Bellator has filed an objection to unsealing their financial details

careto

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As part of the UFC antitrust lawsuit the court entered a motion to unseal all document related to the motion for class certification, including Bellator. In other words, Bellator is being asked to unseal their financial details but Scott Coker has filed an objection to unsealing the financial details arguing fighters would be able to have leverage against them in any future negotiations, and that the UFC would gain an advantage over them by knowing all their financial details and is afraid they will drive them out of business somehow.
 
Why is Bellator being asked to unseal their financial details in a case against the UFC? Moreover, it would be very intersting to know exactly where is Bellator getting their money to finance the shows during the pandemic. Out of curiosity I would like to know Bellator financial details but I think Coker is right, if the UFC knew all these details they would have some leverage against them.
 
It'll be because Bellator is the closest thing the UFC has to genuine competition and they want to look at how a competitor operates as part of the case.

Coker probably doesn't want it publicised they pay dudes 50 dollars to get knocked out by their prospects on the undercard.
 
It'll be because Bellator is the closest thing the UFC has to genuine competition and they want to look at how a competitor operates as part of the case.

Coker probably doesn't want it publicised they pay dudes 50 dollars to get knocked out by their prospects on the undercard.
LMAO. Seriously, im very surprised this whole class certification law suit isnt being covered more in the media. The thing is HUGE and it can have enormous and/or crippling consequences not only to the UFC but to MMA as a whole. The final ruling of the case is still a couple of years ahead but the ruling and unsealing of all court documents would be possibly be done within this year. Just the idea of unsealing all the financials and dirty business practices by the UFC, and possibly Bellator, can have devastating consequences. Imagine they disclose all the financials of the UFC (true PPV numbers, real salaries, etc.) it can be PR nightmare for the company.
 
I would imagine that those documents would cause a huge amount of trouble for both Bellator and the UFC..Coker has a tendency to both overpay underperforming fighters and underpay everyone else..the worst kind of boss..
 
Bellator isn't even on the radar to the UFC. They're way too small just a retirement league
 
I'm guessing the UFC wants to show the court that their business practices are very similar to competition and pay structure may not be that much different. I doubt that Bellator will have to give up full financials.

P.S.: I never really liked this Antitrust lawsuit from the start. Does the UFC do some questionable things; sure, and so do most businesses. UFC really has never hindered anyone from building a competing org and go toe to toe. Many have tried and many have failed quickly and the UFC had nothing to do with their failures. For ex fighters to cry about a pay and treatment years later, fine have fun. But in the end maybe they get a settlement out of it or nothing. But I'm not so sure this suit is going to change anything in the fight game itself. The money and time being spent on this I think would be better spent on starting a a fighter union/association and change the game completely.
 

Fighters made less after the Strikeforce buyout.


Yeah but 20% of the UFC revenue is hell of alot better than 40 to 60% of Strikeforce revenue. Who when they sold owed millions upon millions in debt. I find them using arguments like this just ridiculous lawyer talk at best.

Businesses buying other businesses in the same field happens all the time as business "X" grows.
 
Coker afraid everyone will see how much of a money pit he turned Bellator into?
 
Bellator isn't even on the radar to the UFC. They're way too small just a retirement league
Had to put you on ignore. You’re just so ignorant and clueless about mma it’s pathetic. Find a new sport this one is too complicated for you.
 
I'm guessing the UFC wants to show the court that their business practices are very similar to competition and pay structure may not be that much different. I doubt that Bellator will have to give up full financials.

P.S.: I never really liked this Antitrust lawsuit from the start. Does the UFC do some questionable things; sure, and so do most businesses. UFC really has never hindered anyone from building a competing org and go toe to toe. Many have tried and many have failed quickly and the UFC had nothing to do with their failures. For ex fighters to cry about a pay and treatment years later, fine have fun. But in the end maybe they get a settlement out of it or nothing. But I'm not so sure this suit is going to change anything in the fight game itself. The money and time being spent on this I think would be better spent on starting a a fighter union/association and change the game completely.
I'm not a lawyer but I do teach a course on the Industrial Revolution, and what the UFC does is very similar to the practices of Rockefeller back in the gilded age. Forcing the competition out of business by using their advantageous position in the market and then buying rival companies for a fraction of its cost. Thus, leaving his own companies as the sole source of petroleum, or in this case, the sole source of MMA. Josh Thompson always says that nobody is forcing the fighters to sign a contract, so its on them to not sign a contract that is not to their advantage. While this is true, it is also true that the UFC has created a market in which if you dont sign that contract you are out of a job, plain and simple. So, yes, nobody is holding a gun to your head to sign a contract but if you dont do so you will lose your livelihood. The UFC grew so big that they can leverage their position against any of their rival companies and/or any fighter to create a market in which only they benefit.

