On the other hand, players unions have proven themselves to be effective ways to provide sports with a stable (i.e. largely lawsuit free particularly in regards to antitrust) way to operate.

There are casino worker unions. I don’t know if Zuffa’s casino operations are unionized, however, historically, the MLBPA was able to organize because the United Steel Workers backed them up. Sympathy strikes do wonders.

The fighters in UFC don’t have to wait for their contracts to end to unionize. The problem that they face is that, apparently (based on Jeff’s statements), they are currently classified as independent contractors. Independent contractors are not covered by the National Labor Relations Act. However, there is some precedent for people who have historically been classified as “independent contractors” to become classified as employees. Child care workers are typically “independent contractors,” but in Illinois and New York, executive orders clarified their status and unions were formed.

Ironically, the reason that independent contractors can’t unionize is that it’s considered an anti-trust action. That’s why it takes state action to permit them to unionize (they basically are given an anti-trust exemption by that state).

The classification of a person as an independent contractor or an employee is kind of complicated, but if you take the case of MMA vs WWE, you can pretty easily say that WWE performers are much more likely to be employees than are MMA fighters. They have a directed tour that they participate in, and they have their specific activities directed by WWE.

On the other hand, UFC doesn’t tell fighters how to train, where to train, etc, they typically can’t even tell fighters that they have to make public appearances or cut promos. They say, “we’re paying you to fight so and so on such and such a date, have a good time.” That’s pretty much a classic independent contractor scenario.

I think that the Right Thing is for MMA fighters to form a union. However, the process to get from here to there is not clear.

You want MMA to go the boxing route?

Very good point. I never thought about it quite that way. The UFC pays fighters in both tangible (monetary) and intangibles (brand equities, marketability). Would people care as much if Randy Couture wins the title at EliteXC? His worth as a fighter is tied to the UFC. Couture’s worth goes considerably down if he fights for another organization. Likewise, Fedor is worth $2 mill with the UFC, but is definitely not worth that much with M-1. People forget that the UFC is a product of various parts: fighters, marketing, branding, exposure, management, planning, etc. A fighter doesn’t make or break the organization. As much as I hate to admit it, the current MMA system (and business model) is built more similar to the WWE model than the boxing model.

The UFC has every right to protect themselves from fighters who grab a bit of UFC fame and then promptly take it to other organizations. Especially those top-tier fighters who the UFC spends time marketing. If all contracts were non-exclusive, the UFC would basically be better off using non-marketable fighters. Do you really want a world where all the Shoguns and Liddells and GSPs are fighting in various minor organizations BECAUSE they’re fun to watch?

This is good for the fighters, but decidedly is bad for the fans. If this happens, I foresee three undisputed titles, three different title fights at three different events, and champions who never fight each other. Kinda like boxing and the MMA heavyweight picture right now.