Our popular weekly look back on the sporting weekend through numbers focusing on the commercial side of events that might otherwise go unnoticed.

 


$425,000 – The money earned by Conor McGregor for each second of his world title bout with Jose Aldo in the early hours of Sunday morning.  He earned an estimated $5.5 million from a combination of the gate at the MGM and pay per view sales.  There is still talk of Croke Park in the Summer but Andy Lee’s ‘homecoming’ to Limerick last August was cancelled due in large part to slow sales and the hit to Pay Per View revenues from having UFC’s now hottest property fighting at a venue which would mean an afternoon show time in the US mean this is in our view highly unlikely.

500 – the number of fans at St Edwards University in Austin, Texas to see the GAA / Opal All Stars Hurling match between the All Stars of 2014 and 2015. They did get to see 16 goals in what turned out to be a 7-15 to 9-09 draw though we’re not sure just how intensely competitive the game might have been.

42,000 – The number of tickets sold for next weekend’s game between Leinster and Toulon at the Aviva Stadium. Fans will have to put on a brave face of Christmas cheer now after Sunday’s defeat in France meaning that Leinster are now out of the Champions’ Cup for this season and playing only for pride.

image-883 – The number of collective points won by the Irish Women’s Cross Country Team in France yesterday, ensuring a team bronze medal for the second successive year and a local boost for event sponsors Spar. Fionuala McCormack led the way in 4th, Lizzie Lee was 13th, Caroline Crowley 23rd and Ciara Duncan 43rd, leaving the team clear of Spain in fourth place.

14 – The number of individual stories about Mixed Martial Arts in this morning’s online edition of the Irish Independent.  That’s out of a total of 22 in the Other Sports category.  What was that McGregor once said about a takeover?…

 

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