Reebok and ESPN

[suffersystem]

I thought of this in another thread, and thought it was interesting. Since it was pretty much UFC's play to have Reebok come in, with them being soley on ESPN, I imagine they have a much larger say in what gets televised. How to you see sponsorship playing out once Reebok's deal is over? How much sway, or do they care very much, do you think ESPN will have? Or the new owners even for that matter?

 

[ChinaMMABlog]

Having Reebok as the official sponsor essentially streamlined all the in-cage sponsorships for the UFC and basically put them in position to get on ESPN.
If they re-negotiate with Reebok, the next deal will be worth way more. But UFC will have options like Nike and Under Armour if they want.

 

[Sweater of AV]

The smart play would be to drop Reebok and get back on the Condom Depot train.

 

[CptJacuzzi]

I hope they choose Nike, Adidas, or hell even UA over Reebok. Reebok has the shittest products and I doubt they sell any of those terrible "fight kits" other than Mcgregor and Khabib ones...

I mean look at this garbage, they look like fucking deer-hooves. Unforgivable.

If you ask me Nike probably has the best chance, they are the official jersey makers for both NFL and NBA so it's if they are even interested in stepping into UFC/MMA which honestly would be great for the whole sport.

 

[Ying Li]

New Owners will find another org to scam. Maybe fighters will get an extra $1,000 per year or a free Golden Corral buffet ticket.

 

[Airdack]

The smart play would be to drop Reebok and get back on the Condom Depot train.

Funny thing is Condom Depot probably paid better than Reebok does for mid tier fighters.

 

[Sweater of AV]

Funny thing is Condom Depot probably paid better than Reebok does for mid tier fighters.

Yeah sponsorship money from companies like them makes a big difference for a lot of fighters. I'd love to see Reebok get dropped and fighters be allowed to advertise. Unfortunately it isn't going to happen.

 

[Kvothe_the_kingkiller]

Legally? Doubtful. Do they have leverage being UFC's biggest customer (or client, I always get that one confused)? Sure.

But if Vans agreed to pay $200m and Nike agreed to pay $100m and ESPN strenuously objected to Vans, I'm sure Endeavor would figure out a way to not lose out on $100m.

 

[Airdack]

Yeah sponsorship money from companies like them makes a big difference for a lot of fighters. I'd love to see Reebok get dropped and fighters be allowed to advertise. Unfortunately it isn't going to happen.

Never forget Schuab, a middle of the road HW that wasn't even a draw, was making close to $100k a fight from various sponsors.

The dynamic fasteners guy was the bomb. He just loved MMA so much and his company was really successful so he would sponsor tons of fighters from regional promotions all the way up into the UFC.