Solar said that the fight had surpassed the P120 million ($2.5 million) generated by Pacquiao’s encounter against the now retired Oscar De La Hoya, with sources estimating final ad revenue of between P125 million and P135 million. The broadcaster gives Pacquiao P60 million a fight in a five-year deal from May 2007 to 2011.
Solar’s proliferation of advertising, with some commercial breaks in the build-up to the fight lasting eight minutes, prompted calls in the Philippine parliament for an investigation into the amount of advertising shown around major sports events.
Bacolod City representative Monico Puentevella, who also chairs the Philippine Olympic Committee, called for the investigation days ahead of the bout, saying that “the purpose of this investigation is not to curtail the freedom of television networks to operate as they please but to stop such activities that prey on the vulnerability of viewers such as the overabundance of advertisements in their coverage.”