The parties in the UFC antitrust lawsuits filed a Motion for Preliminary Approval of the Settlement last Tuesday. The lawsuit reveals the amount of money the plaintiffs’ attorneys and the fighters in the UFC lawsuit.
Attorneys representing the fighters are requesting no more than 1/3 of the UFC Settlement Fund (plus interest) and reimbursement of litigation expenses “of no more than $11 million” which it will document. The amount equates to roughly $10.05M (of the $335M settlement) plus another $11M in litigation expenses (court costs, filing fees, expert fees, etc.). The attorney fees and litigation fees are subject to court approval. If approved, it would leave roughly $314M.
Although not a party to the lawsuit, Nate Quarry will receive $250,000 as settlement for his claims. Quarry’s claims were outside the timeframe set by the parties in the lawsuit and was thus left out. But, he receives money here to settle any claims.
Notably, the UFC agreed to changes to their Promotional and Ancillary Rights Agreements for a period of five years.
Although unlikely, it is worth noting that a clause in the Settlement Agreement states that if Zuffa is impaired from competing within the 5-year-period they retain the right to challenge the amendments to the contracts.
The Motion for Preliminary Approval of Settlement also notes that there are “approximately 1,140 members” of the Le class and approximately 1,290 members” of the Johnson class with some being a member of both. There are 1,950 Fighters across the two classes.
The plan of allocation would provide Le Class members an award from the Settlement equaling 25% (or more) of their total earnings from bouts from the Le Class Period. “Certain claimants from the Johnson Settlement Class will receive as much as 10% of their lifetime bout earnings.”
The division of settlement will have 75% of the Settlement Fund to the Le class and 25% to the Johnson class. It will also depend on whether or not the fighter had an arbitration agreement in its contract for the Johnson class as the UFC had changed its contract to include an arbitration provision during the Johnson time period. Those with arbitration provisions will receive $5,000.
The Le Class will be divided based on the number of fights in the UFC and their compensation at the time. The minimum amount of recovery is $8,000.
The settlements would be sent out in separate payouts starting November 1, 2024 and again on April 1, 2025.
Payout Perspective:
Some notable observations. The payouts I was surprised that the contractual concessions would only last 5 years and still might be challenged at a later date. I’m a little surprised as to the minimums of $5,000 and $8,000 for fighters within the class although I’m sure there are some individuals that had a couple of fights within the UFC.
Leave a Reply