The Sports Business Journal reports that Jeff Borris will not reveal the athletes and agents that have agreed to join advisory boards for a proposed committee that his Professional Fighters Association intends to form.
Borris stated that he does not believe that nothing will be gained from releasing the names of the people. Initially, Borris said he would introduce two advisory boards: one made up of MMA agents and the other with UFC fighters. He said he would like to have 4 agents and 9 fighters on the boards.
The Sports Business Journal writeup includes a quote from MMAFA’s Robert Maysey which applauds the effort but does not know if a union will be successful. The article does point out that if Borris is successful, the antitrust lawsuit filed in Nevada (Maysey is one of the plaintiff lawyers) would be moot as a unionized sports entity would have antitrust labor exemption.
Payout Perspective:
Concealing the names of those on the advisory boards at this time makes sense as Borris likely weighed public relations versus possible retaliation for those named. At a point when Borris has the number of UFC fighters willing to sign up for the possibility of an NLRB election, we’ll probably see the names of the fighters and agents. But, at this time, there could be some (subtle) backlash from the UFC if the names are revealed. Also, fighters and agents might be weary as they will need to work with the UFC before an election.
I can’t imagine how a union would possibly work in a sport like this. The top stars are not going to join because it would cost them money in the process. What kind of power are low ranking or mid level fighters going to carry? The truth is, in order for this to work they would really need to get practically every top flight fighter to jump on board. If they strike underneath a McGregor/Rousey or another star’s card, no one would even remotely care.
Also, the article’s claim that the suit becomes moot if the union goes through is absurd for a ton of reasons. First off, there are a variety of different issues that aren’t addressed within the union that are presented within the class action suit. A union wouldn’t attempt to restrict contract limitations in terms of length, yet the lawsuit involves these issues. Seems like Borris doesn’t want that suit to go through because it interferes with his manipulation and power.
1. They have to establish a season.
2. They have come up with a reasonable split. 50/50 just not feasible for a company that only generate $600-700 million on an excellent year. Other major leagues make billion of dollars. Combat sports doesn’t generate those type of dollars.