UFC financials finally revealed

[JuniorSonGoku]

Like I said, all these other sports have unions. Think the MLS shares revenue out of the goodness of their hearts? If you want to get paid more, band together and refuse to fight until you do. The UFC is a business. When fighters start going about their careers as a business, maybe they’ll get paid more.

Lol at fighters risking their careers for a union.

And wow, a lot of its never the business' fault posts in here . . . The point isn't that the UFC is the only scumbag company out there.

Me thinks there are some paid shills in this thread . .

 

[EndlessCritic]

Cliffs: UFC is still ripping off their fighters. Now confirmed not only by sherdog users but by actual media sources.

Thanks for posting, it's actually an important topic.

Did you read the part where the UFC is in two billion dollars with of debt? Billion. With a B.

https://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-affirms-UFC-Holdings-B2-CFR-and-downgrades-the-1st--PR_398466

"
..Issuer: UFC Holdings, LLC

....$1,877 million Senior Secured 1st lien Term Loan due 2023, Downgraded to B2 (LGD4) from B1 (LGD3)"

 

[JuniorSonGoku]

Lol some really suggested that they pay the fighters less because they need the money to go at "growing the sport".. more at growing their bank accounts.

Dana has 20 mill per year salary last I checked but I think he just signed a new 5 year deal recently plus he got 70 mill in 2 years: Dana White made $70 million in 2017-19 outside his normal compensation structure. He was the sole employee with equity. Add here what ever bonuses he has if a card sells well and whatnot.. oh and "Dana White's Contender series" he for sure gets payed for that too same like he does for TUF. Cherry on top he has a piece of the pie valued anywhere between 400-600 mill.

Some people will fall for the rich's lies over and over again. They can't help that they're stupid.

 

[Area809]

Lol at fighters risking their careers for a union.

And wow, a lot of its never the business' fault posts in here . . . The point isn't that the UFC is the only scumbag company out there.

Me thinks there are some paid shills in this thread . .

It’s not about defending the UFC. But that’s how all these sports leagues work. Sure, ideally every employer would be fair and generous, but they’re not. Companies want to keep as much profit as they can. Comparisons to the MLS and other leagues is stupid. They have a collective bargaining agreement and process to negotiate minimum salaries. And when they don’t reach an agreement, there is a labor stoppage.

 

[in the liver]

i mean are people coming to see dana and a bunch of suits or should the actual entertainers perhaps get most of the money?

 

[bufetadanacara]

I don't care what fighters make, they are grown men and can make their own decisions. If they sign the contract, then that's what was agreed. Nobody is forcing them to sign with UFC so stop treating the fighters like babies and let them make their own decisions.

This is an example of good capitalism, if the fighters want to do their own promotions, let them.


I do not care how much money the fighters make. The only thing I care about is who they fight and how often. UFC has been putting out shit tier quality cards for the last few years. This is the big problem with the UFC. I won't pay a dime to watch a card headlined by a 125lbs dude and a co-main event of some WMMA garbage. People need to be more concerned with the quality of the cards and not the amount of pay that the fighters receive. The only other thing that I'll add is that I think the Reebok deal is no good and fighters should be able to have their custom shorts on and their own sponsors.

 

[Blayt7hh]

I’ve been saying for almost a decade now that the ufc was a monopsony in response to posters saying stupid shit like “ if you don’t like it then don’t sign the contract “. Funny to see it in a court document now

 

[Oeshon]

The factory over the street. The one which goes to China next year. Beautiful world...but keep paying athletes 10 or 20k a fight it will be great

How much are they paying MMA fighters to fight?

 

[Oeshon]

ufc often has to match Bellator offers to keep their rooster from running away. And they still run away.

You mean the company that pays fighters $1,200 to fight and has main cards where 80% of fighters on the card make less than $3k?

They pay more than the UFC?

 

[Oeshon]

This is definitely not the point.

So the answer is noone pays better than the UFC? Got it.

 

[Hirashin]

You mean the company that pays fighters $1,200 to fight and has main cards where 80% of fighters on the card make less than $3k?

They pay more than the UFC?

Can you imagine?

 

[superpunch]

You mean the company that pays fighters $1,200 to fight and has main cards where 80% of fighters on the card make less than $3k?

They pay more than the UFC?

