruddock | Tyson wins by TKO in round 7 | Showtime | ||
| Evander Holyfield vs. George Foreman | Holyfield wins by UD | HBO | ||
| Mike Tyson vs. Donovan Ruddock II | Tyson wins by UD | Showtime | ||
| Ray Mercer vs. Tommy Morrison | Mercer wins by KO in round 5 | HBO | ||
| Evander Holyfield vs. Larry Holmes | Holyfield wins by UD | HBO | ||
| Evander Holyfield vs. Riddick Bowe | Bowe wins by UD | HBO | ||
| George Foreman vs. Tommy Morrison | Morrison wins by UD | HBO | ||
| Pernell Whitaker vs. Julio César Chávez | Majority draw | Showtime | ||
| Riddick Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield II | Holyfield wins by MD | HBO | ||
| James Toney vs. Roy Jones Jr. | Jones Jr. wins by UD | HBO | ||
| Oscar De La Hoya vs. Rafael Ruelas | De La Hoya wins by TKO in round 2 | HBO | ||
| Mike Tyson vs. Peter McNeeley | Tyson wins by DQ in round 1 | Showtime | ||
| Riddick Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield III | Bowe wins by TKO in round 8 | HBO | ||
| Frank Bruno vs. Mike Tyson II | Tyson wins by TKO in round 3 | Showtime | ||
| Mike Tyson vs. Bruce Seldon | Tyson wins by TKO in round 1 | Showtime | ||
| Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield | Holyfield wins by TKO in round 11 | Showtime | ||
| Pernell Whitaker vs. Oscar De La Hoya | De La Hoya wins by UD | HBO | ||
| Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield II | Holyfield wins by DQ in round 3 | Showtime | ||
| Oscar De La Hoya vs. Héctor Camacho | De La Hoya wins by UD | HBO | ||
| Lennox Lewis vs. Andrew Golota | Lewis wins by KO in round 1 | HBO | ||
| Evander Holyfield vs. Michael Moorer II | Holyfield wins by RTD in round 8 | Showtime | ||
| Mike Tyson vs. Francois Botha | Tyson wins by KO in round 5 | Showtime | ||
| Evander Holyfield vs. Lennox Lewis | Split draw | HBO | ||
| Oscar De La Hoya vs. Félix Trinidad | Trinidad wins by MD | HBO | ||
| Evander Holyfield vs. Lennox Lewis II | Lewis wins by UD | HBO | ||
| Lennox Lewis vs. Michael Grant | Lewis wins by KO in round 2 | HBO | ||
| Oscar De La Hoya vs. Shane Mosley | Mosley wins by SD | HBO | ||
| Roy Jones Jr. vs. Eric Harding | Jones Jr. wins by RTD in round 10 | HBO | ||
| Mike Tyson vs. Andrew Golota | Tyson wins by TKO in round 3 | Showtime | ||
| Lennox Lewis vs. David Tua | Lewis wins by UD | HBO | ||
| Evander Holyfield vs. John Ruiz II | Ruiz wins by UD | Showtime | ||
| Naseem Hamed vs. Marco Antonio Barrera | Barrera wins by UD | HBO | ||
| Laila Ali vs. Jacqui Frazier-Lyde | Ali wins by MD | |||
| Hasim Rahman vs. Lennox Lewis II | Lewis wins by KO in round 4 | HBO | ||
| Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson | Lewis wins by KO in round 8 | HBO/Showtime | ||
| Oscar De La Hoya vs. Fernando Vargas | De La Hoya wins by TKO in round 11 | HBO | ||
| Mike Tyson vs. Clifford Etienne | Tyson wins by KO in round 1 | Showtime | ||
| John Ruiz vs. Roy Jones Jr. | Jones Jr. wins by UD | HBO | ||
| Oscar De La Hoya vs. Shane Mosley II | Mosley wins by UD | HBO | ||
| James Toney vs. Evander Holyfield | Toney wins by TKO in round 9 | Showtime | ||
| Antonio Tarver vs. Roy Jones Jr. | Jones Jr. wins by MD | HBO | ||
| Roy Jones Jr. vs. Antonio Tarver II | Tarver wins by KO in round 2 | HBO | ||
| Bernard Hopkins vs. Oscar De La Hoya | Hopkins wins by KO in round 9 | HBO | ||
| Vitali Klitschko vs. Danny Williams | Klitschko wins by TKO in round 8 | HBO | ||
