Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective. This time we look at a special Friday night event from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada which featured Brock Lesnar versus Alistair Overeem. Overeem kicks Lesnar into retirement There’s a reason why Lesnar went off as the underdog in Vegas. It was uncertain how Lesnar would […]
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11 for 11: No. 1 UFC-Fox television deal
The number one business story of the year was the UFC-Fox deal as mixed martial arts entered the mainstream with its 7 year, $90 million television rights deal. The deal was an upgrade from its $35 million a year deal with Spike TV. The longtime relationship between the UFC-Spike relationship deteriorated this year with passive […]
11 for 11: No. 2 Zuffa buys Strikeforce
The second biggest business story of the year shook the state of MMA. In March, Zuffa purchased its biggest rival, Strikeforce. It was reported that the purchase price was $40 million which included some debt repayment by Zuffa for Strikeforce. The deal occurred as Silicon Valley Sports and Entertainment, main financial backer of Strikeforce, wanted to […]
11 for 11: No. 3 Zuffa offers its fighters insurance
This year Zuffa offered its 400 fighters in the UFC and Strikeforce health insurance beginning this past June. Zuffa is paying the premiums for all of its fighters under contract. The accident-insurance coverage covers up to $50,000 (annually) of medical costs for each fighter. Its an unprecedented move to cover fighters and its a sign […]
11 for 11: No. 4 Injuries plague PPVs; Buy rates down
Injuries have plagued 2011 as many of the UFC’s top stars have had to postpone or delay fights this year. GSP, Brock Lesnar, Jon Jones, Frankie Edgar, Gray Maynard and Rashad Evans are just a sample of the fighters that were scratched from PPV cards due to injury. This does not even touch upon the […]