September 30/09
These guys are under paid. UFC fighters essentially donate their faces for as little as $8000 a fight. You may think that eight grand for one nights work isn’t all that bad. Don’t forget the months of training leading up to the big day. Let’s say a fighter trains for three months before his fight and don’t forget he needs to pay his trainers, he would be making less that $100 a day with the minimum payout. If the fighter wins the standard is another $8000, a potential $16,000 payday. If the fighter wins fight of the night, submission of the night, or knockout of the night they would earn an extra $60,000, these awards are rarely given to under-card fighters, from what I’ve watched. Top fighters can make up to a reported $400,000 per fight, a payout that looks like a welfare cheque in comparison to top boxers.
It’s not like the UFC is struggling, in fact they are far from it. In 2008 the disclosed payout to fighters was just under $2.5 million. Combining the ppv earnings of four UFC events from 2008 you will see where the numbers are skewed. UFC’s 91, 92, 93 and 94 had approximately 6.5 million ppv buys for over $150 million in earnings. A UFC video game was released this year. It sold one million copies in its first month and has sold three million to date. The UFC is reported to be earning 17% of the total revenue, I bought the game when it came out for $69.99…………you do the math. The UFC also has a television deal with Spike TV and countless sponsorship deals with companies like Anheuser Busch and Harley Davidson. If one of these companies wants to sponsor a fighter individually it is rumoured that they will have to pay the UFC $100,000 before they talk to the fighter, a scenario similar to the NHL where the company must pay the league $40,000 for their equipment to appear in an NHL game.
I think Flloyd Mayweather said it best after Dana White offered him a contract in 2007 “why would I go into a sport paying hundreds of thousands when I’m in a sport paying $20 million.” It’s wither time for the UFC to pay their fighters what they are worth, or the fighters to form a union and force the issue.
These guys are under paid. UFC fighters essentially donate their faces for as little as $8000 a fight. You may think that eight grand for one nights work isn’t all that bad. Don’t forget the months of training leading up to the big day. Let’s say a fighter trains for three months before his fight and don’t forget he needs to pay his trainers, he would be making less that $100 a day with the minimum payout. If the fighter wins the standard is another $8000, a potential $16,000 payday. If the fighter wins fight of the night, submission of the night, or knockout of the night they would earn an extra $60,000, these awards are rarely given to under-card fighters, from what I’ve watched. Top fighters can make up to a reported $400,000 per fight, a payout that looks like a welfare cheque in comparison to top boxers.
It’s not like the UFC is struggling, in fact they are far from it. In 2008 the disclosed payout to fighters was just under $2.5 million. Combining the ppv earnings of four UFC events from 2008 you will see where the numbers are skewed. UFC’s 91, 92, 93 and 94 had approximately 6.5 million ppv buys for over $150 million in earnings. A UFC video game was released this year. It sold one million copies in its first month and has sold three million to date. The UFC is reported to be earning 17% of the total revenue, I bought the game when it came out for $69.99…………you do the math. The UFC also has a television deal with Spike TV and countless sponsorship deals with companies like Anheuser Busch and Harley Davidson. If one of these companies wants to sponsor a fighter individually it is rumoured that they will have to pay the UFC $100,000 before they talk to the fighter, a scenario similar to the NHL where the company must pay the league $40,000 for their equipment to appear in an NHL game.
I think Flloyd Mayweather said it best after Dana White offered him a contract in 2007 “why would I go into a sport paying hundreds of thousands when I’m in a sport paying $20 million.” It’s wither time for the UFC to pay their fighters what they are worth, or the fighters to form a union and force the issue.
So........whats youre price?
Dan Malta
Dan Malta
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