- Joined
- Aug 13, 2013
- Messages
- 25,280
- Reaction score
- 4,093
So I'm not sure how known it is in here, but I worked in the industry for 10 years (just left last year to start my teaching career). I've been to 4 Rizin events, two of which to accompany Aliakbari as a handler for his managers. I worked with WSOF GC as a talent coordinator and handler, and before that Tuff-N-Uff as the matchmaker for fighters like Jamie Moyle, Khalil Roundtree, Aspen Ladd, etc... I also helped design a handful of the custom shirts and posters for the UFC, Lionfight, Rizin, etc... And I have to say that the Mayweather deal has me very concerned for the future of Rizin.
Usually in MMA you are losing money for the first couple/few years. It is just the way the whole deal operates. Yes, it may be easier if you had an entity prior... however if that entity was tainted by shady business, it kinda negates the positives. So operating at a loss is essentially expected, but there are good and bad ways to run in the red. I've watched many companies go down the tubes or be grinded into oblivion due to rash or incompetent decision making at the top... and one thing always stood true: If a big deal came out of nowhere that seemed astounding, it means the company felt it was time to swing for the fences rather than die a slow death.
Now, I'm not in the know about all things Rizin because I'm a Gaijin; however, I have been around enough to hear the inside rumors. One thing I know isn't a rumor is that Rizin has a backlog of pay that hasn't been given to fighters who already served on the show. It's not a crazy amount and it isn't exactly unheard of for how JMMA operates. But when you then consider Mayweather isn't bragging about the money he signed for, and couple it with the lack of payment to previous fighters you begin to wonder.
So how can Rizin afford to pay Money Mayweather when they are owing basic fistfuls to average fighters? There's two likely options.
(1) They signed him for an absurd amount of money and are hoping to pay it off via the sponsorship money that comes in after the fact. They don't want their investors to know the amount because it will scare the crap out of them and are holding their cards close to their chest.
(2) They gave up ownership to Mayweather OR he's taking essentially all the money up to a certain dollar amount, as Rizin puts an essential lean on themselves against the possibility the money isn't recouped and they owe him the expected return difference. Rizin is then hoping that his being on the show propels sales for future events that will recoup the losses they have to take in order to pay off Mayweather.
Either way it is worrisome. And maybe there's simply a third option I am not privy to. Maybe Mayweather decided to be a Angel Investor and just help them out.... you can certainly move some money around in Japan to help your books here when you know guys like Takada and Sakakibara. But I've got the notion there's a reason to be concerned for the future of Rizin unless the Mayweather gambit pays off huge. And to those who say "Of course it will pay off huge".... remember he isn't going to be fighting in the US or on US time. So the Rizin heads are essentially gambling on the fact that Asia and Europe will care as much about Mayweather in Japan against a Japan-famous 20yr old prodigy while the US will simply wake up to the results the next day. That's quite the gamble. It's like if the UFC paid $20,000,000 for the best Muay Thai fighter in the world to fight his debut against Stylebender (if stylebender had 10x the fans).
TL;DR: I am old and have been around the sport long enough to be concerned about this deal given the information we have now.
Usually in MMA you are losing money for the first couple/few years. It is just the way the whole deal operates. Yes, it may be easier if you had an entity prior... however if that entity was tainted by shady business, it kinda negates the positives. So operating at a loss is essentially expected, but there are good and bad ways to run in the red. I've watched many companies go down the tubes or be grinded into oblivion due to rash or incompetent decision making at the top... and one thing always stood true: If a big deal came out of nowhere that seemed astounding, it means the company felt it was time to swing for the fences rather than die a slow death.
Now, I'm not in the know about all things Rizin because I'm a Gaijin; however, I have been around enough to hear the inside rumors. One thing I know isn't a rumor is that Rizin has a backlog of pay that hasn't been given to fighters who already served on the show. It's not a crazy amount and it isn't exactly unheard of for how JMMA operates. But when you then consider Mayweather isn't bragging about the money he signed for, and couple it with the lack of payment to previous fighters you begin to wonder.
So how can Rizin afford to pay Money Mayweather when they are owing basic fistfuls to average fighters? There's two likely options.
(1) They signed him for an absurd amount of money and are hoping to pay it off via the sponsorship money that comes in after the fact. They don't want their investors to know the amount because it will scare the crap out of them and are holding their cards close to their chest.
(2) They gave up ownership to Mayweather OR he's taking essentially all the money up to a certain dollar amount, as Rizin puts an essential lean on themselves against the possibility the money isn't recouped and they owe him the expected return difference. Rizin is then hoping that his being on the show propels sales for future events that will recoup the losses they have to take in order to pay off Mayweather.
Either way it is worrisome. And maybe there's simply a third option I am not privy to. Maybe Mayweather decided to be a Angel Investor and just help them out.... you can certainly move some money around in Japan to help your books here when you know guys like Takada and Sakakibara. But I've got the notion there's a reason to be concerned for the future of Rizin unless the Mayweather gambit pays off huge. And to those who say "Of course it will pay off huge".... remember he isn't going to be fighting in the US or on US time. So the Rizin heads are essentially gambling on the fact that Asia and Europe will care as much about Mayweather in Japan against a Japan-famous 20yr old prodigy while the US will simply wake up to the results the next day. That's quite the gamble. It's like if the UFC paid $20,000,000 for the best Muay Thai fighter in the world to fight his debut against Stylebender (if stylebender had 10x the fans).
TL;DR: I am old and have been around the sport long enough to be concerned about this deal given the information we have now.