The UFC has issued its pay structure for its Reebok sponsorship deal which goes into effect in July. UFC fighter Cody Gibson tweeted a photo of what appears to be a letter with the pay structure listed. The lowest tier for fighters with 1-5 fights is $2,500.
The next tier for fighters with 6-10 fights is $5,000, 11 to 15 fights get $10,000, 16 to 20 fights gets $15,000 and fighters with 21 fights or more in the UFC get $20,000.
Fighters with 1 to 5 bouts will receive $2,500 per fight; 6 to 10 bouts get $5,000; 11 to 15 bouts get $10,000; 16 to 20 bouts get $15,000; and 21 bouts and above get $20,000. As it previously indicated, title fights would receive more. Challengers will receive $30,000 and Champions will receive $40,0000.
How does this compare to what UFC fighters once made through sponsorships? Take the case of Brendan Schaub who indicated that he made twice as much from sponsors than he did from the UFC. If we are to assume this is true, he would have made over $60,000 from sponsors. Based on this structure, he would receive $10,000 as he would fall into the 11 to 15 fight tier based on his 11 fights in the UFC.
Recently, the UFC announced a change to the payment structure as it moved from a pay structure based on media rankings to one based on the number of fights with Zuffa. The new Reebok sponsorship deal has drawn criticism from fighters and managers. It will go into effect in July with UFC 189.
Payout Perspective:
At this point, the UFC has yet to comment publicly (the letter received by Gibson was sent to all contracted fighters) on the payment structure and its rationale. It’s clear that this is a hit for some (if not most) fighters that had deals with sponsors that it will now lose due to the Reebok deal. Schaub indicated he was losing 6 sponsors. Probably the same for many established fighters in the UFC. We will see what the fallout will be in the coming days.
Might be time for a Union
Hahahaha….after the PAC may numbers….these pay structure sponsorship is really low hahahaha
http://www.sportsgrid.com/boxing-3/manny-pacquiao-will-have-2-5-million-in-advertising-on-his-shorts/
What a slap in the face to the fighters. The UFC shows time and time again that they will go out of their way to screw them over at every opportunity. The sponsorship market in the UFC used to be a healthy one, then they got greedy–taxed the crap out of it–and the whole thing has been on life support ever since. But still, many fighters were able to make a lot from sponsors–sometimes more than what the UFC would pay them–but with this deal, it effectively kills it and destroys one more legit source of revenue for fighters.
For athletes/martial artists etc. why would anyone get into MMA when you know you’ll be making peanuts even if you make it to the “Premier” league of MMA. By the time you are done with it, all you’ll have to show for it are an insurmountable amount of injuries, shaky future mental health, but hey… at least you made the “bosses” a lot of money and they’ll probably be grateful for it, maybe even put you on the hall of fame and send you a card here and there. /sarcasm
This is pretty bad. Fighters were better off under the old sponsorship rules. Even with the decrease in ratings and popularity a lot of guys were making more than this with their sponsors.
The fighters pissed and moaned at every turn. The UFC always allowed them to have sponsors when they didn’t have to and the fighters took it for granite. Now they have to suffer thought the growing pains of a new system.
The UFC tax increases sponsor money. What hurt sponsor money is almost doubling the number of ufc fighters and doing way more events and lower TV ratings. That’s why guys couldn’t get sponsors or took huge cuts when they did.
I think it should work out well and I expect other sponsors to jump on shortly.
How can anybody blame the UFC with all the money they borrowed and put on the line. why should they give any of it to the fighters? Half a billion dollars plus! the UFC is scrambling and scraping to get any money they can back. Besides Dana and the girls are too busy traveling around promoting ufc 189, and too busy flying around on private jets chasing down John Jones.
so sad. you have to fight 16 times to make 15 k. this sounds like what collegiate athletes make. lets hope this dry humping sport just dwindles into obscurity and men just stick to standing up and fighting
Like the stand up hugging the other night?
I don’t know what anyone was expecting the pay to be. The reebok deal was for 70 million over 6 years. The UFC runs 50 events a year with 12 fights. That’s 1200 fighters. With an average sponsorship of 10,000. It would cost 12 million a year which is exactly what the UFC gets from reebok.
