Last year the UFC signed an agreement with Reebok to be the exclusive apparel provider for the promotion. Reebok will pay out something like $9-million/year to the UFC who, by their own words, will give all of that money to the fighters, save for a small amount going to charity. The UFC had originally decided on a system wherein the highest ranked fighters (champs) would get the biggest cut of the sponsorship money and it would trickle down from there, with tiers between 1-5, 6-10, and 11-15, and unranked. This idea was flawed from the outset, mainly due to the fact that some divisions are inherently shallower than others and the rankings voting panel are journalists of dubious qualifications. This week the UFC has backtracked on the idea of tying rankings into sponsorship pay and will instead pay out based on tenure and total fights. Although this idea solves some of the problems with the rankings based model there are still a few issues--the youngest, most inexperienced fighters arguably benefit the most from sponsorship money but will be getting the least in (both) systems. The dollar amounts remain obscure. It also seems to be a disincentive to established talent outside of the UFC coming in whereby a fighter like Ben Askren would be getting paid considerably less than a longtime UFC journeyman.
The rankings were updated today and Cub Swanson is ahead of Max Holloway. Tells you all you need to know about that system.
I think tenure works better. Yeah some hot fighters coming in won't get much but guess what 90% of them won't be know by the casual fan anyways so theoretically they wouldn't have great sponsorship money anyways. Known commodities get paid in the current system too. I do think this may lead to more cautious fights as guys coming off losses will want to earn a W no matter what in order to stay in the UFC and have tenure for sponsorship $. The bottom line is there is no 100% sure fire way to dole out the money fairly.
This is true, which calls into question the UFC's motives for this exclusive sponsorship deal. They treat their employees as employees while calling them independent contractors. Junior fighters who were able to negotiate good deals for themselves will now be at the mercy of the poor deals the UFC provides them. It really only benefits fighters too lazy to get sponsors (Cody McKenzie) or too self-righteous (Mac Danzig). My guess is the UFC is attempting to eliminate or minimize the power of agents and managers.
and thus lowering the chances of the fighers organizing a union too. This does feel like a case of the UFC being damned if they do and damned if they don't. I am sure there are self-serving motives behind this but it may also be them just trying to do the fighters a solid by not having them chase/whore themselves out to anyone willing to writer a check and use them for advertising. If the NFL/NBA/MLB/NHL can have uniforms without sponsors on them and the stars of those leagues can still hawk products for various companies, MMA fighters should be able to do the same. The fact that Dana mentioned they are building a facility in Las Vegas to help fighters rehab is a good step too. Maybe they do want to protect the health of these guys so they can put them on cards and have them fight and not have their champs and top contenders consistently getting injured and missing fights
White also lashed out against AKA for Cain Velasquez's injuries. He has a history with AKA, firing Jon Fitch and Cain Velasquez a few years ago over a spat regarding image rights. Javier Mendez, IIRC, is not just the head of AKA but also the personal manager of all of the fighters. The difference between the NFL and the UFC is that the UFC fighters aren't technically employees so they are free to pursue their own avenues of revenue--but the UFC has been cutting those off one by one in the last few years through things like sponsorship taxes and exclusive deals. The fighters can get deals outside of fighting now but the UFC hasn't built them up (they build up the brand first) so, outside of the familiar location, guys like Gil Melendez or whoever aren't recognizable names enough to warrant major endorsement deals. Team doctors in major sports are hit and miss. The NFL is dealing with that now with their enormous concussion/TBI problem. Listen to Phil Brooks' interview on YouTube where he talks about being patched up by the WWE doctors instead of getting proper care.
Well the NFL does take care of it's brand first and foremost, but like any sports organization promoting your stars is a big way to promote your brand. Some UFC fighters like the change and naturally at the top of the list is a guy who's 2 fights away from tying Tito Ortiz for the most career fights in the UFC.
I think another thing to consider is that this is the first deal of this kind for MMA and the UFC. It's like when Nike just started out. If Rebook can sponsor a huge cross market athlete like a Michael Jordan and create a buzz, there will be competition from other sports clothing companies when the current contract is up and maybe fighters will get better sponsorship pay. The UFC is still a young(er) organization. things like this and major tv deals are still being developed compared to the more established sports leagues.
Tiers (# fights in the UFC): 0-5 - $5,000 6-10 - $8-10,000 11-15 - $12-15,000 16+ - $18-20,000 http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/other/ultimate_fighting/2015/04/a_big_deal_for_lauzon
