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UFC reaction to ESPN about fighter pay
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01.16.2012 | 12:56 PM ET
Despite the fact I get to watch the cards in the UK for literally nothing on ESPN, they've been complete ***** trying to claim they've 'exposed' the small pay the fighters get. Danas reaction:
Original article with ESPN: http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/page/UFCpay/ufc-fighters-say-low-pay-most-painful-hit-all
What complete bellends ESPN are. Heres the reported salaries for 141: http://mmajunkie.com/news/26760/ufc-141-salaries-overeem-386k-lesnar-400k-lead-1-4-million-payroll.mma
The smallest earners earned $8,000. Lets just say they fight 4 times a year, something that is unheard of and is common for smaller fighters. Thats $32,000 to do the job the love doing. They dont have to get a job on the side but they can fight for a living. Its not going to be a wealthy existence but theyre not going to be starving. Then, a win bonus can easily double a fighters pay. This isnt even covering sponsorship or possible FOTN bonuses. Im not going to write a full page about this because I know none of you are ******s and appreciate everything i've already said, I just liked the interview for Matt Serras head.
* Edited at 01.16.2012, 1:11 PM ET *
"In the quiet words of the virgin Mary.. come again?"
Responses
01.16.2012 | 1:27 PM ET
* Edited at 01.16.2012, 1:32 PM ET *
"Dogs cannot accumulate sausages."
01.16.2012 | 3:56 PM ET
"In the quiet words of the virgin Mary.. come again?"
01.16.2012 | 4:13 PM ET
There are UFCs 135-142, they have a green tag at top, UFCs 88,91,92,94 & 96 have a turquoise tag and UFCs 56-60 ave a blue tag. I chose to look at events that were both early in the ZUFFA reign, the middle and the most recent events. I am working on non-ppv events currently and they will be added.
The numbers are all gross not net and I think I have the accurate ppv price for each particular event. Thanks for taking a look. will have the right up later tonight or in the morning on Tuesday.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/12YfNznMTNwfwaXuTms_O1vfomTbeDqxeSwpK6CcnhE0/edit?hl=en_US
* Edited at 01.16.2012, 4:17 PM ET *
"One does not hunt in order to kill; on the contrary, one kills in order to have hunted. If one were to present the sportsman with the death of the animal as a gift he would refuse it." Jose Ortega y Gasset
01.16.2012 | 7:17 PM ET
"You have respect, you don't lose your teeth"
01.17.2012 | 11:24 AM ET
"pop my trunk and everybody gets to running"
01.17.2012 | 11:59 AM ET
"I'm too old to be run by the fears of dumb people "
01.17.2012 | 12:20 PM ET
"Fact: knowledge or info based on real occurrences, opinion: a belief held with confidence not substantiated by proof."
01.17.2012 | 12:38 PM ET
"Surrender??!! You think this letter on my head stands for France?" - Captain America
01.17.2012 | 12:49 PM ET
"It does not make sense that humans deliberately malfunction. - Upgrade"
01.17.2012 | 2:02 PM ET
@PiercedDan, yeah they don't get the whole cut but getting the exact figures is taking me some time. that was just an original document that I created in order to create a comparison from when they first hit the profit era of UFC and now.
Fees that I have not included and am looking for:
1. Commission Fees
2. Venue Cost
3. Ring Girl Rates
4. Fighter Pay besides Show/Win
5. Supplemental UFC Staff Costs
6. Exact PPV split
7. Ad Revenue (which in 2005 was $3500 for a 30 second spot)
That original document is more than likely the one that ESPN would have used to make some of the accusations that they made. As several of you have mentioned this is an inaccurate division of the revenue, but I needed a starting point and am working on filling in the gaps.
Just bare with me while I finish this process. Thanks for the feedback, it is appreciated.
* Edited at 01.17.2012, 2:04 PM ET *
"One does not hunt in order to kill; on the contrary, one kills in order to have hunted. If one were to present the sportsman with the death of the animal as a gift he would refuse it." Jose Ortega y Gasset
01.17.2012 | 6:38 PM ET
Sean McCorkles take on it. Gives alot of insight, worth the 2 minute read.
"In the quiet words of the virgin Mary.. come again?"
01.17.2012 | 6:45 PM ET
A little something I did for fighter pay. You would think the less than 2 hours it took me to do this would have been a good use of some time from ESPN. ESPN is really terrible at investigating things in my eyes, if they couldn't even bring up these basic numbers. Clearly, this doesn't encompass everything, but it still shows some interesting data. I also low-balled how much they make on PPV because 50% is what is considered typical. If you take an average of
$51 per PPV buy, it would actually be $25.50. I set it to $20. Sponsorship and undisclosed bonuses are not included. The only reason I did not have more events is because there was no available data for fighter pay that was official. I also cannot say how much revenue was made on network or cable television deals. I also low-balled the one marked gate revenue (UFC 134) at $100 per seat, even though the average from the other events is nearly $200. Anyway, just thought the numbers would be interesting to discuss instead of 100% speculation; even though these numbers are incomplete they still allow for a starting point.
* Edited at 01.17.2012, 6:55 PM ET *
"Surrender??!! You think this letter on my head stands for France?" - Captain America
01.17.2012 | 7:01 PM ET
@zarog can't access your document fella
"One does not hunt in order to kill; on the contrary, one kills in order to have hunted. If one were to present the sportsman with the death of the animal as a gift he would refuse it." Jose Ortega y Gasset
01.17.2012 | 7:28 PM ET
"Fact: knowledge or info based on real occurrences, opinion: a belief held with confidence not substantiated by proof."
01.17.2012 | 7:39 PM ET
"Fact: knowledge or info based on real occurrences, opinion: a belief held with confidence not substantiated by proof."
01.17.2012 | 7:50 PM ET
"Surrender??!! You think this letter on my head stands for France?" - Captain America
01.18.2012 | 12:26 AM ET
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sWrUkmhITOSdgT0KYfUGfH1ZOBbabH9RbYqe0m64xVo/edit
any feedback is welcomed.
* Edited at 01.18.2012, 2:57 AM ET *
"One does not hunt in order to kill; on the contrary, one kills in order to have hunted. If one were to present the sportsman with the death of the animal as a gift he would refuse it." Jose Ortega y Gasset
01.18.2012 | 6:51 AM ET
"You have respect, you don't lose your teeth"