Sponsorship deal is fucked. I'm all for fighters paying more. I'm just saying there's a wider gap from top tier talent to bottom in ufc than probably any pro sport. How is that a hot take?
You realize that there are guys on the undercard who make like $5k. this is a league that was recently bought for what $4 billion? UFC pay is a joke.
The graphic explains the issue. Find me the lowest nfl contract and I bet it’s nowhere near $4K to show up and $4K if they win the game.
Also you might, MIGHT fight 3 times a year unless you’re a freak and don’t get hurt. $4K to show up and lose, then maybe 6 months later you get another shot at $4K. Then if you win, huge congrats!!! Here’s another $4K. Oh and your coach is taking 10%. Does that cover gym dues too? Idk. Add another expense.
Basically only the top 10 in each weight are pro and everyone else is trying to go pro (pay wise). the argument about the skill level from the champs to lowest guys is irrelevant imo.
And in the other leagues the money is spread amongst 30+ owners/organizations. It’s just a fucked sport as it is. If I’m an up and coming fighter I wouldn’t consider the UFC unless the money matched.
Why are big name UFC fighters lining up to get their asses kicked in the boxing ring? Because they will get paid more for one fight than several ufc fights. embarassing for the org.
The shittiest part about it is the UFC isn’t going to change that either. It isn’t like they really have any competition.
Idk man, I agreed with you 5 years ago but these other orgs have some legit fighters and they’re all(org and fighter) getting more and more exposure. They’re all happier too outside those top tier UFC guys.
That’s always been my biggest gripe. Dana runs the org for his benefit. If that happens to improve the sport, lucky us. But he spends a lot of time and resources making himself the center of the organization. Imagine if Roger Goodell made a shitty reality show where he toured the country with Joe Flacco looking for the next member of an NFL practice squad. Like goodell thought that’s something NFL fans would be interested in
but it isn’t like bellator/pfl/whoever is paying them really good. there is a reason these top fighters stay in the ufc i agree there is some legit talent outside the ufc but how many non die hard mma fans are going to know of them? bellator’s biggest card was out performed massively by uriah hall v strickland card.
There are too many people who think he’s what makes the UFC today. He’s what made the UFC 20 years ago.
I’d have to go pull up examples/refresh my memory but I’m pretty sure the other orgs pay their fighters more top-to-bottom across the board. And it might not be crazy significant but also iirc they have healthcare and are in general treated like human beings. As for Strickland/Hall getting more views, it was free with ESPN+ and Bellator was behind the Showtime paywall. Look, it’s still the top outfit and the ESPN deal only strengthened that. It’s still the place to go if you want to fight the best.
So this is my point.. There is no other league that has the equivalent of the low end talent playing in the actual league. UFC puts on so many fights now they have a bunch of low level fighters on their roster. They should still be making more money though. They have a bunch of what are basically minor leaguers fighting under UFC banner to fill all the bloat. When you look at it that way mlb minor leagues and college football compensation are huge problems too. Bellator doesn't put on anywhere near the number of shows so they don't have to have to have a bunch of dudes on the roster just breaking in. If you compare the top of the rosters I'm pretty sure the UFC pays more than anyone else. That still doesn't help the lower level guys having to work a bunch of jobs while training. Edit: I'm not trying to carry the UFC'S water here. I'm a big fan of Bellator and the pfl. More competition and unions are exactly what fighters need.
Do minor leaguers pay for their coaches and 100% of their expenses? The analogy just feels wrong on a variety of levels
Guys on your favorite pro NFL/NBA/MLB teams practice squad are all making (significantly?) more than the majority of the prelim fighters you’re watching on ESPN before a major PPV.
Not in season but offseason sure. But mine league pay has been a huge talking point in the last year. They make what amounts to below minimum wage.
I get what you’re saying. I know you’re not saying fuck the fighters like Dana but it’s still not close.
I'm just saying there's more nuance than just give them more revenue. That revenue would just go to top guys and the bottom of the roster would still be fucked. Doing away with the venom contract would be huge. They need some sort of collective bargaining to actually help the people that need it the most.
Single A baseball player makes 10,500 a season. Been stories lately about them living in their cars. To me it's pretty similar. Some of them do get signing bonuses though.
Fair point. Making 4k a fight is fucked. But I think it's a separate issue than top guys only making a million or 200k off a ppv.
16% is 16% all fighters deserve a higher revenue share. There isn’t really a point on the totem pole that isn’t currently under paid outside of McGregor probably. the guys who are on under cards and late replacements still are usually signing multi fight contracts. There needs to be a yearly salary stipulation, like you make a minimum $70,000 or something over the next 12 months.
This is why I will never even come close to feeling bad for streaming. I feel like I’m doing the fighters a service by streaming at this point and I’ll hear nothing else.
Bellator has enormous financial might. I wish CBS would pivot to maybe understanding they might take some losses for a couple years, but try and sign some big in their prime names to huge (i.e. market worth or more) contracts, and put some cards on big CBS, not Showtime. UFC always tries to lock those guys up long term, but at least put some feelers out that they'll pay them way more than UFC, plus can sell advertising on your shorts. It's hilarious to hear Dana bitch about paying Jones and Ngannou $10mm a piece, when Fury and Joshua would both be making $75mm for their eventual fight. Even Conor has been underpaid for what value he's brought to UFC, same went for Ronda. And the ESPN+deal gives them a bigger % of the PPV cut than the old 50/50 cable/satellite deal, which they still use for bars and restaurants.
UFC has all of those guys on their payroll and they STILL only pay 16% of revenue to fighters. MLB pays 54% and that doesn't include the minors. Granted, the minor league guys get paid shit but it's still more money going out. So what you're arguing is actually worse for UFC. If your argument was "average fighters gets X but that's low bc of the low level guys on the payroll too", ok. But that's not it. How it's spread and how many fighters doesn't matter. The bottom line is UFC keeps 86% of revenue. 2 fighters or 200, 16% is shit.
ufc's overhead is also crazy low. what are their major expenses beyond building rental and fighter salaries? it's not like they pay for training
To be honest UFC messes up a lot of ascending fighters so… smart on her part. feels like most every exciting prospect gets fed to the wolves way too soon. Dana more interested in playing the super star lottery than building up resumes for younger fighters.