Exceeding expectations

Executives say Lewis-Tyson grossed $103 million

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson heavyweight title fight was the highest-grossing pay-per-view event in history.

Hockey ratings also were up.

HBO said Tuesday that its joint venture with Showtime had grossed $103 million on 1.8 million buys, $3 million more than the previous high, the second bout between Tyson and Evander Holyfield.

"This exceeded even our expectations. This was a night that truly lifted the sport," said Mark Taffett, senior vice president for HBO Sports. Taffett would not say what those expectations were, but reports put it in the $100 million area.

Lewis dominated Saturday night's fight and knocked out Tyson in the eighth round.

As for the Stanley Cup, Game 4 of the finals between Carolina and Detroit had a rating up 52 percent from last season, when Colorado played New Jersey. This year had a 3.5 rating compared to 2.3 for last year's game.

And the 5.l million viewers on ABC made it the most watched Game 4 since Philadelphia and Detroit in 1997, which attracted 4.3 million viwers on ESPN.

The rating is the percentage of all homes with TVs, whether or not they are in use. Each rating point represents a little more than 1 million households. Share is the percentage of homes with TVs in use.

 

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