Court Hearing Reveals UFC Financial Records: Fighters Paid 20% (Bellator 45%)

How much should UFC fighters get paid?


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The questions of exactly how much the UFC pays to its fighters was answered in court hearings on Monday in Las Vegas. The figures came out in Judge Franklin Boulware’s hearing regarding the lawsuit by Cung Le and other former UFC fighters against the company, charging that UFC was acting as a monopoly promotion that used its power and marketplace control to keep fighter pay down.

This is a key week as Boulware, after the hearings, is expected to make a ruling that would greatly impact the proceedings if the case was to go forward. UFC fighters received 26 percent of company gross revenue in 2007, a number that steadily declined until 2011, where it remained steady at between 19 and 20 percent.

. . .

The arguments were always that the major league sports like the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL paid closer to 50 percent. But those sports also have had unions and collective bargaining dating back decades, and prior to that, the players received nowhere near that percentage.

What also came out in the hearings was that Strikeforce paid fighters 63.0 percent of revenue, while for Bellator, which has been the No. 2 promotion in the U.S. for the past several years, that figure is 44.7 percent.

. . .

Plaintiffs expert Dr. Hal Singer argued that in a truly competitive environment the UFC would be paying 47.3 percent of revenue to fighters.

More: https://www.mmafighting.com/2019/8/27/20835544/evidence-in-cung-le-lawsuit-against-ufc-shows-company-paid-20-percent-of-revenue-to-fighters

-MMAFighting.com
 
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20% of a watermelon is still better than 40% of a grape


Not always


<seedat>
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I search all forums for the word "antitrust" since Sunday, and it appears this thread doesn't exist yet.

https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2019/8/...during-mondays-ufc-antitrust-hearing-mma-news

According to the Plaintiff’s expert witness, Prof. Hal Singer, Zuffa’s own internal documents showed that the total share of revenue going to fighters was 26% in 2007, that dipped to low 20s for the next few years, then dipped again after 2011 to around 19% where it has hovered since. The Plaintiff’s lead attorney, Eric Cramer, then put up a series of internal UFC graphs, a pair of which looked to have been attached to 2013 emails from former UFC COO John Mulkey, showing the wage share by year. The first graph showed “Fighter Comp as % of UFC Event Revenue” and had the following numbers for each year:

2004: 24.18%
2005: 13.87%
2006: 20.31%
2007: 25.85%
2008: 20.48%
2009: 21.83%
2010: 22.00%
2011: 18.45%
2012: 18.64%

...both Bellator and pre-acquisition Strikeforce’s wage share levels were also show. For Bellator it was 44.7%, while for Strikeforce it was 63%.​
 
Bellator has a higher % due to less revenue if they tried only paying 20% they wouldn't have fighters like Rory and Moose I wonder what their % is if you don't count the high dollar guys.
 
Glad at least it's official and on record that Lorenzo is a shameless liar and one can only hope at some point he's asked to explain his false claims. But I doubt it.
 
We know this, the fighters know this.

What will they do about it? NOTHING.
 
Glad at least it's official and on record that Lorenzo is a shameless liar and one can only hope at some point he's asked to explain his false claims. But I doubt it.
What were his claims?

EDIT: maybe you're referring to this?
"We pay way more than anybody else in the space, that's a factor. You do have some fighters that maybe aren't happy with what they get, but at the end of the day, the fighters that achieve great things in this sport and get to the level of actually making a career of it, you don't see many of those athletes complaining. That's the fact of the matter."
"The guys who are rising to the top are making the majority of the money."
 
Everyone knows that Bellator treats it’s fighters better.

Mom and pop shops treat their employees better than big businesses.

Costco pays its employees 20 dollars an hour and Walmart pays minimum wage.

McDonald’s is bigger than any small time burger joint that makes its employees part owners.
 
Most of these guys are paid peanuts.

I respect Dana and the Fertitta's for all they did to grow the sport, but I think its high time these fighters get advocacy.

We're not seeing the best prepared fighters put on the best possible fights when hundreds of them are working other jobs to make ends meet. With an increase of revenue split that is more equitable for both parties, the quality of the sport is going to go way up.
 
What were his claims?

That the UFC paid about the same percent of revenue to the fighters as other sports did their athletes. And mind you, that approx 20% apparently includes every single thing given to the fighters, not just show/win cash, but all bonuses and discretionary pay, including the famous backroom bonuses everyone images is huge. Meaning the PPV and extra given to the lucky few the UFC actually promotes eats a big chunk.
 
Bellator has a higher % due to less revenue if they tried only paying 20% they wouldn't have fighters like Rory and Moose I wonder what their % is if you don't count the high dollar guys.
imagine the ufc's lol
 
See I told you guys that buying the UFC hot dog brander wouldn't lead to a wage increase for fighters, but you never listened to me, you all brought it and were stubborn.
 
That the UFC paid about the same percent of revenue to the fighters as other sports did their athletes. And mind you, that approx 20% apparently includes every single thing given to the fighters, not just show/win cash, but all bonuses and discretionary pay, including the famous backroom bonuses everyone images is huge. Meaning the PPV and extra given to the lucky few the UFC actually promotes eats a big chunk.
Cool. I'm looking but I cannot find it. I'll keep looking. Thanks.
 
The Reebok deal ends in 2020 right? Meaning less than a year. Has anyone been keeping a total payout? Last I saw, it was about 50-55% of what the fighters were supposed to get in their god awful deal the UFC made for them. They didn't even get that full amount. Another thing the UFC never has to explain because of how cowardly MMA media are. They would get banned for asking.
 
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The questions of exactly how much the UFC pays to its fighters was answered in court hearings on Monday in Las Vegas. The figures came out in Judge Franklin Boulware’s hearing regarding the lawsuit by Cung Le and other former UFC fighters against the company, charging that UFC was acting as a monopoly promotion that used its power and marketplace control to keep fighter pay down.

This is a key week as Boulware, after the hearings, is expected to make a ruling that would greatly impact the proceedings if the case was to go forward. UFC fighters received 26 percent of company gross revenue in 2007, a number that steadily declined until 2011, where it remained steady at between 19 and 20 percent.

. . .

The arguments were always that the major league sports like the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL paid closer to 50 percent. But those sports also have had unions and collective bargaining dating back decades, and prior to that, the players received nowhere near that percentage.

What also came out in the hearings was that Strikeforce paid fighters 63.0 percent of revenue, while for Bellator, which has been the No. 2 promotion in the U.S. for the past several years, that figure is 44.7 percent.

. . .

Plaintiffs expert Dr. Hal Singer argued that in a truly competitive environment the UFC would be paying 47.3 percent of revenue to fighters.

More: https://www.mmafighting.com/2019/8/27/20835544/evidence-in-cung-le-lawsuit-against-ufc-shows-company-paid-20-percent-of-revenue-to-fighters

-MMAFighting.com

If this were retail or some other manufacturing industry where revenue has to be plugged back into manufacturing/goods/services/etc I could understand it being 20%

But as a sport that is abysmal. Most team big pro team sports in North America hover around 50% of revenue allocated to payroll.

That being said, I have my own finances to worry about.
 
So Bellator fighters are paid more?

No, they arent.

20% of a lot is better than 45% of fuck all
 
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