The Committee on Education and Workforce released its report on the Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act. The 41-page report includes commentary on the proposed bill which made it out of the subcommittee with a couple proposed amendments.
Only 4 congresspeople voted against the bill which would create Universal Boxing Organizations that would parallel traditional sanctioning promotions. The bill has been pushed hard by TKO as it gets into the industry with Zuffa Boxing.
California Athletic Commission Chair Andy Foster has lobbied for the bill. He spearheaded the effort to have the state of California support the federal bill. Toward the end of the section, the report included unanswered questions. California Congressman, Mark Takano, a Democrat (not Republican as the report suggests), asked whether Foster “had any conversations with TKO Holdings, Zuffa Boxing, Endeavor Group, or anyone associated with the UFC or Zuffa Boxing about possible employment. If so, was it before he lobbied the state of California to support the bill. Congressman Takano was one of four to vote no on the passage of the bill further on in the process.
In addition Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar had additional questions for Foster which went unanswered. She did receive responses from Zuffa on questions related to the Ali Act, rankings, sanctioning bodies and disclosures. This included a question on the ownership structure of TKO as well as whether the Saudis had any influence on TKO.
The request is that the responses are made prior to the bill moving forward. “Until then, moving the legislation is premature.”
The concluding remarks by Robert Scott asks why the bill “has suddenly become a priority for this Committee.” He pushes back on the premise that boxing is dead noting the rise in popularity of the sport as it pivots to streaming.
Payout Perspective:
Obviously, the reason is that Dana White is friends with the president and it’s a favor to the president to move TKO’s pet project forward. We will discuss some of the proposed changes later on but for now its clear TKO wants this law passed while their friends are in power.
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