Earlier this year, Ronda Rousey split with longtime manager Darin Harvey and his management company Fight Tribe Management. After an arbitration hearing in which both sides participated, it was determined that Rousey could be released from her fight contract and was not responsible for payments claimed by Harvey due to him.
Harvey filed a “Petition to Compel Arbitration” in LA Superior Court and requested that the briefing be sealed which precludes the public from reviewing the documents filed. After the hearing held this past March, the CSAC determined that Rousey’s “Service Agreement” with Fight Tribe was void as to the “professional fighting services only.” The arbitrator determined that Harvey had not followed the rules promulgated by the California State Athletic Commission with respect to fight contracts.
From our post earlier this year:
The ruling, in favor of Rousey, is premised on Harvey not properly executing the fight contract on “printed forms approved by the commission.” The Commission ruled that, “[t]he controlling contract was the subject “Representation Agreement”, which was entered into in California and specifically binds the parties to be governed by California law.” Hence, the rationale by the Commission would lead it to conclude that since the contract was not on its printed forms, the contract was void as to the fighting portion of the contract. In addition, the Commission ruled that “a fighter-contract” is not valid unless both parties appear at the same time before the Commission, and the contract receives the Commission’s written approval.” This did not happen as the contract, which was originally drafted in May 2012, was not executed until January 2013. Regardless, it was not done before the Commission.
Even though Harvey’s “Representation Agreement” did not comply with the Commission rules, he still argued that he was entitled to “quantum meruit” (latin for “what one has earned”). This is a theory in contract law allowing a party to be compensated for actual work/services performed.
Under this theory, Harvey was seeking to recoup losses incurred from representing Rousey. Harvey indicated in an exhibit at arbitration that from January 1, 2010 to January 31, 2014, he collected $25,608 in income from Rousey fights, $23,180 from PPV fights and $20,830 from income of sponsorships. This is offset by Harvey’s claim that he paid $170,376 in expenses related to Rousey’s fighting career which makes Harvey at a loss of $85,818 from representing Rousey. The paid expenses included paying for training including strength and conditioning, sparring partners and living expenses.
Longtime California promoter, Roy Englebrecht empathized with Harvey’s situation but also advised:
I have seen this happen a number of times over the years, where well intentioned people want to get involved in the fight business, but never take the time to learn about the business and some of the rules that govern it. This situation with Ronda and Darin could have been avoided if Darin knew the CSAC rules and followed them. This manager/fighter agreement or promoter/fighter agreement in California is unique to the sport, and if not followed you will lose, as this ruling showed.
The issue of the contract between Rousey and Fight Tribe with respect to representation outside of “professional fight services” still remains in state court in California.
Payout Perspective:
This is a textbook example of the ills of manager representation in sports. Certainly, Harvey and Fight Tribe should have followed the rules of the CSAC. While the representation of Rousey probably was a “handshake agreement” at first (note that there was an 8 month lag between Rousey actually signing contract and the date of Representation Agreement), it was not until Rousey started to become popular that issues began to occur. Rousey signed on with William Morris Endeavor and Fight Tribe likely felt like it was being boxed out of its representation. We shall see if 2015 brings a resolution to the issue.
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