Fights can take the money or leave. But the UFC should not and will not go back to letting fighters bring any brand they want into the cage. Sponsors are banned. So you can either accept this free gift or not. But this is how every sports league does things. Those leagues over time have brought in multiple brands exclusively which the UFC will do. Down the road there will be 4 companies paying sponsors fees to fighters and these amounts will quadruple.
The UFC has been selling the “down the road” bullshit for a decade!! Not just to the fighters but to the fans!!
Bahahah No D posts!! I guess he is waiting for his paypal account to be credited by zuffa before he posts. Must be a rough existence bhahahha over 4 million ppv buys for MayPac#1 and rising fast!! hahaha
Fagbusiness is oblivious to the fact that boxers who fought on Mayweather’s prelims basically fight for free. They have to shine shoes to pay their rent. HAHAHA!!
Fagbusiness, boxing is loaded with tranny promoters, gay champions and stand up dry humping and necking. Probably why you love it so much.
Sal foaming at the mouth again. Sounds like its diaper changing time for this geriatric.
Smh, d, you didn’t have one thing to say so you just hurled insults.
In boxing the clintch is for 3 seconds and discouraged in UFC they get on their backs and spread their legs and it is encouraged for minutes at a time. even the moves have gay names: the REAR NAKED choke. BJJ. The triangle choke is one guy pressing his chin on another dudes scrotum. the arm bar is forcing someone to give you hand manipulation. the MOUNT (wink wink). This is why D and all striking scrubs love this sport becuae it plays up to their repressed gay fantasies. Things got so bad the UFC even had to limit it.
https://www.google.com/search?q=herman+trunks+ufc&safe=off&biw=1024&bih=447&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=hXVLVaSqCrK1sATdhIGgDA&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ#safe=off&tbm=isch&q=dennis+hallman+ufc&imgdii=5x966jildHHQIM%3A%3B5x966jildHHQIM%3A%3BF_0PNCG3mKGg3M%3A&imgrc=5x966jildHHQIM%253A%3BD9kNln1ow7q9nM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fcdn0.sbnation.com%252Fimported_assets%252F803677%252Fmma_e_hallman_b1_576.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.mmamania.com%252F2011%252F12%252F16%252F2640781%252Fufc-quick-quote-uncle-dana-almost-cut-dennis-hallman-for-missing%3B576%3B324
That is because MMA/UFC was designed to showcase Gracie JJ nothing more nothing less!!
But don’t worry!! “down the road” the UFC will do stadium events and totally take over boxing bahahahhahahahah They will totally dominate the world stage bahahhaha
“joe”, go back and read the saldaqueef’s comments. Then be honest and use your regular alias, Sampson.
In boxing, the clinch is not for 3 seconds with certain fighters like Floyd Gayweather who not only stay their longer to cop a feel, they do it redundantly. It is a gay sport, just accept it. Promoters who are trannies, gay champions, fighters biting ears, guys grabbing each other’s asses and necking in the clinch. Yup that’s boxing and that’s why fagbusiness loves it. Gayweather and Beiber are also dating, so what does that say?
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/frank-maloney-sex-change-reaction-4031120
https://ph.news.yahoo.com/photos/floyd-mayweather-jr-center-hugs-manny-pacquiao-philippines-photo-045901030.html
In boxing, the clinch is not for 3 seconds with certain fighters like Floyd Gayweather who not only stay their longer to cop a feel, they do it redundantly. It is a gay sport, just accept it. Promoters who are trannies, gay champions, fighters biting ears, guys grabbing each other’s asses and necking in the clinch. Yup that’s boxing and that’s why fagbusiness loves it. Gayweather and Beiber are also dating, so what does that say?
The UFC has already taken over boxing Saldaqueer.
Bahahahh. In your dreams or maybe on x box. That is the stupidest thing you have ever said once again D proves what an idiot he is. How was that show in canada ?? Haha
But I will say the ufc has taken women fans Go rousey bahahahhah
I guess all the ufc fans took a break from watching last year. Looks like they were watching boxing since it doubled ppv buys hahahha
Sal ranting incoherently, fabricating statistics, smelling like turds. Nothing new.
The fact that boxers in 1750 were getting paid more than MMA fighters in 2015 is sad as hell. http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2015/5/2/8532471/mayweather-vs-pacquiao-moneyweight-biggest-boxing-bouts-all-time
This latest deal just makes the league look even worse
The fact that “Joe” is just another one of Sampson’s endless amount of aliases is pathetic.
