That being said, If Calvin Ayre owns Pride within the next few weeks, I hope he gets some advice on television presentation.

That would leave the reporting entity in some dangerous legal waters, wouldn’t it?

Either way, we’re debating on a tangent. My point was and is that Meltzer never reported this, some schmuck on the UG did. Although I would not be suprised to hear of a sale, Pride FC is not actively seeking buyers, regardless of forum posts by “insiders”.

December 4th, 2006 at 11:17 pm
All moot debate aside, this was not reported in the Observer. Pride and WWE met regarding co-promotion, as TNA and WFA did a few months ago.

To further correct some factual errors, Pride pays MUCH more than UFC due to Japanese sponsorship arrangements. The NSAC reported paydays are the numbers used to calculate taxes paid to the IRS, hence the lower numbers.
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Sorry, the IRS is federal. The SACs are state run. The taxes are based on the income they report to……the IRS.

I will say this one more time: The actual amount that Fedor made, after all bonuses, is indeed higher than what was reported. It is also roughly the same amount that Rich Franklin made, after bonuses, for fighting Dave Loiseau.
His opponent, Mark Coleman, made a hell of a lot less than Rich’s opponent, Loiseau, did.

You mentioned Japanese sponsorships. Rampage Jackson was very public about the fact that few foreign fighters make much in endorsements in Japan.
If you want to include sponsorship deals, most UFC fighters are making a lot more. Joe Riggs recently mentioned making an extra 60k in endorsements for one of the his fights. That is just Joe Riggs.

As I said, I have seen numbers that have come from fighter camps and from a person within Pride. They are more than what was stated, but not a whole lot more in most cases.

The flip side is that the fighters in the two main fights on each UFC ppv make a hell of a lot more than what is reported.

To further correct some factual errors, Pride pays MUCH more than UFC due to Japanese sponsorship arrangements. The NSAC reported paydays are the numbers used to calculate taxes paid to the IRS, hence the lower numbers.

December 4th, 2006 at 8:11 pm
Lynchman: What PRIDE paid Fedor for the show is ONLY what PRIDE wanted the LV and American tax boards to know about…it wasnt the full pay. There are many reports in Japan about how PRIDE fighters are getting at least six figure deals per fighte WITHOUT bonues.

Preach: The only reason I thinK HEROs is picking up the heavyweights is because they are seriously lacking one…they have what Anderson Silva…and a aging Don Frye? They need the blood from PRIDE and some serious HW competiton.
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Josh,
Two things, first what is reported to the NSAC has NOTHING to do with the IRS.

Second, I am not talking about the numbers that were releasesd. As I said in a prev post, I have seen what several fighters made for The Real Deal including Fedor. The numbers came from three different sources that were either in Pride or in the camps of fighters. I was told, from two different people, virtually the same amount for Fedor. Yes, it was higher than the stated 100k, but was well under the previously stated 350k that Mirko supposedly makes.

The actual amount that Fedor made after bonuses is close to what Rich Franklin actually made, after bonuses, for his fight with Dave Loiseau.

MOST of the Pride fighters are NOT making six figures. That is completely false. I say this having heard amounts from a couple of U.S. fighters competing in Pride. As far as bonuses go, most don’t get a win bonus, but simply are paid for the fight.

Preach: The only reason I thinK HEROs is picking up the heavyweights is because they are seriously lacking one…they have what Anderson Silva…and a aging Don Frye? They need the blood from PRIDE and some serious HW competiton.

The complaints you have about the UFC have nothing to do with them, but are part of the rules set forth by the SACs. Those are the same rules that U.S. Pride shows will be abiding by.

When it comes to the business side of MMA, I don’t look at it from a fan’s perspective, I look at it from the business perspective.

This is not PRIDE BAD, UFC GOOD, this is simply reality. They HAVE to get a new television deal to continue at their current level. And the likelihood of them being on tv in the next six months is slim at best.
They tried everything under the sun to get a tv deal for NYE, including signing Tyson and attempting to sign one of the hottest Japanese boxers. They could not get a deal. I don’t see them getting on tv in the next six months.

Pride is pushing into the U.S. because they have seen the buy rates that pro wrestling and the UFC have been doing. If they were able to do 200k buys, they would make an extra 3-4 million right there. As it is, the first show did between 50-75k buys. That is between $750,000 to 1.5 million. Depending on just how much money went into the show, they MAY have broken even. And keep in mind the first show in a market usually does bigger numbers than the following show. History has shown that.
In order to break into the U.S. market, Pride will need….a better TV deal. One that does not appear to be on the horizon. Without tv on a real U.S. cable network, I think 150k buys is the best they could hope for and that would take some doing.

2007 will be a make or break year for Pride. As contracts come up, anyone and everyone that wants to be a player in MMA will be looking to sign the name fighters. This means that Pride will either be losing major fighters or will be spending far more on payroll than they have in the past. If they do keep the talent, they will be spending more on payroll and will be struggling even more to make ends meet.

They recently did away with the Bushido shows because they were only drawing 5-8000 paid. Pride was losing money on those shows. They will now be using those fighters on their regular shows and be spreading the higher priced fighters out over more shows.