We've obviously both been watching MMA for a long time.

There have been a lot of orgs that paid fighters more than the UFC does. None of them are around anymore.

Affliction, Bodog, we've seen them all come and go. The UFC is still here. They know how to run a fight company.

 

[superpunch]

i mean are people coming to see dana and a bunch of suits or should the actual entertainers perhaps get most of the money?

Lots of orgs have had great fighters. Strikeforce had the best HWs. PRIDE had the best fighters in every weight class. Bodog had the best HW. EliteXC had the best women. They had the fighters to compete with the UFC. Some had the fighters to straight up beawt the UFC. They're all gone.

So, that means that the UFC's suits are providing the value -- not the UFC's (who used to be Strikeforce's, PRIDE's, and EliteXCs) fighters.

So, the suits should get most of the money.

 

[BForrester]

Honestly, I feel 20% is not that bad (although wouldn't call it great either, it is much more than I anticipated). There are huge production costs and other overheads involved with running such a business, i can say that as i am into the audit business, and hence have seen a lot of other financials of companies in the similar industries. At the end of the day, we have to realise that the company also has to maintain a healthy profit margin, as does every company which wants to stay in business and grow.
Further, this is pre McGregor, so it's not like a large portion of this % is going to a single fighter.

You think the "production costs" exceed what it costs to operate an NFL/MLB/NBA/NHL stadium or arena, transportation for team and staff for road trips, etc.? lmao

 

[Taric]

I wonder how many of you whining about fighter pay actually buy ppvs...just curious, because I know a lot of people on here openly brag about streaming everything.

Because the UFC is essentially a monopoly, whether fans buy PPVs or not isn't helping fighters increase their base salary. The only way the UFC increases fighters base salary is if there is another, or multiple, competitive MMA organizations that give out equal pay and for the organizations to create bidding wars over the fighters rights to fight within their organization.

So in short if you actually want to improve fighter pay, don't paying for UFC cards but do pay for Bellator cards. This is what actually helps the prospect of increased fighter salary.

 

[west42]

It's worth billions not because of today's revenue, but the future potential revenue that the prior owners created.
The tesla car company has never created a yearly profit, yet the stock price is 250ish. That is based on expected future revenue as the company grows.

I honestly think you're a UFC shill/employee because what you said is plain wrong. Guys from the contender series get a 6k show 6k win contract or something along those lines. There's many fighters still fighting for 10k/10k just like years ago. You can just read official purses released by the commission for that info.

Also LOL @ bringing up fighters podcasts or their own gyms (which is super-hard work) like the UFC has anything to do with that. It's their work, what the fuck. UFC doesn't promote their fighters podcasts. Inb4 but UFC promotes their brand - no they don't. They let fighters fight because without that the sport wouldn't exist.
Some fighters in the UFC still have fucking 9 to 5 jobs and have to do podcasts and other things to make a living.

It's mind-boggling to me how you can defend the pay structure of the UFC.
Yeah, it was bought for 1,8 million years ago but dude we are in the year 2019, the company is worth billions and fighters are still fighting for 12k and a measly 3k reebok money and you're defending that?

Unbelievable. As fans of this sport we should wish them all hundreds of thousands of dollars and stick together with the fighters that make this sport happen. As long as there are fighters working day jobs the UFC isn't paying them fair, simple as that. And certainly not the bottom end of fighters.

 

[TheAmericanGazelle]

Most fans who complain about fighter salaries are not doing so out of genuine concern for the fighter, but because they are un/underemployed and it soothes their ego to tie fighter pay into their personal lives with some grand, sweeping narrative about "haves and have nots", class warfare, the wicked greed of "fat cats who provide no value compared to da workin' man", etc...

 

[Taric]

I did the math on the disclosed pay for UFC 200 one time and figured out that fighters made 9.2% of event profits before PPV bonuses. So that tells me that extra 9-11% to get to 18-20% is all PPV bonuses.

 

[Ancient Warrior]

A sleazy promoter giving fighters less than half of what they’re worth?

The hell you say.

 

[Alpha_T83]

So the answer is noone pays better than the UFC? Got it.

And the dictatorship that murders the fewest citizens per capita isn't so bad.

You're a fucking retard with that logic.

The UFC should be paying 50% of revenues to the fighters. The ballpark 20% figure is atrocious.