Undercard mma fighters also make more than boxers. The one’s complaining about that deal make more money than fighters on Mayweather’s undercard. The latter, most of whom literally pay to fight.
D- did as clown “I love ding ding” actually say the UFC has already taken over Boxing???? Dude no one cares about the UFC outside of white kids ages 18-30. and even thats changing the more gentried and common the sport becomes. its over D. Mayweather vs Pac 4 million ppv buys. BAHAHA Jon Jones vs Cormier does 800k. and 100k of that had to do with the press conference fight. Jones is gone forever. but its ok Chris weidman will save the day
Lol at boxing idiots fascination with pay. The fact that’s the only argument you have shows how desperate you are to find any advantage boxing has over Mma! Yet why are all the boxers going bankrupt? Maybe because their intelegence level Is as low as their fans? They only get one or two fights with good pay days? Have have no skill to generate any other income. Boxing sucks so bad there is no money in their industry to make a living outside of fighting!
MMA blows boxing away. All the fighters have many options to make money their entire career. Boxers can’t even run a boxing gym because people who box are street bums.
LOLz http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/boxing/mayweather-pacquiao-ppv-sales-are-astronomically-high–will-obliterate-record-220828318.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory&soc_trk=tw
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/boxing/mayweather-now-says-no-to-rematch-234053791.html
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! That didn’t take long. Eat that shit Sal!! Holy Shit the crow that you have to eat on this one. HAHAHAHA!!!
More Kevin Iole ppv sources. HAHAHA!!!
This is obviously bullshit. He’s saying they are getting 2 million through satellite and his source once again is Arum/Ellerbe.
Fagbusiness- boxing had 1 fight. Their stars are old. The only people who watch boxing are senior citizens or trannies and gays. That’s what the sport has devolved into. Bleak future for boxing as we’ve seen from their pitiful PBC ratings while burning through millions that will never be recouped.
By the way fagbusiness, you claimed for every boxing ppv purchased there are an average of 7 viewers, and implied there are less for ufc ppvs.
Well, Richard Schaefer disagrees with you. According to him, boxing only averages 5 viewers per buy and the ufc averages 9.
“Schaefer also noted that for a boxing PPV, its anticipated that 5 people are watching per buy whereas UFC PPVs are close to 9.”
http://mmapayout.com/2014/01/boxing-set-for-big-ppv-year/
You once again pulled a statistic straight out of your ass, probably better than some of the other objects that are being pulled out of there. HAHAHA!! Fagbusiness!!!
I’m not making it a MMA v Boxing thing, d. Just showing you how much MMA fighters are being taken advantage of.
I want them to get paid more.
You are comparing headlining boxing ppv fighters with prelim and undercard mma fighters. The only mma fighters who are somewhat underpaid are the headliners. Undercard and prelim mma fighters on average make more than their boxer counterparts. Boxing has a pay scale 10x worse than mma. It is far more top heavy.
The biggest gripe the fighters should be making is about the way the contracts are all in favor of ownership- not in terms of pay, but in terms of controlling their likeness, the longevity of the contract and the champion’s clause which has to be illegal in some way shape or form. But in terms of pay, those guys who are making 8 and 8 could be replaced by anyone, they don’t sell the fight and they make more than prelim boxers typically do despite the fact that UFC cards have more fights(typically 12-14) on a card than major boxing cards do (usually 7-8).
The Nate Quarry’s of the world shouldn’t be bitching, the Chris Weidman/Jon Jones should be.
no, d. I didn’t compare the headline boxing even to the undercard. I compared the headline boxing even in the year 1750 to the headline recent Fight Night 63 card:
*****With the bonuses, Poirier ($118K) and Mendes ($146K) joined Guida in making six figures for the afternoon. *******
The MMA structure has these guys severely underpaid compared to boxing. It’s a damn shame because the sport is so exciting to watch.
In addition to the low pay, all the other stuff you mentioned is bad for the fighters also. MMA can’t continue this way, imo
Guys like Poirier/Mendes/Guida aren’t underpaid and using those figures to compare to those 3 is silly. That fight you have was a huge event, even though it was hundreds of years ago. If you compared that fight to what say the two biggest mma fighters made, then you would have an argument. Someone like Jones makes millions per fight though, albeit- he is still underpaid.
