Scott Coker believes that he UFC’s deal with Reebok has taken away the freedom from their fighters.

[AGEZ909]

Mar 29, 2017, 9:30am PDT
Bellator CEO Scott Coker believes that his promotion is in a good place right now. They will take another stab at pay-per-view in June, and host that show in Madison Square Garden in New York City. Their roster of fighters has never been deeper. And being owned by Viacom means that they’re in this for the long haul.

In an interview on the Luke Thomas Show, Coker gave a bunch of insight into what the future looks like as well. He thinks that the company can run 2-3 PPVs a year with their still-developing roster, and believes that the $49.95 price point is fair for their June 15th show. The most interesting part of the interview might have been what he had to say about the UFC’s sponsorship deal with deal with Reebok. Coker believes that the restrictive deal is actually good for his own business, because a lot of fighters want the freedom that Bellator can provide:

"I think it's been really good for our business, honestly. Fighters want the freedom to get their own sponsors, and...they just want the freedom. I don't think they'd like....I know fighters, big-name fighters, that say 'I had a million dollars in sponsors, and now I have $40,000 every time I fight, or $20,000 every time I fight', and all that sponsorship went away. And those are some big names over there.

“I think, to me, they want a certain amount of freedom, and that's what we give them. The freedom to go out and get your own sponsorships. You won't be stopped from getting someone that fits you as a person, or as a personality. And I think that's the way it should be."

I recommend giving the whole thing a listen, where he also talks about whether the late Kimbo Slicewas a potential PPV star as opposed to a TV star, gives his opinion on the face of free agency in MMA right now, discusses how Spike’s upcoming rebrand might affect the promotion, and much more.

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2017/3/2...-deal-scott-coker-business-spike-ppv-mma-news

 

[skylolow]

Well I do think its a good thing for Bellator for attracting the free agents they go after. Some fighters are getting screwed on the Reebok deal and some aren't or at least making similar money. The thing is with the Reebok deal is we hear a lot about the bad and rarely about the fighters that it helps on some level. Named guys no doubt can make more money on sponsorship deals with companies of value and that is a small percentage of the fighters overall. The rest of them you don't hear a lot about it. But when the stories do come out its usually the fighter's fighting with the sponsor on getting paid. What good is getting 40K in sponsorship when you can only collect 10K of it and that I believe happens much more than the other way around.

It wasn't that long ago a Bellator fighter(slips my mind) was fighting the champ and posted on here looking for sponsorship or connections. That is pretty sad when your the main event on Spike TV and you can't get sponsorship.

I still don't understand why the UFC when they did the Reebok deal didn't include like three other sponsors that would be on the Reebok apparel to help build up the pot. Monster seems to get tagged on some of the tops fighters quite often on most shows.

 

[method115]

Well I do think its a good thing for Bellator for attracting the free agents they go after. Some fighters are getting screwed on the Reebok deal and some aren't or at least making similar money. The thing is with the Reebok deal is we hear a lot about the bad and rarely about the fighters that it helps on some level. Named guys no doubt can make more money on sponsorship deals with companies of value and that is a small percentage of the fighters overall. The rest of them you don't hear a lot about it. But when the stories do come out its usually the fighter's fighting with the sponsor on getting paid. What good is getting 40K in sponsorship when you can only collect 10K of it and that I believe happens much more than the other way around.

It wasn't that long ago a Bellator fighter(slips my mind) was fighting the champ and posted on here looking for sponsorship or connections. That is pretty sad when your the main event on Spike TV and you can't get sponsorship.

I still don't understand why the UFC when they did the Reebok deal didn't include like three other sponsors that would be on the Reebok apparel to help build up the pot. Monster seems to get tagged on some of the tops fighters quite often on most shows.

Agreed it's helping some fighters but overall I think it's hurting most and most likely by a pretty large margin. With that said Ben Henderson himself has admitted he's not making more outside the UFC when it comes to sponsors. They aren't trying to pay him much. He's quickly realizing that people weren't just sponsoring him they were sponsoring the UFC as well. Once you remove the UFC from the equation your worth goes down.

 

[Kinku]

Isn't ben henderson having a tough time findin getting sponsor.

 

[Falconkick]

Well, duh... That Reebok was more for Reebok than it was for any of the fighters. Oppressive tactics on part of the UFC, over the years I have grown to dislike that organization more and more