| Érik Morales vs. Manny Pacquiao | Morales wins by UD | HBO | ||
| Mike Tyson vs. Kevin McBride | McBride wins by TKO in round 7 | Showtime | ||
| Arturo Gatti vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. | Mayweather Jr. wins by RTD in round 6 | HBO | ||
| Antonio Tarver vs. Roy Jones Jr. III | Tarver wins by UD | HBO | ||
| Manny Pacquiao vs Érik Morales II | Pacquiao wins by TKO in round 10 | HBO | ||
| Shane Mosley vs Fernando Vargas | Mosley wins by TKO in round 10 | HBO | ||
| Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Zab Judah | Mayweather Jr. wins by UD | HBO | ||
| Ricardo Mayorga vs. Oscar De La Hoya | De La Hoya wins by TKO in round 6 | HBO | ||
| Manny Pacquiao vs. Óscar Larios | Pacquiao wins by UD | Top Rank | ||
| Shane Mosley vs Fernando Vargas II | Mosley wins by TKO in round 6 | HBO | ||
| Hasim Rahman vs. Oleg Maskaev II | Maskaev wins by TKO in round 12 | HBO | ||
| Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Carlos Baldomir | Mayweather Jr. wins by UD | HBO | ||
| Manny Pacquiao vs Érik Morales III | Pacquiao wins by KO in round 3 | HBO | ||
| Manny Pacquiao vs Jorge Solís | Pacquiao wins by KO in round 8 | Top Rank | ||
| Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. | Mayweather Jr. wins by SD | HBO | ||
| Manny Pacquiao vs. Marco Antonio Barrera II | Pacquiao wins by UD | HBO | ||
| Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Ricky Hatton | Mayweather Jr. wins by TKO in round 10 | HBO | ||
| Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Márquez II | Pacquiao wins by SD | HBO | ||
| David Díaz vs. Manny Pacquiao | Pacquiao wins by TKO in round 9 | HBO | ||
| Joe Calzaghe vs. Roy Jones Jr. | Calzaghe wins by UD | HBO | ||
| Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao | Pacquiao wins by RTD in round 8 | HBO | ||
| Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton | Pacquiao wins by KO in round 2 | HBO | ||
| Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Juan Manuel Márquez | Mayweather Jr. wins by UD | HBO | ||
| Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto | Pacquiao wins by TKO in round 12 | HBO | ||
| Manny Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey | Pacquiao wins by UD | HBO | ||
| Bernard Hopkins vs. Roy Jones Jr. II | Hopkins win by UD | HBO | ||
| Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Shane Mosley | Mayweather Jr. wins by UD | HBO | ||
| Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito | Pacquiao wins by UD | HBO | ||
| Manny Pacquiao vs. Shane Mosley | Pacquiao wins by UD | Showtime | ||
| Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs Victor Ortiz | Mayweather Jr. wins by KO in round 4 | HBO | ||
| Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Márquez III | Pacquiao wins by MD | HBO | ||
| Miguel Cotto vs. Antonio Margarito II | Cotto wins by RTD in round 9 | HBO | ||
| Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Miguel Cotto | Mayweather Jr. wins by UD | HBO | ||
| Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley | Bradley wins by SD | HBO | ||
| Sergio Martínez vs. Julio César Chávez Jr. | Martínez wins by UD | HBO | ||
| Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Márquez IV | Márquez wins by KO in round 6 | HBO | ||
| Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Robert Guerrero | Mayweather Jr. wins by UD | Showtime | ||
| Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Canelo Álvarez | Mayweather Jr. wins by MD | Showtime | ||
| Timothy Bradley vs. Juan Manuel Márquez | Bradley wins by SD | HBO | ||
| Manny Pacquiao vs. Brandon Ríos | Pacquiao wins by UD | HBO | ||
| Canelo Álvarez vs. Alfredo Angulo | Álvarez wins by TKO in Round 10 | Showtime | ||
| Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley II | Pacquiao wins by UD | HBO | ||
| Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Marcos Maidana | Mayweather Jr. wins by MD | Showtime | ||
| Miguel Cotto vs. Sergio Martínez | Cotto wins by RTD in round 10 | HBO | ||
| Canelo Álvarez vs. Erislandy Lara | Álvarez wins by SD | Showtime | ||
| Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Marcos Maidana II | Mayweather Jr. wins by UD | Showtime | ||
| Manny Pacquiao vs. Chris Algieri | Pacquiao wins by UD | HBO | ||
| Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao | Mayweather Jr. wins by UD | HBO/Showtime | ||
| Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Andre Berto | Mayweather Jr. wins by UD | Showtime | ||
| Gennady Golovkin vs. David Lemieux | Golovkin wins by TKO in round 8 | HBO | ||
| Miguel Cotto vs. Canelo Álvarez | Álvarez wins by UD | HBO | ||
| Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley III | Pacquiao wins by UD | HBO | ||
| Canelo Álvarez vs. Amir Khan | Álvarez wins by KO in round 6 | HBO | ||
| Terence Crawford vs. Viktor Postol | Crawford wins by UD | HBO | ||
| Canelo Álvarez vs. Liam Smith | Álvarez wins by TKO in round 9 | HBO | ||
| Manny Pacquiao vs. Jessie Vargas | Pacquiao wins by UD | Top Rank | ||
| Sergey Kovalev vs. Andre Ward | Ward wins by UD | HBO | ||
| Gennady Golovkin vs. Daniel Jacobs | Golovkin wins by UD | HBO | ||
| Canelo Álvarez vs. Julio César Chávez Jr. | Álvarez wins by UD | HBO | ||
| Andre Ward vs. Sergey Kovalev II | Ward wins by TKO in round 8 | HBO | ||
| Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor | Mayweather Jr. wins by TKO in round 10 | Showtime | ||
| Canelo Álvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin | Split draw | HBO | ||
| Canelo Álvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin II | Álvarez wins by MD | HBO | ||
| Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury | Split draw | Showtime | ||
| Manny Pacquiao vs. Adrien Broner | Pacquiao wins by UD | Showtime | ||
| Errol Spence Jr. vs. Mikey Garcia | Spence Jr. wins by UD | Fox | ||
| Terence Crawford vs. Amir Khan | Crawford wins by TKO in round 6 | ESPN | ||
| Manny Pacquiao vs. Keith Thurman | Pacquiao wins by SD | Fox | ||
| Errol Spence Jr. vs. Shawn Porter | Spence wins by SD | Fox | ||
| Deontay Wilder vs. Luis Ortiz II | Wilder wins by KO in round 7 | Fox | ||
| Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury II | Fury wins by TKO in round 7 | ESPN/Fox | 1,200,000 |
United Kingdom
Select boxing pay-per-view figures between 1966 and 2018. Many of these figures are based on BARB weekly viewing data figures.
| Date | Fight | Network | Buys | Source | Announcers |
| 21 May 1966 | Muhammad Ali vs. Henry Cooper II | Pay TV | 40,000 | ||
| 16 March 1996 | Frank Bruno vs. Mike Tyson II | Sky Box Office | 660,000 | Ian Darke and Glenn McCrory | |
| 9 November 1996 | Naseem Hamed vs. Remigio Molina | Sky Box Office | 420,000 | Ian Darke and Glenn McCrory | |
| 8 February 1997 | Naseem Hamed vs. Tom Johnson | Sky Box Office | 720,000 | Ian Darke and Glenn McCrory | |
