Reebok has responded to comments made by UFC fighter Sean O’Malley regarding the fighter’s claim that the official UFC sponsor made $1 million dollars on his merchandise and he received $3,000.
On a recent episode of former UFC fighter Brendan Schaub’s show, O’Malley stated that Reebok is making millions of dollars off of his fight gear but he is only making a fraction of it.
O’Malley noted that he is his own management and had fired his last manager. After his KO of Eddie Wineland at UFC 250, he stated that he wanted to renegotiate his current contract.
The undefeated bantamweight is one of the hottest fighters in the UFC and he’s looking to capitalize on that with more money. During the Schaub interview he stated that he met with Sean Shelby about the possibility of renegotiation.
As for the Reebok payouts, the company issued the following statement to Footwear News:
Royalties paid out on sales of co-branded UFC and Reebok merchandise are dictated by the contract between the individual fighter and the UFC
Payout Perspective:
Realistically, this is nothing earth-shattering here as O’Malley knows how much he receives based on the Reebok Outfitting Program Pay. It’s likely included in his Bout Agreement and/or Contract with the Promotion. But, the eye-opening thing for viewers was the amount that Reebok makes off of O’Malley from merchandise sales. The problem is this is per the policy of the UFC. If O’Malley were to negotiate more money from Reebok, this would cause a stir amongst UFC athletes. As has been highlighted over the past several weeks, fighters are complaining about the amount of money they receive. Jorge Masvidal and Jon Jones have been open with their criticism with the company and how they feel like the promotion is not paying their worth. For people like O’Malley the knowledge and understanding of their worth should help in negotiations. But, many before the bantamweight have tried and been unsuccessful in negotiations too.
Leave a Reply