Lorenzo destroying FPWs (Fighter Pay Warriors)

[FrankieNYC]

Dana, a guy that owns just 1% of the business, is driving ferraris and importing snow for his yard in vegas and shit. If he can do all that with 1%, then those owners could pay the fighters a hell of a lot more.

He owns 9%

 

[kammfreudenstei]

MLB, NFL, NBA ... They all have substantial costs including owning freaking stadiums , TV networks and minor league teams and parks. Yet they manage to fairly pay their athletes.

The Fertitas aren't owning anyone but the fighters. But until the fighters stand up and unionize I can't be bothered anymore.

Divide and conquer bruh. Pretty hard to organize people in a very individual sport. I wonder if Bellator would be publicly open to working with a new fighter's union.

There would have to be a decent amount of people willing/able to do the logistics, paperwork, legal stuff, etc. Deciding who

 

[Kick Strickland]

He owns 9%

oh yeah, I knew it was some small odd number like that. But my point still stands.

 

[blazerkor]

I'm pretty sure most of the informed fans are aware of this, but here is Lorenzo himself spilling the beans on what the UFC is actually making. According to him 2015 was a record year for the UFC. He said the company generated $600m in revenue in 2015. Lorenzo then goes on to point out that the UFC has to pay for promoting and staging all of their shows. It would be reasonable to assume that about half of all revenue goes to pay for business expenses. That leaves about $300m, or maybe less considering I don't know what the UFC's tax situation is like. If one were being reasonable it would be safe to assume the UFC in their best year made about $250m in pure profit. So when you add that to the fact they pay about $100m in fighter salaries and bonuses every year, it would be fucking mental to claim they aren't paying fighters fairly. So I Hope the FPWs chill out already.

So in other sports NFL, NBA, MLB... after all of the other expenses but before taxes the profit share is between 47-49%. So I'm not sure where you get the $100 from but the fighters should get around 20-40 million more and that's 20-40% more money which really could make a big deal to those eight and eight, sixteen and sixteen, and the twenty and twenty guys. The fact is compared to the leagues they supposedly aspire to be like, they don't share as much. I do think they share more than most promoters do but then again, that's according to your estimates which we'll have to work with since Zuffa keeps closed books. As a privately owned company it's their right to operate like that.

 

[straight6]

Worth mentioning other pros train as a team and don't pay their coaches, travel etc.

yup. these team sports all dont. but individual sports do..mma, boxing, tennis, golf, etc.

 

[FrankieNYC]

So in other sports NFL, NBA, MLB... after all of the other expenses but before taxes the profit share is between 47-49%. So I'm not sure where you get the $100 from but the fighters should get around 20-40 million more and that's 20-40% more money which really could make a big deal to those eight and eight, sixteen and sixteen, and the twenty and twenty guys. The fact is compared to the leagues they supposedly aspire to be like, they don't share as much. I do think they share more than most promoters do but then again, that's according to your estimates which we'll have to work with since Zuffa keeps closed books. As a privately owned company it's their right to operate like that.

The $100 million is pretty accurate according to the Bloody Elbows report that so many point to on Sherdog.
That report said its about 15% (salary %)
So in 2015 that is about $100 million

UFC has not been $8 & $8 in years.
It is $12 & $12 now (a 50% difference)

 

[P0rkchop]

MLB, NFL, NBA ... They all have substantial costs including owning freaking stadiums , TV networks and minor league teams and parks. Yet they manage to fairly pay their athletes.

The Fertitas aren't owning anyone but the fighters. But until the fighters stand up and unionize I can't be bothered anymore.

lmao. Everything you listed generates revenue

 

[Deleted member 110072]

Bottom line is this: the fighters are the reason the owners are rich. The fighters are the ones risking brain damage and straight up death out there. Every fighter that is mid level and up, should be multi millionaires. But most are not. .

Again I think its not just about what someone "deserves" but rather building the talent base of the sport. You often hear for example that "xxx doesn't deserve better pay as he/she has limited potential" but that's the whole point, you get what you pay for and if you don't pay much you don't attract much talent.

I think its definitely true that the UFC has a lot of fighters on the roster who have limited potential and are really just there to fill up UFC branded cards. As a percentage of the roster I think this is MUCH more true of the UFC than it was for Pride or SF, the former had the odd Japanese pro wrestler paid for his ability to sustain verticality but was mostly made up of fighters with potential to rise high.

Part of the reason the "evolution" argument sells so well is that yes people can see that MMA has become more successful financially. The problem is though that the talent base hasn't caught up with that as Zuffa have been treating it as a cash cow and not investing in the future properly.

