Net Worth

Michael Buffer: Net Worth of the Boxing Announcer

Jeremy Caroll

As an American boxing announcer and entrepreneur, Michael Buffer is worth $400 million. He is well regarded as one of the finest ring announcers in the history of boxing and wrestling. When he coined the tagline “Let’s Get Ready to Rumble,” Buffer became a household name throughout the globe. The term has been trademarked by him. Michael has made hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties throughout the years because to that trademark.

Michael Buffer

“Let’s get ready to rumble” costs how much money? Buffer receives anything from $25,000 to $100,000 for each time he says those five famous phrases, depending on the match. Buffer has received $1 million in one-off payments on a handful of highly exceptional instances.

Early Life

Michael Buffer was born on November 2, 1944, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is where he grew up. When he was born, his father was serving in the US Navy during World War II. While still a baby, Buffer was placed in the care of an unmarried couple: a school bus driver and his wife. During the Vietnam War, Buffer joined in the United States Army and served from the ages of 20 to 23. After serving in the military, he worked as a car salesperson, a model, and an actor, among other things.

Announcer for the Sport of Boxing

In 1982, he started working as a ring announcer, and by 1983, he was calling all of ESPN’s boxing coverage. Since Michael shrewdly trademarked his iconic slogan, the aforementioned “Let’s Get Ready to Rumble!” in 1984, it has gained him fame and money. In 1992, after a protracted legal battle, he was able to get federal trademark protection for the term. His quest for it began in the mid-’80s when he first started working on it. In the late 1980s, Buffer was the only ring announcer for boxing events conducted in Trump-owned casinos.

Michael Buffer

Many legendary boxers, like Sugar Ray Leonard, have praised Buffer for his job as an announcer. Buffer once quoted Leonard as saying, “When you present a guy, he wants to fight.” Over the course of his career, Buffer has earned a total of $400 million from trademark licencing. The lone ring announcer for all of DAZN’s boxing broadcasts is Buffer, who signed up with the streaming service to do so. In 2007, Buffer was the ring announcer for Evander Holyfield vs. Matt Hardy at Madison Square Garden’s Saturday Night’s Main Event XXXV. On August 25, 2018, he served as the ring announcer for Logan Paul vs. KSI, a YouTube boxing event.

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WCW big events with Hulk Hogan and other superstars were announced exclusively by Buffer in 2001. Even though the WCW is no more, Buffer continues to act as the main announcer for the pay-per-view bouts of its former parent company Time Warner. HBO airs a number of bouts from the Top Rank promoter. As a result of WCW’s demise, he was no longer prohibited from announcing in other wrestling organisations.

Other Projects

Additionally, Buffer has made announcements for the occasional MLB World Series, Stanley Cup Finals, NBA Finals, Volunteer 500 at the Bristol Motor Speedway, and NFL playoff games in addition to his announcements for wrestling and boxing events. The MMA event Affliction: Banned will feature Buffer on July 19th, 2008. Peter Eastgate and Ivan Demidov were set to participate in the 2008 World Series of Poker conclusion, which he confirmed then. “Let’s get ready to shuffle up and deal!” was the new slogan. He appeared as a special guest announcer for the 2017 United States Grand Prix in 2017. He has also tweaked his famous phrase to suit in campaigns for Mega Millions, Kraft Cheese, and Progressive Insurance.

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In addition to David Letterman, Arsenio Hall, Jimmy Kimmel, Conan O’Brien, and Jay Leno, Buffer has been on a slew of other talk programs. Additionally, he has appeared on Saturday Night Live, In Living Color and Mad TV. He has featured in several films and television shows, including Creed, Grudge Match, America’s Next Top Model, The Bold and the Beautiful, 2012, You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, Rocky Balboa (also portraying himself), Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star, Ready to Rumble and Rocky V, among others. In 2007, he appeared on NBC’s Deal or No Deal. During the 2019 reimagining of Dumbo, Buffer makes an appearance and says, “Let’s get ready for Dumbo!”

Brand and Video Game Revenue

Bruce Buffer, Michael’s long-lost half-brother and future UFC commentator, came up with the idea of trademarking the name. Following the news that NBA coach Pat Riley had made a fortune by trademarking the phrase “threepeat,” Bruce came up with the notion. Michael Buffer owns the trademark, therefore anybody who wants to use the term must pay him. Has licenced the term since 1992 to be used in music, video games and movies as well as in a variety of other products.

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The video game “Ready to Rumble” was one of the most well-known licencing arrangements. Midway allegedly paid Buffer $100 million to licence his term in perpetuity after the game was a tremendous success. Not bad for a former actor turned boxing commentator.

Personal Life

In 2008, Michael Buffer had throat cancer treatment. Being well-known has made it possible for him to reconnect with long-lost relatives from his past. Following his seeing of Buffer on television in 1989, he received a call from his biological father. After that, he met his half-brothers, including Bruce Buffer, who is currently an announcer for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). In the beginning, Bruce was Michael’s manager/agent.

Michael Buffer

In his twenties, Buffer married for the first time, but seven years later, he obtained a divorce. Michael and Matthew were born as a result of the couple’s union. Once again he married and divorced in 2003, this time with another woman. On the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Buffer proposed to Christine, his third wife. They haven’t divorced yet. Southern California is home to Christine and Michael Buffer.

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