How would the UFC have a monopoly and NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB aren't?

[Combat Wombatt]

I'm not a lawyer but I don't understand how the UFC would ever have a monopoly, and if they did, why does it matter in a sport vs. your regular business. I can understand how if Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint merged to become one cell service and controlled the market and pricing but MMA will always have smaller, amateur fight companies in every state which are the feeder markets for the UFC. In that sense the UFC would never be the only MMA game in town albeit the biggest by far.

The NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB are somewhat similar, I don't watch those sports but I know that baseball has the minor leagues, and I'd assume that the other sports also have them which would make them similar to the UFC, however, no one ever claims that the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB are monopolies when they are in the same boat as the UFC and if you consider a monopoly being the biggest player in the game by far, then yes, the UFC, MLB, NHL, and NBA are monopolies, although the UFC would be the last one to be called that because of the existence of Bellator. So, the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB are far closer to being actual monopolies than the UFC and you don't see anyone complaining.


I know that Jon Fitch, Nate Quarry, and Cung Le have an anti-trust lawsuit against the UFC claiming that they are a monopoly.


How would the UFC have a monopoly and NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB aren't?

 

[astrozician]

Because they own St James, Tennessee, and New York Avenue with Hotels.

 

[BForrester]

Because Congress has oversight on those team sport monopolies. It's called the antitrust exception, and you can't get one without a player's union.

Also, players can leave teams for higher pay through free agency. No such mechanism exists for UFC. There is labor competition among the teams of those leagues that prevents them from being true monopolies.

 

[Based God]

I find it hilarious that Jon Fitch of all people is claiming monopoly when his reported pay in WSOF is larger than his reported pay in the UFC.

 

[Lemmy Caution]

The UFC is like if every team in the NFL had the same owner, and every player signed a lifetime, or "career time," contract with the league. That is, there would be no competition for the players among teams (same owner) and the players could go nowhere.

 

[KrPlud]

Because Congress has oversight on those team sport monopolies. It's called the antitrust exception, and you can't get one without a player's union.

Also, players can leave teams for higher pay through free agency. No such mechanism exists for UFC. There is labor competition among the teams of those leagues that prevents them from being true monopolies.

Well said.