Gate receipts, or simply "gate", is the sum of money taken at a sporting venue for the sale of tickets.
Traditionally, gate receipts were largely or entirely taken in cash. Today, many sporting venues will operate a season ticket scheme, which will mean they allocate a proportion of season ticket monies when announcing gate receipts for a particular event.
"Gate" is also sometimes used in reference to the number of people in attendance.
Association football
In the English Football League, gate receipts usually go to the home team, however, for cup matches, the gate is split with the other club, after deduction of expenses. Prior to 1983, a percentage of league game gate receipts were given to the away club. The league also charged a levy on the gate receipts.[1] Home clubs receive gate compensation money from a pool if a game is postponed due to the away team being involved in an FA Cup or EFL Cup match.[2]
In the Scottish Football League the entire gate receipts of all league matches and play off matches (including abandoned or replayed matches) are retained by the home club.[3]
Boxing
The Jack Dempsey vs. Georges Carpentier world heavyweight championship bout on July 2, 1921, at Boyle's Thirty Acres in Jersey City, New Jersey was the first ever boxing fight to produce a "million dollar gate", doubling the previous record, with receipts of $1,789,238 from an official attendance of 80,183, the largest gate and attendance for a sporting event in the United States at the time.[4][5][6][7]
On September 23, 1926, Gene Tunney beat Dempsey to lift the world heavyweight title, at Sesquicentennial Stadium in Philadelphia setting a record gate in terms of attendance (126,084) and receipts ($1,895,733).[8][6][9] The rematch (known as The Long Count Fight) was held on September 22, 1927, at Soldier Field in Chicago and would draw gate receipts of $2,658,660.[6] It was the first $2 million gate in entertainment history.
The second Evander Holyfield vs. Lennox Lewis fight at Thomas & Mack Center in Paradise, Nevada, drew record gate receipts for a boxing match of $16.9 million from 17,078 spectators in 1999.[12][13] Lewis's fight against Mike Tyson in 2002 at the Pyramid Arena in Memphis, Tennessee was initially claimed to have a record gate of over $23 million however, this was later reduced to $17.5 million, still a record.[14][15]