 

[blazerkor]

The $100 million is pretty accurate according to the Bloody Elbows report that so many point to on Sherdog.
That report said its about 15% (salary %)
So in 2015 that is about $100 million

UFC has not been $8 & $8 in years.
It is $12 & $12 now (a 50% difference)

Cool well that other 20-40 mil could help out some of the guys making 12 and 12 and those guys getting 20 and 20. The number is actually the mean between our two a few fighters per card are getting 10 and 10. The average salary of a UFC fighter per event is liek 50k... I agree with Lorenzo that this leads combat sports but it could also be better. However, unlike the owners in other major sports Zuffa took huge losses and risks to get where they are today so they probably should get more of the profit share. All in all if they keep growing I think they will end up averaging around 100k salary for fighters and that would be a good place.

 

[JMG1134]

MLB, NFL, NBA ... They all have substantial costs including owning freaking stadiums , TV networks and minor league teams and parks. Yet they manage to fairly pay their athletes.

The Fertitas aren't owning anyone but the fighters. But until the fighters stand up and unionize I can't be bothered anymore.

Couple of points
1. NFL, last I saw had roughly $9 billion annual revenue.
2. The TEAMS pay the players, not the NFL.

I don't know any numbers for NBA/MLB, but those players are also paid by the TEAMS, not the sanctioning body. Not a fair comparison.

 

[Coolidge]

You sound like a company shill. Calling people "fighter pay warriors" trying to insinuate they are crazy or thinking that fighters should make more is some how something to be mocked.

Bottom line is this: the fighters are the reason the owners are rich. The fighters are the ones risking brain damage and straight up death out there. Every fighter that is mid level and up, should be multi millionaires. But most are not.

And fuck all that noise about "we have expenditures" or whatever. Dana, a guy that owns just 1% of the business, is driving ferraris and importing snow for his yard in vegas and shit. If he can do all that with 1%, then those owners could pay the fighters a hell of a lot more.

Yes, because 'Kick Strickland' says so. Stay in your league. You're not running the UFC for a reason.

 

[xGRIMREAPERx]

The way I see it is if a fighter agrees to fight for a set amount of money than what are they getting upset for if someone's making more. U put your price on your own worth. Get in there whip some ass make some noise then your stock will increase.

 

[FrankieNYC]

Cool well that other 20-40 mil could help out some of the guys making 12 and 12 and those guys getting 20 and 20. The number is actually the mean between our two a few fighters per card are getting 10 and 10. The average salary of a UFC fighter per event is liek 50k... I agree with Lorenzo that this leads combat sports but it could also be better. However, unlike the owners in other major sports Zuffa took huge losses and risks to get where they are today so they probably should get more of the profit share. All in all if they keep growing I think they will end up averaging around 100k salary for fighters and that would be a good place.

My feeling is a bit unique
UFC really only needs 20 fighters per division on contract. Add in 5 more for the heck of it & that is 250 fighters.
They have 300 more under contract & that is the majority of the $12/12k guys obviously.
The pre-prelim guys are basically the built in minors.
If they do good, they make more.
if not, they are not good enough to be in MMA (as far as a living goes).
MLB teams pay their A leagues less than the bottom line UFC guys.

IMO, where the $$$ should go is to the middling fighters that will never headline & make the huge cash, but are important to the card & building MMA.

 

[Mr. BABB]

Bumptious maybe, but a moron he is not.

Bumptious...that's a new one for me. I don't even remember that one from the GRE. Thank you, sir!

 

[OrigFan255]

Don't believe him....All business owners hide what they really make in order to pay lower taxes....If Lorenzo says 600,000,000, The time truth is probably 1,200,000,000!

 

[FrankieNYC]

Don't believe him....All business owners hide what they really make in order to pay lower taxes....If Lorenzo says 600,000,000, The time truth is probably 1,200,000,000!

geez, you know that even though they are a private company, that they do business with others that are not private.
Figures are out there & articles are on the web.
They made a bit over $600 million in 2015 according to every source that looks into these things more than someone that says "just double it" -

 

[TrueMykill]

"In order to make money...you have to exploit people."

 

[GearSolidMetal]

They aren't paying fighters fairly. This isn't about Conor. This is about business. The top screw the bottom.

Thank you, Bernie Sanders.

 

[TeamRenzo26]

MLB, NFL, NBA ... They all have substantial costs including owning freaking stadiums , TV networks and minor league teams and parks. Yet they manage to fairly pay their athletes.

The Fertitas aren't owning anyone but the fighters. But until the fighters stand up and unionize I can't be bothered anymore.

The NBA just received a 24 billion tv deal on top of the many sponsors and network deals they already have, lets not compare a league with a promotion that been around for 20 years, its insane to compare the revenue of other sports that have been around and established for a century (mlb) and others close to it. Could the UFC pay more? Sure but lets not act like all of the fighters deserve top pay, it doesnt happen in all the sports you listed and it would bankrupt any sport if it did

 

[Holysmoke]

Dana and these brothers are scum. I hope they get theirs someday and karma rams it up their behinds so hard.