| 3 May 1997 | Naseem Hamed vs. Billy Hardy | Sky Box Office | Ian Darke and Glenn McCrory | ||
| 28 June 1997 | Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson II | Sky Box Office | 550,000 | Ian Darke and Glenn McCrory | |
| 13 March 1999 | Evander Holyfield vs. Lennox Lewis | Sky Box Office | 400,000 | Ian Darke and Glenn McCrory | |
| 29 January 2000 | Mike Tyson vs. Julius Francis | Sky Box Office | 500,000 | Ian Darke and Glenn McCrory | |
| 19 August 2000 | Naseem Hamed vs. Augie Sanchez | Sky Box Office | 300,000 | Adam Smith and Jim Watt | |
| 8 June 2002 | Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson | Sky Box Office | 750,000 | Ian Darke and Glenn McCrory | |
| 8 December 2007 | Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Ricky Hatton | Sky Box Office | 1,150,000 | Ian Darke and Jim Watt | |
| 2 May 2009 | Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton | Sky Box Office | 900,000 | Ian Darke and Jim Watt | |
| 18 July 2009 | Amir Khan vs. Andreas Kotelnik | Sky Box Office | 100,000 | Adam Smith and Jim Watt | |
| 7 November 2009 | Nikolai Valuev vs. David Haye | Sky Box Office | 469,000 | Ian Darke and Jim Watt | |
| 3 April 2010 | David Haye vs. John Ruiz | Sky Box Office | 253,000 | Ian Darke and Jim Watt | |
| 24 April 2010 | Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler | Primetime | 50,000 | John Rawling and Duke McKenzie | |
| 18 September 2010 | Kell Brook vs. Michael Jennings | Sky Box Office | Ian Darke and Jim Watt | ||
| 13 November 2010 | David Haye vs. Audley Harrison | Sky Box Office | 304,000 | Ian Darke and Jim Watt | |
| 11 December 2010 | Amir Khan vs. Marcos Maidana | Sky Box Office | Adam Smith and Jim Watt | ||
| 16 April 2011 | Amir Khan vs. Paul McCloskey | Primetime | Benny Ricardo and Duke McKenzie | ||
| 21 May 2011 | George Groves vs. James DeGale | Sky Box Office | 43,000 | Ian Darke and Jim Watt | |
| 02 July 2011 | Wladimir Klitschko vs. David Haye | Sky Box Office | 1,170,000 | John Rawling and Jim Watt | |
| 25 May 2013 | Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler II | Sky Box Office | 32,000 | Ian Darke and Jim Watt | |
| 23 November 2013 | Carl Froch vs. George Groves | Sky Box Office | Nick Halling and Jim Watt | ||
| 31 May 2014 | Carl Froch vs. George Groves II | Sky Box Office | 355,000 | Nick Halling, Jim Watt and Paulie Malignaggi | |
| 30 May 2015 | Kell Brook vs. Frankie Gavin | Sky Box Office | 139,000 | Nick Halling, Jim Watt and Paulie Malignaggi | |
| 2 May 2015 | Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao | Sky Box Office | 942,000 | Nick Halling and Jim Watt | |
| 28 November 2015 | Wladimir Klitschko vs. Tyson Fury | Sky Box Office | 545,000 | Adam Smith, Glenn McCrory and Carl Froch | |
| 12 December 2015 | Anthony Joshua vs. Dillian Whyte | Sky Box Office | 420,000 | Nick Halling, Jim Watt and Paulie Malignaggi | |
| 27 February 2016 | Carl Frampton vs. Scott Quigg | Sky Box Office | 220,000 | Nick Halling and Jim Watt | |
| 9 April 2016 | Anthony Joshua vs. Charles Martin | Sky Box Office | 500,000 | Nick Halling and Glenn McCrory | |
| 25 June 2016 | Anthony Joshua vs. Dominic Breazeale | Sky Box Office | 512,000 | Nick Halling and Jim Watt | |
| 10 September 2016 | Gennady Golovkin vs. Kell Brook | Sky Box Office | 400,000 | Adam Smith, Carl Froch and Paulie Malignaggi | |