By the way, there are headlining boxers who made less than that 18th century fight as well. It was a poor analogy.
alright, d
Jon Jones v DC was a big fight.
***Champ Jon Jones: $500,000 (no win bonus)
def. Daniel Cormier: $90,000***
in 1910:
***Johnson made the equivalent of $3 million in today’s dollars and Jeffries only a few thousand less.***
But you already agree that the MMA fighters are underpaid so there’s no need in continuing. Especially with all the additional revenue streams that we have in today’s landscape.
There was recently a boxing match on Shotime between JCC Jr and Fonfara.
JCC got $2.5 million and Fonfara got $400k.
These guys are not the biggest stars in boxing. But they get paid like the biggest stars in MMA.
But like I said, we agree that MMA guys are getting financially abused. Let’s just move on to the next convo.
Here is the problem. Boxers have to draw in revenue on their name. That is why they get paid and have control. Mma fighters on an individual basis do not have that power. The fighters are still heavily dependent on the UFC brands and those 3 letters to get people to see them fight. Outside of the ufc brand they have no power. This is why they don’t get paid and have no leverage. A boxer like Mayweather brings in money and he can take that money which comes from fans wanting to see him. And he can take it to any promoter and any TV network like showtime or HBO. His value doesn’t change based on him moving. Mma fighters leave the UFC and they fall off the map. A fighter like GSP can sell 600,000-1,000,000 pics in the UFC but that same fight in Bellator would be lucky to break 100,000. So which number is he really worth? How can anyone like Belltor ever big against the UFC? He won’t bring them in money like he can in the UFC. Because the ufc is using money from their brands popularity to over pay their fighters.
Fighters need to build their brand. Only then will they have value and can take the best offers and have leverage at the contract table. Guys like Tim Kennedy have no personality, bring no fans to the event, pass off ufc fans as their own, then demand tons of money like they are some rock star. The one thing the UFC has that boxing doesn’t is a brand like the UFC to bring attention to many fighters and bring them all up to a higher level very quickly. Boxing has two names and no way to build others unless you are lucky enough to fight one of them.
Jones made millions for that fight. He was making millions years ago. I remember his brother tweeted that Jon made more than both of his brothers who were in the NFL and had multi million dollar contracts, combined. Is he still underpaid? Yeah, but to use that analogy about Jack Johnson is silly for one, because Jones probably made more money than Johnson did for his biggest payday ever and also because Johnson also makes more money than nearly every single boxer today based on those numbers. Who makes that type of money in boxing unless they fight Mayweather and just ride his coattails? Mayweather, Pac, Cotto, Klitschko(part of his contract is endorsement based also), Canelo. That’s it. 5 boxers. All of whom invest in their own fights with their own promotional or associate companies.
Also, JCC Jr is a big star in boxing. Despite his poor fight showing, he can still sell better than 99% of the boxing world. Go check out his ratings.
The only point that I wonder is how much of a draw the UFC name is vs the Fighter.
Because I’ve never watched an MMA event because of the promotion, I watch because I hear that the fighter is good.
Imagine this, if the UFC and Bellator magically swapped rosters I think Bellator would suddenly get the ratings, etc just because the fans will follow their favorite guys
BS,
I agree that the UFC brand is bigger than the fighters, but there are a number of fighters like GSP who would do a lot better than you think outside of the Octagon(albeit from the notoriety they received while fighting with the UFC). If a guy like GSP fought for Bellator against a big named opponent like Askren, he could probably get about 300k buys. Same goes for Jones. But outside of those top few fighters, they probably wouldn’t. The issue though is that the UFC contracts have these fighters by the balls when it comes down to leaving the promotion, so this really will never happen until the champion’s clause is fought out in court.
d,
we agree. the UFC and MMA in general has this fighters by the balls with the contracts. They’re being taken advantage of and are underpaid.
Jon Jones example. He gets paid more than his brothers. OK. What were his brothers making when they said that??
**** Arthur Jones, who’s a free agent next year, will make $2 million this season, while Chandler will get just under $1.5 million ****
So all they’re saying is that Jon Jones gets more than $3.5 million a year.
