What’s that? The Cowboys are fading again? Well, let’s see what else is going on in the ol’ calendar here. OH LOOGIT! Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao are staging the biggest fight in the history of history in March! That should be fun, and Wade Phillips won’t be involved in any way, shape or form! Now, as you know, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is all hot and bothered for this fight, and he’d like nothing more than to host it right in his new stadium. That way, fans there can watch the fight on TV. It’s like pay-per-view, right at the venue.
Right now, Jones is battling against the MGM Grand in Las Vegas for the rights to host the fight, and a winner in the derby is expected to be announced this week. No one is certain about who will win the right to host the fight, but we all DO know that Chicago will lose it.
Jones is leaving little to chance in this negotiation, which is why he’s stepped up and offered a whopping $25 million guaranteed to host Pacquiao-Mayweather I. From the LA Times:
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has offered a $25-million guarantee to host the scheduled March 13 mega-fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao in his Texas stadium, a source close to the negotiations but not authorized to speak publicly about them told The Times today.
Jones' new Dallas Cowboys Stadium has a capacity of more than 100,000. His offer exceeds the $20-million guarantee that Staples Center offered fight promoters earlier this week.
When asked about the Dallas guarantee, Mayweather promoter Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy Promotions would neither confirm or deny its accuracy.
"The numbers are going in the right direction, and I believe we'll end up in excess of $30 million," Schaefer said.
A spokesman for Jones declined to comment about the site talks.
Now that’s a good old fashioned PALM GREASIN’! Of course, Jones’ guarantee may not be enough to keep the fight from going to Las Vegas. Cowboys Stadium is in a relatively isolated area in Arlington. While a fight in Vegas, on the other hand, lifts that entire town for a weekend. The city’s population could double for that fight, so you can expect Bob Arum and company to receive more than a few fruit baskets from local businesses and crime syndicates. Does Arlington boast a similar community willing to go all out to get this fight? Not as much. Jerry’s money is going to have to do the bulk of the work here, and something tells me the combined efforts of the Grand and Vegas will be able to surpass that guarantee rather easily.
So the guess here is that the Double J loses out on the fight of the century. But, as always, you underestimate the man and his giant teevee at your own peril.
