The much-hyped bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao was predicted to bring in hundreds of millions of dollars to the fighters, sponsors and networks broadcasting the match. Though Mayweather was declared the winner by unanimous decision, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo said the real champion was Periscope.
[Related: [INFOGRAPHIC] Money Decoded: The Mayweather-Pacquiao Fight]
Periscope is “the closest thing to teleportation,†according to the website. The video streaming service owned by Twitter allows users to record and broadcast in real time live events taking place right in front of them.
Though it’s relatively new, it may have gotten its biggest boost over the weekend, as Periscope and rival Meerkat were utilized by boxing fans at house parties, bars and even the main event to show the fight, reports USA Today.
Though no specific stats on the number of streams that popped up during the fight has been released, thousands tuned in to some of them spotted by The Verge, which described the overall quality as poor, but still clear enough to allow those who didn’t want to put up cash for the bout to view it on their smartphones, computers and tablets.
This was obviously a thorn in the plans of promoters, and broadcasters HBO and Showtime, who were charging fees upward of $100 to show the long-awaited bout that had everyone talking and was considered by many media watchers to be the only thing that could affect Avengers: Age of Ultron‘s box office numbers.
Going back to Costolo’s comment, it seems that Twitter is proud of the success of Periscope and its ability to work and get viewers to tune in, though CNET reports there were already legal concerns and more could be on the way as the service grows in popularity, and the battle over copyrights persists.