Well, That’s great, but being the draw that he is, he should get more. The fight with DC got 800k PPV buys and did $4 million at the gate.
Pacquiao vs. Algieri only sold 350k PPVs and Manny got 25 million for it. Algierie got $1.5 million
Based on the revenue the fighters are generating, MMA guys are underpaid and have very restrictive contracts.
But, we agree. MMA fighter pay sucks.
Miguel Cotto v Sergio Martinez only got 300k PPV buys and….
Cotto $7 million, Martinez $1.5 million
These UFC/MMA paydays are weak
The champ clause is justified imo and every promotion uses one because there is no way to run a promotion without it. The UFC adopted that clause first because champs would win the belt and then use it as leverage the next day without ever defending it. It does significant damage to the sport. It allows other promotions to steal other champions, get them beat to steal another promotions credibility. It forces champions to be stripped and it would be never ending. It would create chaos in the sport. If you don’t like your pay and can’t represent the company whose belt you have. Don’t fight for the belt.
Now the likeness thing is debateable. I how ever see the UFC’s point as a business and from the good of the sport perspective. Big merchandise deals are good for the UFC and the fighters. Video games alone make the fighters thousands of fans if not more. Which goes along way to helping them not be so dependent on the UFC. The ufc has to be able to offer all of its fighters in its deals or they would never happen. They can’t run around getting 500 people to agree to every deal. They can’t sell half rosters.
Bradly v. Marquez did 375k PPVs and they each got more than $4million
Joe no one can discuss this stuff with you if you are oblivious to reality. The UFC is a company not just a boxer. The UFC has 300+ office staff that keeps all these fighters in jobs. They have 500-600 fighters. They have to take the sport into areas that don’t sell to grow the sport. This loses money. What boxer does that? None!!! That’s why they never leave Vegas. The UFC fights legal battles to advance the sport and has. Made it legalized as we see today. They also now have fighter insurance and production cost for the UFC is much higher than boxing. You can’t conpare a corperation to a couple boxers getting together and splitting the money with no responsibilities.
Keep in mind the UFC lost 40 million getting this going. Should they not be untitled to a return on their investment and risk? They also have millions in loans due to growing the sport. Those need payed also. This isn’t an every man for himself sport like boxing. Should the UFC not have the luxury of taking the sport to Australia? UK, Europe? Because of their model they can afford to take some loses here and there to grow the sport which benefits all fighters. Without risking the stability of the sport. Drastic increase in fighter pay makes non of that possible.
Joe have you ever seen a boxing Title fight live? I have seen like 5 in 7 ufc events and I live on the east coast. Boxers never do that. It’s someone else’s job to do grass root events. They will never give up the money even with all they make to take an event anywhere but one or two major cities in the US.
bernie Madoff made billions. Maybe every CEO should make what he made? Just because someone makes something doesn’t make it right or anyone else obligated to get the same.
Brain,
I find it very hard to believe that the UFC has more than 300 employees. I don’t even think they have more than 100 employees. Cite that please.
The 500+ fighters that they have are independent contractors and only get paid when they fight.
The UFC is trying to grow their business (can’t fault them for that) not necessarily the sport. When they go to the East coast of Cali of Brazil or Asia it is because if they don’t some one else will. They want to own MMA. (again, can’t blame them)
The boxing and MMA formats are very similar. That’s why we can compare them.
Top Rank promotions has to go through the same logistics as the UFC to have an event in the MGM Grand.
Paying the fighters more won’t mean that the UFC can’t make or profit or keep up with their obligations.
brain,
***I live on the east coast. Boxers never do that. It’s someone else’s job to do grass root events. They will never give up the money even with all they make to take an event anywhere but one or two major cities in the US.***
most of the upcoming televised boxing events are not in Vegas
http://www.badlefthook.com/pages/boxing-television-schedule
Those are not PPV level events. Have you ever seen Tyson, Jones Jr. Lennox Lewis, Holifield, klitchko’s, Pacman, Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya, etc at their peak?
Zeleznik UFC Chief Content Officer and former in charge of their London office.
“I think it’s related to that. I was employee 36, I think, in 2006 when I joined. We are close to 300 employees now.”
I have heard Fertitas say they have 300 employees.
