Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

I saw this article in the NY Times yesterday…and it’s crazy. We all know Money Mayweather is about money, but what he’s making and how he’s making some of it on this fight is bananas. Love him or hate him, he is a smart business man. Check the article out after the jump…

On Saturday night, Floyd Mayweather Jr. will make tens of millions of dollars for an hour’s worth of work, if that. He will be paid for what happens inside the ring and outside it, paid far more than any other boxer fighting today, for far more than just his performance in a welterweight title fight against Victor Ortiz.

On fight nights, if it were not for the din of the crowd and the sounds of fists striking chins, Mayweather could hear the ringing of cash registers. He earns a percentage of every ticket purchased, every pretzel consumed, every poster sold. He will earn from the foreign countries that paid for broadcasting rights and the movie theaters where the fight is shown.

All told, he is expected to make about $40 million, and the checks will come for years, determined by the results of many things beyond the fight itself, like gate and pay-per-view TV numbers. This makes Mayweather, regarded as one of the best boxers in history, a regular among athletes on Forbes magazine’s list of most powerful celebrities, even though the bulk of his annual income is usually generated in one night.

All the usual Mayweather descriptions — divisive, arrogant, sensitive, outspoken, controversial — tend to overshadow his business savvy, or the business savvy of those around him. In fact, he fights under a highly unusual financial structure, exchanging upfront risk for back-end profit and retaining total control. Mayweather is even responsible for paying his opponent, in this case a business expense of at least $2 million.

Roger Federer does not make money off the sales of strawberries and cream at Wimbledon, nor does Derek Jeter’s contract include the Yankees’ TV contract in Asia. Mayweather has devised an altogether different model for marquee athletes.

In his previous four fights, he earned $115 million. How novel is his approach? Just ask him.

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