TKO President and and Chief Operating Officer Mark Shapiro spoke on Tuesday at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference about the company. He spoke on multiple issues regarding business including UFC, WWE and Zuffa Boxing. One of the issues he spoke about was fighter pay.
In the past, Shapiro has hinted of increases in pay. Specifically, for UFC fighters, he addressed the benefits of the Performance Centers and how they are contributing to the health of the athlete (as well as being another touchpoint for its sponsors).
Shapiro at today’s conference:
On the UFC front, we’ve really capitalized on the investments of our performance centers in Mexico City and Vegas, and particularly China. We’re really getting real traction. So that’s a big part of our strategy. It will continue to be a big part of our strategy, and we will continue to be aggressive in other monetization opportunities for both our superstars and our UFC fighters with regard to advertiser deals, marketing partnerships, bonuses through the fight card in terms of finishes and fight of the night. What you see is you see the best of the best signing up and lining up to be a part of the UFC and to be a part of WWE. So that’s something we always watch out for and we want to make sure that we’re really spreading the opportunities, but the strategy’s working.
What you don’t read in the comments about pay is TKO expending money out of its own budget to pay its independent contractors. Rather, Shapiro points to “advertiser deals, marketing partnerships [and] bonuses…” These things are not accounted for in a fighter’s contracts unless the fighter performs and TKO decides to allow the fighter to reap the benefit. Fight bonuses have grown to $100K which is a good thing. But, also is subjective based on whatever metric the UFC decides. Notably, it does reward those fighters with first round finishes. Also, TKO determines which fighters will receive advertiser deals or participate in marketing with its sponsors.
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