Here is Scott Coker…
““I’m sure there’s some shock – everyone is in shock,” Coker says about the sale. “But (then) I went to the Zuffa offices and saw the amount of resources that they have and their 200 employees focusing on the growth of MMA and all eager to help Strikeforce basically take it to the next level. “
Also it doesn’t matter if they are contractors. They still have a standard of pay the UFC meets that far exceeds boxing. The ufc pays bottom guys very well which costs money. They also cover their insurance which costs money. Do you have any idea how much it costs the ufc alone to fly 24 fighters round trip to say Brazil and 50 or more of their cornermen for multiple nights in hotel as well as feeding them? They don’t hire local bum fighters like boxing does to fill a card. Every fight costs them many many times what the fighters purse shows. It is a much bigger opperation than you seem to understand. Even their credit rating mentions their extremely high production costs to produce an event.
brain,
thanks for the info. I see that you’re right about the number of employees the UFC has.
But that doesn’t mean they don’t have enough profit to be able to pay the Fighters more.
Those same credit ratings reports show that the UFC could double fighter pay and still take home a healthy profit.
hey look at this payday from Dead boxing bahahah
http://www.businessinsider.com/mayweather-pacquiao-pay-per-view-estimates-5-million-buys-2015-5
Pay which fighters how much, joe? Even a slight increase across the board(which the UFC has already done many times and people still cry wanting more) would be a lot of money when you apply it to all pay levels equally for 1200 purses a year.
Brain,
credit ratings reports show that the UFC could double fighter pay and still take home a healthy profit.
That would stop the loud murmurs about pay
Joe, you are wrong about Jones’ numbers.
Up until his recent debacle, he was definitely making at least 3m per fight.
Algieri may have made 1.5m, but the event may have lost money from that due to its poor ppv number. Also, either Pacquaio or Top Rank probably lost money from that event after the ppv numbers came in depending on how their contract is negotiated. That fight didn’t net 26.5m, no way.
Also, same goes for Cotto-Martinez. That event lost money. So either Arum or Cotto lost money after the ppv buys came in and couldn’t cover the overhead. As did Marquez-Bradley, although they had a little more help with the Mexican tv contracts, but still a loss.
Boxing’s business model is shit for promoters. If they don’t hit it big, they can lose money. Arum was predicting big numbers for Cotto-Martinez- expecting as high as 800k buys and it came nowhere near that, clearly proving they lost tons of money-Cotto as well because he co promoted the fight. Those numbers that you see upfront are purse numbers. That is gross revenue. These guys put their own money upfront for the fight that is conveniently ignored by every boxing fan.
My point was that yes, the UFC HEADLINING fighters are somewhat underpaid and the contract terms aren’t fair. But even boxers often do not make what you see upfront in the purse, because they are footing the bill to some extent.
D,
The numbers aren’t exact because we don’t have access to everything but the point remains the same.
The guys are underpaid. You could double the amount of money going to the fighters and still have a healthy profit.
Where are you getting all of your Top Rank information from? I’d like to read it as well. Also, the bigger fighters try and co-promote because they get more money. Most fighters don’t do that and still get paid a good percentage of the revenue.
But again, we agree on many things:
1. The big MMA guys are underpaid based on value added and revenue generated
2. The contracts are not very beneficial to the fighters
3. This Reebok deal further limits the income potential of the fighters
I’d add that the lower MMA guys are underpaid as well. If the UFC is the professional league it’s pretending to be, it should treat its athletes accordingly.
There was a breakdown of the revenue streams from the Marquez-Bradley fight I remember reading. The gate and the ppv were very low. The event for sure lost money as did the others I mentioned. The revenue wasn’t there. These fights cost money to produce. Tons of overhead. Keep in mind that ppv buy revenue typically is a 60-40 split with the cable/satellite companies getting 60 percent. So for a fight like Marquez-Bradley where the buy rate was allegedly 375k buys(that is sourced from Top Rank, so it could be considerably less), and the price was $60, generated a gross of 22.5m. But the promotion only gets 9m from that. The gate was roughly 3m. The tv contracts are the other bigger revenue stream and I can’t locate what they were specifically, but they were a few million, plus you have sponsorship that probably brought in around a million. So let’s say they brought in 17m from all of that. The fighters were paid 10.1m upfront. Now they are left with 6.9m. There are taxes they have to pay on the event. Let’s say that costs 2m, now they are down to 4.9m. Licensing, Insurance, NSAC costs, venue rental, probably cost them around another million. 3.9m. Undercard purses, another 700k, now we are at 3.2m. The cost for advertising, probably another 4m. -.8m. How about travel expenses/lodging, etc? The overhead adds up. HBO lost money for the event without question ad did Top Rank. The fighters didn’t get a penny from ppv and Marquez probably fronted money, he most likely lost some too after the ppv numbers came in.
