Greg Norman may have choked yet again at the British Open last week, but there is no denying his success as one of the great sports “brands†of all time. With a net worth reportedly near about $400 million, and numerous successful ventures including a clothing line, his career is a blueprint for any professional […]
Archives for July 2008
MMA Elitism and Brand Backlash
“If I see one more Affliction or TapouT shirt in the club again, I’m going to puke…” It’s a common backlash response that I hear from MMA’s hardcores and it represents an equally common behaviour that has been observed in a variety of circumstances. For years the dedicated fanbase of MMA has been happy and […]
Flight To Quality Underscores Credit Rating Importance
Last Friday, Zuffa LLC. received word of a credit rating revision on its debt to stable from negative. The revision was good news for many reasons, chief among them that it signaled the end of a year-long financial slump that was pushing the organization’s debt further into “speculative-grade” territory. Zuffa’s current credit rating sits at […]
Zuffa’s Finances: Cash-Strong and Cocksure, but Consistent?
As a follow-up to Robert Joyner’s solid analysis of Standard & Poor’s latest credit rating report on Zuffa LLC., I have been tasked with piecing together an overall assessment of past and present reports in order to create a picture of Zuffa’s current and future financial position. Current Picture Perhaps the most common metric for […]
Assessing the Legal Charges Against Jackson
On Tuesday, popular UFC fighter Quinton “Rampage†Jackson was arrested on three criminal charges following a wild car ride in Costa Mesa, California. Many questions linger about Jackson’s fighting future, including how the UFC will react to the situation. However, the most pressing question is what criminal punishment Jackson might receive for these charges. The […]