$25 million in Bonuses for a UFC Executive, Who's Probably Dana White White

[MeatWagon06]

"A "senior executive" who's current employment agreement is through Dec. 31, 2028. Odds are, that's Dana White as he was given a contract in 2019 for 7 years,"

19 + 7 = 28
#SherMath

is = is

 

[kflo]

Sure. But it needs to be pointed out that the UFC's success at this point isn't built off stars or some innovation. It hinges on keeping fighter pay below 20 percent of revenue. When the UFC gets investor questions about finances, the biggest concern is always fighter revenue and making sure it doesn't grow. If that's good business, sure, but be honest about how the UFC does it.

The fighter pay doesn’t explain the strong revenue. And investors would care less about pay % if they had certainty of greater revenue growth. They built a good business but they need to continue to perform for future tv deals. ESPN is only 3 more years and others run out sooner.

 

[avenue94]

The fighter pay doesn’t explain the strong revenue. And investors would care less about pay % if they had certainty of greater revenue growth. They built a good business but they need to continue to perform for future tv deals. ESPN is only 3 more years and others run out sooner.

And yet, in investor meetings the most common concern from investors has been reported as "can we keep fighter pay constant." The UFC's revenue has been growing steadily, but that's not the truly remarkable bit. What's remarkable is that fighter pay has not gone over 20 percent in the past 10 or 15 years, despite revenue tripling or quadrupling and the roster exploding in size. There are very few legal businesses that can boast about spending only 20 percent of revenue on labor and production costs ( the fighter is most of the production cost).

 

[Fahcough]

This only strengthens my commitment to never ever buying a PPV.

People really is dumb. Funding this kind of fuckery

 

[Kdup]

Like I said earlier, I'm assuming Dana got an extension. Which one of Ari's sons friends has involvement with the UFC? At any rate, John Nash seems to think that executive is Dana. So I think it's a fair conclusion.

See above. If it isn't Dana, who do you think it is?

Ariel? Or one of his “countrymen”? Hope that doesn’t sound racist, but that’s what it probably is.

 

[avenue94]

Ariel? Or one of his “countrymen”? Hope that doesn’t sound racist, but that’s what it probably is.

Ok so who is it? It's got to be a senior executive at the UFC. So which UFC exec is it? And why would this person be paid 25 million bucks?

Also, ari and his siblings are all U.S. natives. You sure you wanna go down this route?

 

[ColombianFist]

and you people keep paying 75 bucks for PPV and tickets to live events when it was possible, while fighters still get paid peanuts and getting CTE in the cage?

 

[Pierced7681]

The UFC's parent company filed for another IPO a few weeks ago, so there are some interesting tidbits in its S-1. One of those is equity-based compensation in WME and Zuffa for a "senior executive" who's current employment agreement is through Dec. 31, 2028. Odds are, that's Dana White as he was given a contract in 2019 for 7 years, and most WME executives who got bonuses are listed by name. So unless there is a senior VP at the UFC/Zuffa who is getting a bigger bonus than the president, that senior executive is Dana.

For hitting various UFC equity thresholds, Dana would receive $12.5 million ($14 million if it was after an IPO) for each instance. These aren't lump sums, they're vested over 2 years. Dana hit thresholds in June 2019 and December 2020, so he received 2 payments totaling $25 million (What's known in Dana White speak as "Deontay Wilder money")

Further, Dana was in line for a $25 million bonus based on the value of WME as a whole ($28 million if post-IPO). But the Writer's Guild Strike, first IPO attempt that failed, and Covid seriously dropped WME's value. Depending on how their 2nd IPO attempt goes, WME may very well hit that threshold and Dana might collect another cool $28 million (again, Deontay Wilder money).

As far as the rest of the bonuses related to UFC management, they are below. I'm not sure if they include Dana's payouts or not. They include several other UFC executives based on the holding companies those awards go to. And those figures are budget totals, so there is some overhead baked in.

UFC Management Awards (page F-51 if anyone is curious) and other stuff
2018: $11.1 million
2019: $38.9 million
2020: $31.7 million

Also, in 2019, 2 senior executives redeemed $33 million in stock bonuses.

Finally, if anyone is curious on overall UFC revenue and profit, Endeavor gives its revenue and EBITDA for sports properties, which consist of the UFC, PBR and EuroLeague basketball. It's not broken down by sport, but the UFC is about/more than 80 percent of those revenues.

2018: $772.7 million in revenue, 35.1 percent EBITDA
2019: $935.8 million in revenue, 44.6 percent EBITDA (UFC signed the ESPN PPV deal that year)
2020: $952.6 million in revenue, 48 percent EBITDA (despite the UFC losing out on about $100 million in gate money)

Long story short, it's been a great few years for the UFC, especially during Covid. And Dana White has made more in bonuses the last three years than almost any UFC fighter has made in their entire career. The only exception there is Conor McGregor. If we include other bonuses and dividends Dana has gotten during his tenure, he's made more than Conor without even including his base salary as UFC president.

