On Thursday January 13, 2011, the Ultimate Fighting Championship conducted a press conference at Madison Square Garden “to announce a plan to bring UFC to The World’s Most Famous Arena, as soon as the sport of mixed martial arts is approved in New York.”
As you may recall from my earlier article, “A History Lesson (or History’s Lesson) on Mixed Martial Arts in New York,” one of my observations after tracking the history of MMA was that “the media (and public opinion) can have a significant effect on the legislative process in this state.”
Based on this observation, I reached the conclusion that “if through events like the MMA World Expo and other grassroots movements we can convince the media that the sport is not what it once was, we may be able to move the legislature towards legalization.”
With this in mind, the UFC press conference at MSG seemed like a great opportunity to outline a “plan” to educate the media, and by extension the public, on the true nature of the sport in 2011 as we move towards legalization.
Certainly one way to educate is to shed light on the economic benefit of legalization, i.e. economic impact to the state if MMA is legalized. This angle occupied a significant portion of the press conference (and the entirety of the post-press conference press release) as the UFC unveiled a new economic impact study created by HR&A Advisors.
This new study estimated that the net economic activity for two UFC events in New York State would be approximately $16M and the economic impact from other, non-UFC, promotions would be $6.7M . The HR&A Advisors study also estimated that legalization of MMA in New York would lead to the creation of 212 jobs, $1.3M in State Fiscal Benefits, $12.9M in Direct Ticket Sales, and Annual Attendance of 145,000.
Notably, the $1.3M figure representing direct revenue to New York if MMA is legalized is a decrease from the revenue figure proposed in former-Governor Paterson’s proposed Executive Budget last year, i.e. $2.1M.
It should come as no surprise (and I have written about this before) that the non-MMA media in attendance quickly picked up on just how small this direct revenue figure is when viewed in light of New York’s massive budget gap. See e.g., New York 1 (“$1.3 million annually in state revenues – [is] a drop in the bucket when it comes to closing a $9 billion budget gap”).
While the media in attendance certainly grasped (and articulated in subsequent articles and videos) the economics presented in the HR&A Advisors study, it is still apparent, as Cage Potato notes, that “local media outlets were forced once again to confront the question: ‘What’s Mixed Martial Arts, anyway?’”
And this is where I think there is room for improvement in the MMA legalization effort. Economic benefit to the state alone may influence some politicians, but it is clear that there has to be an understanding about the sport, the safety record, the regulations in place, the need to curb unregulated “underground” fighting in the state etc. within the local non-MMA media before we can expect the voters in New York to voice their support for the bill.
In this regard, during the press conference Dana White was asked about a Marist poll from January 2010 where 68% of New York voters responded that they were opposed to legalizing MMA in New York. Dana responded that the origin of the poll needs to be analyzed and he predicted that if you polled 18-34 year olds in New York, 100% would be in favor of legalizing the sport.
Dana was obviously exaggerating, but his point about the popularity of the sport in this demographic is well established. That said, I know many people in New York in this age demographic who could care less about MMA and whether it is legalized – and who know very little about the sport and still believe it is as they remember it from the early 90’s.
Importantly, however, the poll – whatever its flaws may be – likely shows that voters’ perceptions of the sport need to change. This can be accomplished by educating the media first who can then educate the public.
This message, it appears, is not lost on the UFC. As Bill King notes in his excellent Sports Business Journal article, UFC goes another round in effort for N.Y. sanction:
Lobbying is the top-down piece of the UFC’s legislative equation. There’s also a piece that works from the bottom up. Since 2008, Zuffa has employed Global Strategy Group to design and manage a campaign to mobilize MMA fans to push for legislation. Zuffa paid Global $35,000 a month in 2008 and the first half of 2009, and $22,500 a month since then to build a grassroots campaign and drum up conversation online and in the media. The website it created and manages is packed with information that argues for sanctioning. It also offers easy ways for fans to e-mail legislators and craft letters to their local newspapers.
How long it takes to successfully implement this approach is anyone’s guess, but part of this effort should focus on inviting the media to events like those that are planned by the Coalition to Legalize MMA in New York. At this point the Coalition is planning a roundtable with politicians and gym owners to discuss the real impact that legalization of the sport will have on the state and its businesses and constituents.
Fight Lawyer
Justin Klein is an attorney at Satterlee Stephens Burke & Burke LLP in New York City where he concentrates his practice in commercial litigation and represents clients in the fight industry. He regularly addresses current legal issues that pertain to combat sports, including efforts to legalize MMA in New York, at his Fight Lawyer website. He is a licensed boxing manager with the New York State Athletic Commission as well as the founder and Chairman of the Board of the New York Mixed Martial Arts Initiative, a non-profit organization that gives inner city youth the opportunity to experience the emotional and physical benefits of martial arts training. Justin lives in New York City where he trains in jiu jitsu and boxing.
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Very interesting situation the UFC/MMA faces. It is clear the financial impact the UFC has on NY isnt going to work. That arguement is like politicians talking about the national debt. The general public don’t understand how that effects them and don’t really care. I think the UFC really has few options. They can try to sway the media which is going to be very hard. The media consist of older professionals who are set in their ways. Similar to ESPN. If MMA don’t pass then they dont have to understand and learn it to report on it. Converting these guys is going to be like converting Jim Lampley. I think it is futile to try to convert the public who is against MMA without the media doing it. After all it was likely the media who turned them against it. The only other option i see is to market to the young demographic who is undecided or have no opinion of the sport. Do this through twitter and facebook and target NY residents. Give away trips to see UFC in neighboring states. Give away lots of DVDs and merchendise. Win these people over and create a fan base that cant be ignored. Worst case scenario is MMA has to wait out the old guard until the new generation takes over. The UFC needs to be doing Fighter meet and greets almost on a weekly basis in NY. Meet people and the public will see these are not barbarians. How is anyone going to Meet Rich Franklin in person and not come away surprised and impressed?
I think you have to take the path of least resistance. Even if you convert the media they still have to convert the public. Forget them. Go after the people who havent already made their mind up. Get the following so high the media and politicians will be forced to jump on board because the number of consumers/voters will be to high to ignore. In turn these new fans will be who changes the minds of the others. Not a suit on TV but someone in their life they respect and trust.