Influcted
11-04-2007, 03:10
Monday, April 9, 2007
UFC: Where's The Beef? Like most every other fan of the mixed martial arts (MMA) scene, I have been pleased in the phttp://www.randomspeak.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/.pond/UFC0Silver20Logo.jpg.w300h173.jpgast couple of years to see the sport finally getting the respect and attention it deserves. After years of frustration watching so-called "sports" networks like ESPN and Fox Sports placing 12-year old spelling bees and darts competitions in their programming, it's nice to see a couple MMA contests making the rounds on cable television now once in awhile. Obviously, it's still not enough to stand up and shout out "we've overcome!", but it's solid progress.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has reaped the most benefits with the increased publicity the past few years, posting record live gates and Pay-Per-View buys on a regular basis now, and its growth has really only just begun. With the buyout of a few smaller rival organizations (World Fighting Alliance, World Extreme Cagefighting) and now its main competitor (PRIDE), the organization has shown that it plans to be around for a long time as the premier MMA event in the world.
But for all that it has done to prove its superiority as an MMA organization and establish ultimate fighting as a legitimate professional sport, there is still one gross discrepancy between the UFC and other professional sports:
Compensation.
When it comes to paying its fighters, the UFC is decades behind the times. It's hard to believe that professional competitors in any sport would be struggling to make a living wage, but the UFC makes this concept a reality.
Think about this. First-time fighters in the organization ordinarily make a paltry $3,000 for their first bout, with a bonus of the same amount if they are victorious. Let's just assume the fighter wins: he takes home $6,000, right? Not quite. After manager and training fees (usually 20-25% of the purse), that $6k gets knocked down to about $4.5k. Throw in taxes, and suddenly this professional, established competitor is making a little more than $3,000 for a match.
Now let's span that out over a year, in which a UFC fighter would be lucky to get five matches in that time. If we assume the guy wins all of his fights, and receives a 50% increase in pay with each bout, he is still only taking home a little under $40,000 for a year's worth of work. Keep in mind, if a UFC fighter were to win five bouts in a row, he would no doubt either be a champion or a #1 contender for the championship. To think that a title-contending fighter would only be making $40k a MATCH is ridiculous, but to think that he'd be making that amount in a year?
If we were to look at some salaries of mid-level competitors in other sports, the results are staggering:
MLB- Kevin Millar, Baltimore Orioles: $3.5 million
NBA- Devean George, Dallas Mavericks: $5 million
NFL- Chad Pennington, New York Jets: $3 million
In comparison to these average professional competitors (and some would argue if they are even that), UFC fighters make next to nothing on a yearly basis, or any basis for that matter.
Even when it comes to sponsorships, the fighters are restricted on this revenue source as well. Each sponsor a competitor wears into the Octagon must be approved by the UFC so as to not conflict with the corporate sponsors. The biggest of these corporate sponsors, Xyience, has prevented any other supplement sponsors from making their way into the cage and giving the fighter a chance to make money off the advertisement. A couple of the fighters even went as far to say that they wouldn't even promote Xyience because of their poor-quality supplements. "If we wouldn't use them, why would we want to promote them?", one competitor exclaimed.
The UFC's continuing monopoly on the MMA industry has only hindered http://www.randomspeak.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/coutureliddell.JPGfighters' leverage in negotiating more lucrative deals, since there are only a few organizations that can actually afford to pay a decent wage in the first place. The UFC's growth can only be compared to WalMart at this point, as it has continued to lowball its revenue source (the fighters) and prevent any unionization by the fighters by instilling fear of job loss into them. Some fighters have toyed with the idea of unionizing, but they quickly forget it because there is no guarantee that enough guys will band together to make a difference. One UFC fighter explains it this way:
"I can't tell you how many people have said, 'oh, you guys need a union'. Here's how that would go: everyone would say, 'hey that's a great idea!' I'd sign the paper, and nobody else would. I'd get canned. The only way we could really make changes is if everyone stood together. But they won't. Or if the higher-paid guys stood up to make changes, but they won't either. Why would Randy Couture care if a guy makes a few thousand for a fight when he's making a hundred times as much?"