Yeah but 20% of the UFC revenue is hell of alot better than 40 to 60% of Strikeforce revenue. Who when they sold owed millions upon millions in debt. I find them using arguments like this just ridiculous lawyer talk at best.

Businesses buying other businesses in the same field happens all the time as business "X" grows.
Yes, the problem here is that the UFC buying its biggest rivals leaves fighters in a shitty position. So, every time a promotion grows big enough to become a small competition to the UFC and they are bought out, then it really leaves the UFC in a monopoly position. They can leverage contracts against fighters however they please because fighters do not have other options negotiate their services and hence are forced to accept any shitty situations they are put into. Do we as fans get a lot of great fights that otherwise we wouldnt get? Yes, absolutely. Do the fighters benefit from this situation? No, absolutely not.
 
Don't get that point personally, their existing contracts were honoured as far as I know.
I think that just the fact that our current government is using the UFC as an example of what it should not be done, it is not a good sign for what is to come for the UFC, particularly with the political trend going on right now.
 
I think that just the fact that our current government is using the UFC as an example of what it should not be done, it is not a good sign for what is to come for the UFC, particularly with the political trend going on right now.

I'm just not sure what they're going to enforce going forward. Imo the actual money that should be in dispute for the period in question resides in the bank accounts of the Fertittas.

Would they be able to argue that the UFC are holding fighters financial hostage at the moment when both Bellator and PFL are doing multiple million dollar tournaments? <WhoJeff>
 
I'm just not sure what they're going to enforce going forward. Imo the actual money that should be in dispute for the period in question resides in the bank accounts of the Fertittas.

Would they be able to argue that the UFC are holding fighters financial hostage at the moment when both Bellator and PFL are doing multiple million dollar tournaments? <WhoJeff>
I dont think they are arguing that nobody else is able to pay the fighters, I believe the argument they are making is against current restrictive contracts, using leverage to run past rivals out of business, and the situations the UFC has put the fighters when they do not have a legitimate competition. I think what they are mostly against how the UFC's business practices hurts the fighters to line their pockets. But according to Nate Quarry, they are willing to settle out of court if they get monetary compensation and pass legislation against future restrictive fighter contracts. In other words, they want for fighters to have a way out of their contracts and not be locked in for long periods of time. They were particularly shitting on the idea of contracts extending for a couple years every time a fighter doesnt accept a fight and all those shenanigans. I think they will eventually settle out of court because Quarry seemed very open to this thing not going for 4 - 6 more years (like it will end up going if this goes to the end) but I think it would cost the UFC a pretty penny to settle, plus the new less restrictive contracts, plus the PR nightmare they would go through if they unseal the court documents.
 
I dont think they are arguing that nobody else is able to pay the fighters, I believe the argument they are making is against current restrictive contracts, using leverage to run past rivals out of business, and the situations the UFC has put the fighters when they do not have a legitimate competition. I think what they are mostly against how the UFC's business practices hurts the fighters to line their pockets. But according to Nate Quarry, they are willing to settle out of court if they get monetary compensation and pass legislation against future restrictive fighter contracts. In other words, they want for fighters to have a way out of their contracts and not be locked in for long periods of time. They were particularly shitting on the idea of contracts extending for a couple years every time a fighter doesnt accept a fight and all those shenanigans. I think they will eventually settle out of court because Quarry seemed very open to this thing not going for 4 - 6 more years (like it will end up going if this goes to the end) but I think it would cost the UFC a pretty penny to settle, plus the new less restrictive contracts, plus the PR nightmare they would go through if they unseal the court documents.

I wonder if less restrictive contracts being a rule wouldn't actually help the UFC in some ways. How would PFL or Bellator protect their stars from just going to the UFC whenever they saw fit?
 
I wonder if less restrictive contracts being a rule wouldn't actually help the UFC in some ways. How would PFL or Bellator protect their stars from just going to the UFC whenever they saw fit?
Yes, I think that is something that would impact all promotions, on the other hand, every time you see fighters in the UFC complaining about fighter pay (J.Jones, Joana, Cejudo, Poirier, Ferguson, etc.) the UFC would be forced to either re-negotiate their contracts or risk losing them other promotions who now would be able to snatch them from the UFC by offering a better contract. So yes, it would be very interesting, everyone would be impacted somehow.
 
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