Investing in an MMA organization
- Thread starter ga_ninja
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"The make a small fortune in MMA.... you have to start with a large fortune."
I'm at work so I'll give a couple reality tips and I apologize in advance that it'll just suddenly kinda fizzle out.
So just in case you're unaware I am the Event Coordinator & Affiliate Director of WSOF-GC. Before that I was the matchmaker and talent coordinator for Tuff-N-Uff in Las Vegas. And long before that I was the Marketing Director of NorCal Combat. I also worked at Tough Prints, who handles most of the banners for fighters at Bellator, WSOF, Invicta, RFA, Legacy etc... as well as the Reebok work for UFC. I've seen most levels of MMA.
(1) First you have to do is start with an investor or investor group. Usually it's someone who has a thriving company and who loves MMA (because it's a money pit at first so they have to want to lose money). The cost for a small regional show is going to require arond $150,000 in the bank and ready to be lost. If you have a smart team with you, you'll only lose half of it before you start making a profit.
(2) You have to develop that team of guys who love MMA and hate money. It's a trifecta. You need a hard-nosed business guy (COO/Marketing), a bleeding-heart talent coordinator who is NOT part of a particular gym to avoid alienating other fighters (matchmaking and talent work) , and you need a guy who loves Check Lists for the shows.
You let the marketing guy work off commission with a small monthly to keep him fed. The #1 thing he needs is connections, but he also has to have that willingness to work hard. Rich college bros who took business classes and have rich daddies are best. This could end up just being your investor, btw. Saves you money and time if he's somewhat hands on.
You let the matchmaker guy just hobnob around to all the gyms. He has to be good at selling people on the dream you guys are building. This is key to making allies in the long struggle of MMA.
Checklist guy has to be your Event Director, and he's the one who has to make all the deals behind closed doors to get those lighting trusses you can't technically afford. He's going to be naturally power-hungry but you need that because he's the middleground between COO guy and Matchmaker guy.
(3) Your first year you'll be able to put on 3-4 shows if you work your ass off, and you'll probably lose a few thousand. That's the importance of having the $100k in the background. It removes all that tension of "This could be our last show if we don't sell 110% of what we need", but it's also so little that you can't just throw money around.
(4) Keep in mind that bigger isn't better with MMA shows. Smoke machine doesn't matter. Quality lighting is better than U2 lighting because at the end of the day nobody cares. Kids will fight for nothing, but showing them a little side cash for a good performance is huge, because it creates loyalty.
End of the day if you're doing 4 shows a year... you're going to spend around $60k (not counting the deals and discounts you'll make along the way). Your revenue will depend on your effectiveness.
I'm at work so I'll give a couple reality tips and I apologize in advance that it'll just suddenly kinda fizzle out.
So just in case you're unaware I am the Event Coordinator & Affiliate Director of WSOF-GC. Before that I was the matchmaker and talent coordinator for Tuff-N-Uff in Las Vegas. And long before that I was the Marketing Director of NorCal Combat. I also worked at Tough Prints, who handles most of the banners for fighters at Bellator, WSOF, Invicta, RFA, Legacy etc... as well as the Reebok work for UFC. I've seen most levels of MMA.
(1) First you have to do is start with an investor or investor group. Usually it's someone who has a thriving company and who loves MMA (because it's a money pit at first so they have to want to lose money). The cost for a small regional show is going to require arond $150,000 in the bank and ready to be lost. If you have a smart team with you, you'll only lose half of it before you start making a profit.
(2) You have to develop that team of guys who love MMA and hate money. It's a trifecta. You need a hard-nosed business guy (COO/Marketing), a bleeding-heart talent coordinator who is NOT part of a particular gym to avoid alienating other fighters (matchmaking and talent work) , and you need a guy who loves Check Lists for the shows.
You let the marketing guy work off commission with a small monthly to keep him fed. The #1 thing he needs is connections, but he also has to have that willingness to work hard. Rich college bros who took business classes and have rich daddies are best. This could end up just being your investor, btw. Saves you money and time if he's somewhat hands on.
You let the matchmaker guy just hobnob around to all the gyms. He has to be good at selling people on the dream you guys are building. This is key to making allies in the long struggle of MMA.
Checklist guy has to be your Event Director, and he's the one who has to make all the deals behind closed doors to get those lighting trusses you can't technically afford. He's going to be naturally power-hungry but you need that because he's the middleground between COO guy and Matchmaker guy.
(3) Your first year you'll be able to put on 3-4 shows if you work your ass off, and you'll probably lose a few thousand. That's the importance of having the $100k in the background. It removes all that tension of "This could be our last show if we don't sell 110% of what we need", but it's also so little that you can't just throw money around.
(4) Keep in mind that bigger isn't better with MMA shows. Smoke machine doesn't matter. Quality lighting is better than U2 lighting because at the end of the day nobody cares. Kids will fight for nothing, but showing them a little side cash for a good performance is huge, because it creates loyalty.
End of the day if you're doing 4 shows a year... you're going to spend around $60k (not counting the deals and discounts you'll make along the way). Your revenue will depend on your effectiveness.
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Bruh do you have an eBook for this stuff if so I'd buy this info from you seriously. Maybe one day with God on my side we may cross paths I might have a job offer for you.
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I'm too busy working on WSOF-GC to write anything, lol. You can follow me under the BlameBootsy name on most social media... soon there will be youtube videos etc... and I'll probably do an AMA at some point.Bruh do you have an eBook for this stuff if so I'd buy this info from you seriously. Maybe one day with God on my side we may cross paths I might have a job offer for you.
It's a lot of hard work and working your way up. But it took me about 5 years to go from NorCal Combat to WSOF-GC. Took some luck, a lot of networking, and endless work. #nohobbies #nosociallife
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Salute will do good luck on ur next show maybe in another 2 you'll be head of Marketing at the UFC. #skysthelimit
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God I hope not. Zuffa does a lot of things right by force... but I saw sooooo much turnover there on a consistent basis. I very much enjoy my job at WSOF-GC. More creative control on how to get a job done. More of dealing withe the wild-west of MMA, and dealing with how to succeed in an uphill battle. I personally dislike maintaining.
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True, Zuffa is run like a post WW2 Russia.
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