Of course, there is no doubt that the UFC can certainly afford to pay its fighters better now. Over the past three years, the organization has seen its greatest successes with a popular reality television show, numerous sold-out events, and massive increases in viewership as MMA continues to hit the mainstream. A breakdown of fighter salaries in comparison to the UFC's past three event revenues (live gate plus Pay-Per-View buys) show just how much the fighters are getting short-changed:
Revenue Fighter Salaries %
UFC 66 $47.35 million $767,000 1.6
UFC 67 16.8 million 174,000 1.0
UFC 68 18.9 million 697,000 3.7
Totals $83.05 million $1,638,000 2.0%
In the last three events, the UFC's biggest commodities (the fighters) accounted for a shockingly low 2% of the organization's earnings! Even if you take into consideration the bonuses given to its top-level fighters (the Chuck Liddells, Tito Ortizes, and Randy Coutures), fighter payroll still only makes up about 4% of total revenue.
In any other industry, the concept of a 2500% markup on a company's main commodity is absurd. If this were prevalent across the board, Chevrolet would be selling Malibus for $500k, pizzas would be running you over $100 apiece, and that Hurley t-shirt you're wearing would have cost in the hundreds as well. And don't even get me started on what the price of a gallon of gas would be.
Simply stated: these professional fighters are extremely undervalued for their industry and skill level. And more specifically, the UFC is undercutting its talent while netting millions in income and setting attendance records on a regular basis. The excuse of being a struggling organization in a fledgling sport is gone for the UFC. It is now an economic powerhouse with more than enough wealth to give its employees a wage deserving of their talents.
No UFC fighter should have to work a second job to make ends meet. How many NFL players have to work part-time as bouncers, plumbers, or laborous workers? These are professional athletes. If they can't live off their pay while at the highest level of their games, then why compete at all?
The best solution to fix this problem is organization and unionization on the fighters' part. This doesn't just mean the lower-paid undercard fighters, though; it requires the cooperation of the Liddells, the Ortizes, and the Coutures as well. These upper echelon competitors owe it to their sport and to their fellow fighters to contribute toward the better compensation of all competitors, high and low. When these guys start putting pressure on the UFC, then change will happen.
Until then, the monopoly that calls itself the UFC will continue to hand out pennies while raking in millions for the top brass. Ask Dana White how he slept last night.
source: www.randomspeak.com
UFC: Where's The Beef? Like most every other fan of the mixed martial arts (MMA) scene, I have been pleased in the phttp://www.randomspeak.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/.pond/UFC0Silver20Logo.jpg.w300h173.jpgast couple of years to see the sport finally getting the respect and attention it deserves. After years of frustration watching so-called "sports" networks like ESPN and Fox Sports placing 12-year old spelling bees and darts competitions in their programming, it's nice to see a couple MMA contests making the rounds on cable television now once in awhile. Obviously, it's still not enough to stand up and shout out "we've overcome!", but it's solid progress.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has reaped the most benefits with the increased publicity the past few years, posting record live gates and Pay-Per-View buys on a regular basis now, and its growth has really only just begun. With the buyout of a few smaller rival organizations (World Fighting Alliance, World Extreme Cagefighting) and now its main competitor (PRIDE), the organization has shown that it plans to be around for a long time as the premier MMA event in the world.
But for all that it has done to prove its superiority as an MMA organization and establish ultimate fighting as a legitimate professional sport, there is still one gross discrepancy between the UFC and other professional sports:
Compensation.
When it comes to paying its fighters, the UFC is decades behind the times. It's hard to believe that professional competitors in any sport would be struggling to make a living wage, but the UFC makes this concept a reality.
Think about this. First-time fighters in the organization ordinarily make a paltry $3,000 for their first bout, with a bonus of the same amount if they are victorious. Let's just assume the fighter wins: he takes home $6,000, right? Not quite. After manager and training fees (usually 20-25% of the purse), that $6k gets knocked down to about $4.5k. Throw in taxes, and suddenly this professional, established competitor is making a little more than $3,000 for a match.
Now let's span that out over a year, in which a UFC fighter would be lucky to get five matches in that time. If we assume the guy wins all of his fights, and receives a 50% increase in pay with each bout, he is still only taking home a little under $40,000 for a year's worth of work. Keep in mind, if a UFC fighter were to win five bouts in a row, he would no doubt either be a champion or a #1 contender for the championship. To think that a title-contending fighter would only be making $40k a MATCH is ridiculous, but to think that he'd be making that amount in a year?
