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Stephen Espinoza ran Showtime Sports and oversaw the two biggest PPV boxing matches ever — Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao and Floyd vs. Conor McGregor — so, we asked the former C-suite exec how much money Jake Paul and Mike Tyson would earn Friday night.
“I think it’s realistic to expect that both of them will each make $30 to $40 million each,” Espinoza told TMZ Sports on Thursday … adding they could make substantially more.
And, we’re not just talking about huge checks for Jake and Mike … Stephen also believes Jerry’s World will rake in more than ever before on a fight night.
“The gate will very likely set a record for AT&T Stadium. The biggest combat sports gate there was $9 million. It looks like this event is going to do somewhere around $14 to $15 million.”
Of course, 58-year-old Tyson and 27-year-old Paul are the major attraction … a fight that’s been a year in the making.
Espinoza knows all about making massive fights … and he believes this could ultimately be, with Netflix’s huge subscriber base, the most-viewed fight of all time.
“There’s a different structure here because there’s not the pay-per-view price tag attached and because it’s literally a simultaneous worldwide live exhibit. There’s the potential that this could be the most-watched fight ever,” Stephen said.
“I mean, the audience potential is huge simply because people are not going to be dissuaded by $75 pay-per-view.”