The fighters who do not co promote or invest as an associate make far less than the ones who do. I doubt t there is anyone in boxing in the US making over 2m on a consistent basis who doesn’t co promote their fights unless they fought Mayweather or Pacquaio. The headliners that don’t co promote(not the undercard fighters who make shit in boxing), make a higher split from the promoters than ufc fighters do, but they don’t make as much as the UFC stars do. But like I said, the ufc fighters are somewhat underpaid.
The lower mma guys are not underpaid though. They don’t sell the fight. They could be replaced by anyone and they make much more than their boxing counterparts. Also, keep in mind, there are usually 12-14 fights on these ufc’s these days. Those low end guys wouldn’t have even been in the ufc 7 or 8 years ago because the cards didn’t carry that many fights. The pay scale is more fair in the UFC than boxing. You should check out what boxers make- even ones on major ppvs. They are literally paying to fight sometimes.
d,
the established boxing promotions like Top Rank, GBP, Main Event, etc put on plenty of shows a year. They win more than they lose and they all stay in business. Your example may be valid, but it doesn’t mean that the company is going to go broke because of one bad event. Besides, in the boxing business the athletes get 50%-60% of the revenue. That’s not at all the case in UFC.
Additionally, if the UFC is going to be taken seriously as a League sport, then they should pay the athletes accordingly.
The NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, all have revenue splits of between 40%-50% between the leagues and the athletes.
Hell, even the MLS, a relatively new and expanding league was paying 20% of revenues (it likely went up now that they signed a new CBA)
The UFC only pays the athletes 10% of revenue. And again, I can’t stress it enough, the money is there. They can double the amount going to fighters and still turn a healthy profit. That’s according to the credit reports.
Of course, they don’t have to, though. The athletes have to fight for their rights. But until they do, that’s something the public can point at and criticize.
I don’t believe I ever insinuated they will go broke. My point was that it isn’t a great business to get into because the profit for banner promotion is very minimal. Its actually worse for promoters with the big name boxers, because they make even less of the split- as high as 80%.
Your numbers are very false. The UFC pays the fighters far more than 10%. You are going strictly by purses that are disclosed by the NSAC which is not the full pay. They are probably paying the fighters closer to 25-30% of the net. They should probably be making higher-closer to 40%, but let’s get the fact straight. The UFC has overhead for these events.
d,
If I went by only the disclosed salaries, not including POTN bonuses and backroom stuff, it’d be like 3% of revenue.
According to Fertita the fighters are getting like $40-50mm a year
http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/page/UFCpay/ufc-fighters-say-low-pay-most-painful-hit-all
The UFC still had $110mm profit, that’s after paying for all their overhead costs.
https://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-assigns-Ba3-rating-to-Zuffas-Ba3-CFR-new-bank–PR_265693
* According to Moody’s 12/2/2011 credit opinion, Zuffa had an EBITDA margin of 39% in 2010. That would mean the company had revenue of $419.1 million in 2010 *
40 / 419 = 9% of revenues going to the fighters.
Pretty much the league is trying to grow as much as possible on the backs on the fighters before they decide to get together and demand more pay.
S&P even mentions it:
***Zuffa could face increased labor costs in the future if fighters organize (union) and seek a higher share of revenue, which is the case for most major sports in the U.S.***
Is this fair? It’s not hard to figure out:
UFC has 44 events scheduled this year. Typical event seems to have between 10 to 12 fights scheduled. That’s 20 to 24 athletes. Reebok is paying the UFC $70 million a year.
