Pay-Per-View Breakdown

You’ve spent $50 for the pay-per-view telecast of Saturday night’s fight between Oscar De La Hoya and Shane Mosley. So who gets your money?

It’s a relatively simple formula.

Your local cable company keeps 45%, or $22.50. Those amounts increase slightly if your company sells enough broadcasts to reach a sales bonus.

The remaining 55%, or $27.50, goes to Bob Arum.

But not all cable operators charge $50. Arum cannot tell them what to charge because that would be price fixing. He does, however, demand a minimum of $27.50 per home.

So if a cable company charges less than $50, it keeps less than the standard $22.50.

Once Arum gets his share, he must give 7.5% to HBO, which distributes the telecast, and gives percentages to De La Hoya and Mosley in accordance with their contracts.

“The fighters get most of the upside,” Arum said. “That’s the way it should be. People aren’t paying for me, they’re paying to watch the two fighters.”

-- David Wharton