If we were to look at some salaries of mid-level competitors in other sports, the results are staggering:
MLB- Kevin Millar, Baltimore Orioles: $3.5 million
NBA- Devean George, Dallas Mavericks: $5 million
NFL- Chad Pennington, New York Jets: $3 million
In comparison to these average professional competitors (and some would argue if they are even that), UFC fighters make next to nothing on a yearly basis, or any basis for that matter.
Even when it comes to sponsorships, the fighters are restricted on this revenue source as well. Each sponsor a competitor wears into the Octagon must be approved by the UFC so as to not conflict with the corporate sponsors. The biggest of these corporate sponsors, Xyience, has prevented any other supplement sponsors from making their way into the cage and giving the fighter a chance to make money off the advertisement. A couple of the fighters even went as far to say that they wouldn't even promote Xyience because of their poor-quality supplements. "If we wouldn't use them, why would we want to promote them?", one competitor exclaimed.
The UFC's continuing monopoly on the MMA industry has only hindered http://www.randomspeak.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/coutureliddell.JPGfighters' leverage in negotiating more lucrative deals, since there are only a few organizations that can actually afford to pay a decent wage in the first place. The UFC's growth can only be compared to WalMart at this point, as it has continued to lowball its revenue source (the fighters) and prevent any unionization by the fighters by instilling fear of job loss into them. Some fighters have toyed with the idea of unionizing, but they quickly forget it because there is no guarantee that enough guys will band together to make a difference. One UFC fighter explains it this way:
"I can't tell you how many people have said, 'oh, you guys need a union'. Here's how that would go: everyone would say, 'hey that's a great idea!' I'd sign the paper, and nobody else would. I'd get canned. The only way we could really make changes is if everyone stood together. But they won't. Or if the higher-paid guys stood up to make changes, but they won't either. Why would Randy Couture care if a guy makes a few thousand for a fight when he's making a hundred times as much?"
Of course, there is no doubt that the UFC can certainly afford to pay its fighters better now. Over the past three years, the organization has seen its greatest successes with a popular reality television show, numerous sold-out events, and massive increases in viewership as MMA continues to hit the mainstream. A breakdown of fighter salaries in comparison to the UFC's past three event revenues (live gate plus Pay-Per-View buys) show just how much the fighters are getting short-changed:
Revenue Fighter Salaries %
UFC 66 $47.35 million $767,000 1.6
UFC 67 16.8 million 174,000 1.0
UFC 68 18.9 million 697,000 3.7
Totals $83.05 million $1,638,000 2.0%
In the last three events, the UFC's biggest commodities (the fighters) accounted for a shockingly low 2% of the organization's earnings! Even if you take into consideration the bonuses given to its top-level fighters (the Chuck Liddells, Tito Ortizes, and Randy Coutures), fighter payroll still only makes up about 4% of total revenue.
In any other industry, the concept of a 2500% markup on a company's main commodity is absurd. If this were prevalent across the board, Chevrolet would be selling Malibus for $500k, pizzas would be running you over $100 apiece, and that Hurley t-shirt you're wearing would have cost in the hundreds as well. And don't even get me started on what the price of a gallon of gas would be.
Simply stated: these professional fighters are extremely undervalued for their industry and skill level. And more specifically, the UFC is undercutting its talent while netting millions in income and setting attendance records on a regular basis. The excuse of being a struggling organization in a fledgling sport is gone for the UFC. It is now an economic powerhouse with more than enough wealth to give its employees a wage deserving of their talents.
No UFC fighter should have to work a second job to make ends meet. How many NFL players have to work part-time as bouncers, plumbers, or laborous workers? These are professional athletes. If they can't live off their pay while at the highest level of their games, then why compete at all?
The best solution to fix this problem is organization and unionization on the fighters' part. This doesn't just mean the lower-paid undercard fighters, though; it requires the cooperation of the Liddells, the Ortizes, and the Coutures as well. These upper echelon competitors owe it to their sport and to their fellow fighters to contribute toward the better compensation of all competitors, high and low. When these guys start putting pressure on the UFC, then change will happen.
Until then, the monopoly that calls itself the UFC will continue to hand out pennies while raking in millions for the top brass. Ask Dana White how he slept last night.
source: www.randomspeak.com