Do the math now. Let’s say the UFC takes a 10% cut off the top. That leaves $63 million for the athletes. $63m/44 events comes out to $1.43 million per event to pay out in sponsorships. Here’s the schedule again:
“The lowest tier for fighters with 1-5 fights is $2,500.The next tier for fighters with 6-10 fights is $5,000, 11 to 15 fights get $10,000, 16 to 20 fights gets $15,000 and fighters with 21 fights or more in the UFC get $20,000.”
Take UFC 187 for an example, to find the gross payout.
Main Card – Five fights….average cost = $82.500
Fighters 01-05: 1
Fighters 06-10: 4
Fighters 11-15: 3
Fighters 16-20: 2
Prelims – Seven fights….average cost = $60,000
Fighters 00-00: 2
Fighters 01-05: 7
Fighters 06-10: 1
Fighters 11-15: 4
Fighters 16-20: 0
Total UFC/Reebok Sponsorship payout is $142,500. This is for a main UFC PPV, which should typically feature more experienced fighters, thereby having a higher cost than say a Fight Night or smaller event. So let’s take the above and extrapolate this out for 44 events. Again, this should a number on the higher side of things, as we are assuming 44 ppv events, which isn’t reality. The total payout for the YEAR, would be $6.27 million.
Reebok is paying the UFC $70 million for sponsorships. And the UFC looks to be handing out around $6.2 million of that a year to the fighters.
Where’s the other $63.8 million going?
Correction.
“UFC’s deal with Reebok is worth approximately $70 million across a seven-year period”
New math
—————————————————————————–
$70,000,000/7 years = $7 million a year payout.
Estimate ‘per event’ sponsorship, yearly total = $6.2 million.
—————————————————————————–
Based on this, the Reebok deal seems somewhat fair. It would appear that most of the money is actually planned on being paid out.
d,
If I went by only the disclosed salaries, not including POTN bonuses and backroom stuff, it’d be like 3% of revenue.
According to Fertita the fighters are getting like $40-50mm a year
http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/page/UFCpay/ufc-fighters-say-low-pay-most-painful-hit-all
The UFC still had $110mm profit, that’s after paying for all their overhead costs.
https://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-assigns-Ba3-rating-to-Zuffas-Ba3-CFR-new-bank–PR_265693
* According to Moody’s 12/2/2011 credit opinion, Zuffa had an EBITDA margin of 39% in 2010. That would mean the company had revenue of $419.1 million in 2010 *
40 / 419 = 9% of revenues going to the fighters.
Pretty much the league is trying to grow as much as possible on the backs on the fighters before they decide to get together and demand more pay.
S&P even mentions it:
***Zuffa could face increased labor costs in the future if fighters organize (union) and seek a higher share of revenue, which is the case for most major sports in the U.S.***
http://mmapayout.com/2011/11/zuffa-maintains-bb-credit-rating/
Joe.
You are comparing financial figures from 2010, to what is going on today in 2015. That’s a bad example. The UFC’s income varies from year to year. Looking back to 2010, I’m pretty sure the UFC’s ppv revenues were much higher than what they are today. In fact, 2010 might have been the highwater mark for the UFC’s fortunes (at least in ppv streams)
– Two Brock Lesnar PPVs
– Chael Sonnen vs Anderson Silva PPV
– Two Georges St Pierre PPVs
– Chuck Liddell PPV
– two Quinton Jackson PPVs
So yeah, only 24 events that year. But 17 were PPV events, and those were higher than the 14 PPV events run in 2014. I can’t see how they wouldn’t be.
Actually, use MMAPayout’s own estimates from their Blue Book section.
2010 – 16 PPV’s generated an estimated 8.98 million ppv buys.
2014 – 13 PPV’s generated an estimated 3.30 million ppv buys.
Putting that in revenue terms, let’s say the 2010 results (priced at $50 a buy) generated around $449 million dollars, of which the UFC’s cut was around $202 million. For 2014 results (priced at $55 a buy), the total revenues would be $181 million, of which the UFC’s cut would be around $81 million.
Just on PPV income, the UFC made about $121 million less dollars in 2014, versus 2010. So that said, I would be a little bit careful about tossing up estimates of how much the UFC can (or cannot) afford to spend on it’s fighters this year in 2015, based on numbers from a few years ago.
“Joe”, I pointed out in the other article why your numbers are completely fictitious and you flat out made up comments that Fertitta made.