| 10 December 2016 | Anthony Joshua vs. Éric Molina | Sky Box Office | 450,000 | Adam Smith, Carl Froch and David Haye | |
| 4 February 2017 | Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Renold Quinlan | ITV Box Office | 86,000 | Ronald McIntosh and Richie Woodhall | |
| 4 March 2017 | David Haye vs. Tony Bellew | Sky Box Office | 750,000 | Adam Smith, Carl Froch and Paulie Malignaggi | |
| 29 April 2017 | Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko | Sky Box Office | 1,500,000 | Adam Smith, Carl Froch and Deontay Wilder | |
| 27 May 2017 | Kell Brook vs. Errol Spence Jr. | Sky Box Office | 275,000 | Adam Smith and Carl Froch | |
| 26 August 2017 | Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor | Sky Box Office | 1,007,000 | Adam Smith, Carl Froch and Dan Hardy | |
| 28 October 2017 | Anthony Joshua vs. Carlos Takam | Sky Box Office | 887,000 | Adam Smith, Carl Froch and Tony Bellew | |
| 31 March 2018 | Anthony Joshua vs. Joseph Parker | Sky Box Office | 1,457,000 | Adam Smith and Carl Froch | |
| 5 May 2018 | David Haye vs. Tony Bellew II | Sky Box Office | 775,000 | Adam Smith, Carl Froch and Paulie Malignaggi | |
| 28 July 2018 | Dillian Whyte vs. Joseph Parker | Sky Box Office | 474,000 | Adam Smith, Carl Froch and Tony Bellew | |
| 22 September 2018 | Anthony Joshua vs. Alexander Povetkin | Sky Box Office | 1,108,000 | Adam Smith, Carl Froch, Paulie Malignaggi and David Haye | |
| 10 November 2018 | Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tony Bellew | Sky Box Office | 603,000 | Adam Smith, Carl Froch, Paulie Malignaggi and David Haye | |
| 1 December 2018 | Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury | BT Sport Box Office | 450,000 | John Rawling and Barry Jones | |
| 22 December 2018 | Dillian Whyte vs. Dereck Chisora II | Sky Box Office | 438,000 | Adam Smith, Carl Froch and Anthony Joshua | |
| 1 June 2019 | Anthony Joshua vs. Andy Ruiz Jr. | Sky Box Office | 403,000 | Adam Smith, Paulie Malignaggi and Matthew Macklin | |
| 20 July 2019 | Dillian Whyte vs. Oscar Rivas | Sky Box Office | 286,000 | Adam Smith, Paulie Malignaggi and Matthew Macklin | |
| 31 August 2019 | Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Luke Campbell | Sky Box Office | 205,000 | Adam Smith, Paulie Malignaggi and Matthew Macklin | |
| 26 October 2019 | Josh Taylor vs. Regis Prograis | Sky Box Office | 176,000 | Adam Smith, Carl Froch & Matthew Macklin | |
| 9 November 2019 | KSI vs. Logan Paul II | Sky Box Office | 216,000 | Adam Smith, Joe Weller, Ethan Payne and AnEsonGib | |
| 7 December 2019 | Andy Ruiz Jr. vs. Anthony Joshua II | Sky Box Office | 1,284,000 | Adam Smith, Matthew Macklin and Tony Bellew |
Mixed martial arts (United States)
The first pay-per-view mixed martial arts bout was Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki, which took place in Japan on. It sold at least 2million or more buys on closed-circuit theatre TV in the United States. At a ticket price of $10, the fight grossed at least or more from closed-circuit theatre TV revenue in the United States.UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship)
The highest buy rates for the UFC as of 2018 are as follows:Note: The UFC does not release official PPV statistics, and the following PPV numbers are as reported by industry insiders. As of April 2019, all PPV's are iPPV's, with distribution on the internet exclusively via Disney and BAMTech's streaming service.
