I've been wondering if anyone has a general idea on how much % of total incomes and revenues for a fighter is made per year based on sponsorship incomes, fighting show pay and fight bonuses/ppv cuts roughly. For: Top 5 fighters Top 5-10 fighters Top 20 fighters New starters I'm guessing roughly maybe: Sponsorship Fighting income Bonuses Top 5 fighters: 50% 20% 30% Top 5-10 fighters: 20% 60% 20% Top 20 fighters: 5-10% 80% 10-15% New starters: <5% 90% 5-10% Some of you guys might say that lower tier or less famous fighters should have a higher bonus weighting due to generous fight of the night, sub/KO bonuses however we see they are rarely awarded to prelim fighters. I'm interested to get some rough numbers and insights.
The fact that postfight guys are frantically looking for their walkout shirts kinda shows how important sponsorship really is.
^ definitely agree with that. Just was wondering of some general numbers on how it is distributed amongst mma fighters in general. Esp in UFC which gets good TV coverage
It is very important. Sponsors are all different, especially for the top 5% of fighters. They are much more likely to get sponsors that will pay them per month in addition to fights, like MTX Audio, Tapout, Nike, ect. For the other guys, it is mostly a fight to fight sponsorship. You offer them a package for having their logo on your shorts, banner, shirt for a fight. For the regional fighters, you might get a purse of $500 show, $1,000 win. If you get 4 sponsors for 300-$500 for a fight, that is more than you get for a purse. It is tougher for guys in the lower part of the UFC, because those sponsors have to pay the UFC a fee just to appear on the broadcast. So you aren't going to see local bars, tattoo parlors, and small t-shirt companies on UFC broadcasts anymore.
Sponsorships pay for training mostly. People forget that while Greg Jackson has all these guys fighting, he's not just putting them in the octagon out of the goodness of his heart. Those guys pay serious dollars to get 1 on 1 attention during big camps. Also sponsorships with their names on shirts and things help to keep them living and keep them in a house and things.