So? Dana works seven days a week and rarely gets to see his family. He earns his paycheque by basically overseeing the entire UFC brand and doing the majority of the press for the company.

I’m not even a fan of Dana White, but I respect the fact he works hard for his money.

 

[rvd610]

And yet, in investor meetings the most common concern from investors has been reported as "can we keep fighter pay constant." The UFC's revenue has been growing steadily, but that's not the truly remarkable bit. What's remarkable is that fighter pay has not gone over 20 percent in the past 10 or 15 years, despite revenue tripling or quadrupling and the roster exploding in size. There are very few legal businesses that can boast about spending only 20 percent of revenue on labor and production costs ( the fighter is most of the production cost).

Fighters don't make up as much labor as you think. There is way more staff that gets payed besides the fighters. There labor is higher than 20%.

 

[avenue94]

So? Dana works seven days a week and rarely gets to see his family. He earns his paycheque by basically overseeing a massive company and doing all the press for said company.

I’m not even a fan of Dana White, but I respect the fact he works hard for his money.

Plenty of ppl work hard. The work ethic of executives is nothing remarkable compared to say, a single parent working 2 jobs to raise their family. If you want to justify Dana's pay, it would be based on things he's done, not work ethic. And clearly his too stars are more valuable to the sport than him.

 

[GrantB13]

Going public seems counterintuitive for a company with anticompetitive lawsuits and fighters demanding more pay. If they go through with it then all their financials are on record and everyone can see how much money they are keeping for themselves. I'm just done internet poster so I'm sure they have many smarter people than me working on their team but it just seems weird.

 

[Kdup]

Ok so who is it? It's got to be a senior executive at the UFC. So which UFC exec is it? And why would this person be paid 25 million bucks?

Also, ari and his siblings are all U.S. natives. You sure you wanna go down this route?

So buy puts on WME? Or what’s the plan here?

 

[avenue94]

Fighters don't make up as much labor as you think. There is way more staff that gets payed besides the fighters. There labor is higher than 20%.

UFC employee costs are about 10 percent annually, and another couple percent for bonuses. That's including executive compensation at the UFC. Actual fighter pay is under 20 percent,given that figure includes things like USADA.

Going public seems counterintuitive for a company with anticompetitive lawsuits and fighters demanding more pay. If they go through with it then all their financials are on record and everyone can see how much money they are keeping for themselves. I'm just done internet poster so I'm sure they have many smarter people than me working on their team but it just seems weird.

Most of the info is already out there, we even know specific fighter purses and pay for certain events. The reason for the IPO being now, aside from the general financial climate, is the lawsuit. If the UFC loses and have to deal with injunctive relief, they are fucked. Not to mention the potential damages on top of that. Hence, better to go public while your golden goose is still laying eggs. For what it's worth, the S-1 does mention the lawsuit, as they are legally obligated to do so I believe.

 

[avenue94]

So buy puts on WME? Or what’s the plan here?

Don't ask me, I'm just on sherdog, I don't have much of a mind for finance. As long as the UFC doesn't take lose the lawsuit and appeals before the IPO, Endeavor will probably do great in their debut.

 

[true_fan]

My dog can do a better job than White!

 

[Pierced7681]

Plenty of ppl work hard. The work ethic of executives is nothing remarkable compared to say, a single parent working 2 jobs to raise their family. If you want to justify Dana's pay, it would be based on things he's done, not work ethic. And clearly his too stars are more valuable to the sport than him.

right, cause working 2 minimum wage jobs while raising a family is SO much harder than literally running a billion dollar company with thousands of employees while raising a family

 

[Mondo Freaks]

He needs it. Gambling addiction and HGH ain’t cheap.

 

[SeaChad]

and 10k for fighters

 

[Char]

Plenty of ppl work hard. The work ethic of executives is nothing remarkable compared to say, a single parent working 2 jobs to raise their family. If you want to justify Dana's pay, it would be based on things he's done, not work ethic. And clearly his too stars are more valuable to the sport than him.

Hes getting paid well because hes the only one in the world that has 2 decades of experience as the UFC's head promoter. The single parent who got pumped n dumped and works flipping burgers can be replaced by a robot at the drop of a hat.

 

[avenue94]

right, cause working 2 minimum wage jobs while raising a family is SO much harder than literally running a billion dollar company with thousands of employees while raising a family

Yup. Not sure why you think the latter is harder. Stress to survive is far worse than stress of success.

Hes getting paid well because hes the only one in the world that has 2 decades of experience as the UFC's head promoter. The single parent who got pumped n dumped and works flipping burgers can be replaced by a robot at the drop of a hat.

And I agree. But over the past decade, the UFCs growth hinged far more on star fighters than Dana. I can find you dozens of ceos who would take his job. But I can't find you dozens of Conors or Jones or GSPs.