| Date | Event | Buy rate | Revenue |
| UFC 229: Khabib vs. McGregor | 2,400,000 | ||
| UFC 202: Diaz vs. McGregor 2 | 1,650,000 | ||
| UFC 100: Lesnar vs. Mir | 1,600,000 | $82 million | |
| UFC 196: McGregor vs. Diaz | 1,500,000 | ||
| UFC 194: Aldo vs. McGregor | 1,400,000 | ||
| UFC 205: Alvarez vs. McGregor | 1,300,000 | ||
| UFC 200: Tate vs. Nunes | 1,200,000 | ||
| UFC 116: Lesnar vs. Carwin | 1,160,000 | $55 million | |
| UFC 193: Rousey vs. Holm | 1,100,000 | $60 million | |
| UFC 207: Nunes vs. Rousey | 1,100,000 | ||
| UFC 66: Liddell vs. Ortiz 2 | 1,050,000 | $53 million | |
| UFC 114: Rampage vs. Evans | 1,050,000 | ||
| UFC 121: Lesnar vs. Velasquez | 1,050,000 | $45 million | |
| UFC 168: Weidman vs. Silva II | 1,025,000 | ||
| UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar | 1,010,000 | $47 million | |
| UFC 246: McGregor vs. Cerrone | 1,000,000 | ||
| UFC 92: Evans vs. Griffin | 1,000,000 | ||
| UFC 158: St-Pierre vs. Diaz | 950,000 | ||
| UFC 148: Silva vs. Sonnen II | 925,000 | ||
| UFC 94: St-Pierre vs. Penn 2 | 920,000 | ||
| UFC 190: Rousey vs. Correia | 900,000 | ||
| UFC 217: Bisping vs. St-Pierre | 875,000 | ||
| UFC 214: Cormier vs. Jones 2 | 860,000 | ||
| UFC 101: Declaration | 850,000 | ||
| UFC 189: Mendes vs. McGregor | 825,000 | ||
| UFC 129: St-Pierre vs. Shields | 800,000 | ||
| UFC 182: Jones vs. Cormier | 800,000 | ||
| UFC 124: St-Pierre vs. Koscheck 2 | 785,000 | ||
| UFC 141: Lesnar vs. Overeem | 780,000 | ||
| UFC 111: St-Pierre vs. Hardy | 770,000 |
Professional wrestling (United States)
WrestleMania I in March 1985 sold over 1million buys on closed-circuit theatre TV in the United States, making it the largest pay-per-view showing of a wrestling event in the US at the time.PPV home television
The highest buy rates for professional wrestling events on pay-per-view home television are as follows:| No. | Date | Event | Buy rate |
| 1 | WrestleMania XXVIII | 1,300,000 | |
| 2 | WrestleMania 23 | 1,200,000 | |
| 3 | WrestleMania 21 | 1,085,000 | |
| 4 | WrestleMania XXVII | 1,059,000 | |
| 5 | WrestleMania XXIV | 1,058,000 | |
| 6 | WrestleMania 29 | 1,048,000 | |
| 7 | WrestleMania X-Seven | 1,040,000 | |
| 8 | WrestleMania XX | 1,007,000 | |
| 9 | WrestleMania 22 | 975,000 | |
| 10 | WrestleMania XXV | 960,000 | |
| 11 | WrestleMania XXVI | 885,000 | |
| 12 | WrestleMania X8 | 880,000 | |
| 13 | WrestleMania 2000 | 824,000 | |
| 14 | WrestleMania XV | 800,000 | |
| 15 | WWF Invasion | 770,000 | |
| 16 | WrestleMania V | 767,000 | |
| 17 | WrestleMania VII | 764,000 |
List of sportsmen with highest pay-per-view sales
This tables lists the sportsmen who have had the highest pay-per-view sales, with at least 10million buys. It includes sportsmen who have participated in combat sports such as boxing and mixed martial arts as well as sports entertainment such as professional wrestling.| Sportsman | Total sales | Closed-circuit theatre TV | PPV home television | Years | Sport |
 Muhammad Ali | 19631985 | Professional boxing | |||
| Muhammad Ali | 19631985 | Mixed martial arts | |||
| Muhammad Ali | 19631985 | Professional wrestling | |||
| Joe Frazier | 19651981 | Professional boxing | |||
| George Foreman | 19741993 | Professional boxing | |||
| Floyd Mayweather Jr. | 20052017 | Professional boxing | |||
| Floyd Mayweather Jr. | 20052017 | Professional wrestling | |||
 Manny Pacquiao | 20052019 | Professional boxing | |||
| Triple H | 19952019 | Professional wrestling | |||
| Mike Tyson | 19882005 | Professional boxing | |||
| Mike Tyson | 19882005 | Professional wrestling | |||
| John Cena | 20022018 | Professional wrestling | |||
| The Rock | 19982013 | Professional wrestling | |||
| The Undertaker | 19902019 | Professional wrestling | |||
| Oscar De La Hoya | 19952008 | Professional boxing | |||
 Conor McGregor | rowspan="2" | 20082018 | Mixed martial arts | ||
| Conor McGregor | Professional boxing | 20082018 | - | ||
| Evander Holyfield | 19842003 | Professional boxing | |||
 Anthony Joshua | 20152019 | Professional boxing | |||
| Shawn Michaels | 19882018 | Professional wrestling |