The Vancouver Sun sat in on the UFC 101 press conference earlier today and managed to avoid the “Strikefarce” issue by focusing on the UFC’s 2010 intentions for Canada.
“We’re coming,” White told reporters earlier this week. “The UFC will be in Canada in 2010. We’re coming to Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.”
The UFC is enjoying unprecedented growth and interest in Canada right now, with 16% of ticket sales for last month’s UFC 100 event in Las Vegas coming from BC and Alberta alone. TV ratings and pay-per-view subscriptions in Canada are regularly touted by the organization as being the strongest in North America, and the city of Montreal, which has already hosted two UFC events and will host another next year, is the hub of a thriving local industry in the sport.
“We’re softening up a lot of the provinces up there,” White said at a press conference promoting UFC 101 in Philadelphia. “We’re definitely going to Vancouver.”
Payout Perspective:
It’s disappointing, surprising, and somewhat ironic to know that, for as popular as MMA has becoming in Canada, regulation is still very far behind in many key areas of the country. The provinces of Ontario and British Columbia account for nearly 50% of Canada’s 33 million people, and yet neither has consistent provincial regulation. Ontario has no regulation whatsoever, aside from events held on Aboriginal land; while British Columbia allows for sanctioning at the municipal or city level (to which many cities, including Vancouver have refused).
The UFC is a dead cert in Montreal for 2010. How could they not? They break live-gate records every time they visit the city.
Vancouver is looking more and more like a possibility every month on account of increasing chatter from the UFC (both on and off the record) and easing opposition from city councillors. The fact that city officials are now talking about a test run is a dramatic reversal in some respects and definitely a good sign. In fact, there’s talk that the UFC could be in Vancouver as early as Summer 2010.
Ontario, on the other hand, has yielded two different paths to legalization: one through the Ontario Athletic Commission and the other through an amendment to Canada’s criminal code (which actually classifies MMA as prizefighting and therefore illegal). It’s been made clear by the OAC that legalization in Ontario will only be the result of an amendment to the criminal code; and, so this appears to be the UFC’s best option.
Thus, the process for legalization will likely involve a degree of lobbying, meeting with government officials, and eventually finding an individual MP to sponsor a bill for the fall session of parliament. If all goes well, MMA could be legalized in Ontario (and Toronto) by early 2010, but a snag could easily delay the province for another year.
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