I have written a number of articles on the Ali Act, and you can see them here:

http://www.mmafa.tv/blog

I do wonder what its gonna take for some politician to get interested in seeing why the Ali Act doesnt cover MMA.
The act restricts the types of contract that a boxer may be required to sign and having the wording changed on the Ali Act to cover all combat sports instead of just one should be relatively easy.

A union is a an idea that wont work but using some existing mechanisms in an existing law to limit the conditions that can be imposed on fighters seems more likely.

PS: I know of the Ali Act but not much substance so if someone has info, Id be very interested as to how it could relate to MMA.

I’d be shocked if Spike sells ads for that much higher than they sold ads for Monday Night Raw a few years ago. They’ve still got the stigma of having a bunch of broke, blue collar fans like pro wrestling does. UFC and WWE basically have the same kind of advertisers, just with the UFC having liquor ads that the WWE couldn’t get due to the large amount of children watching. But junk food, pre-paid cell phones, shitty movies, video games, all the same low-caliber advertisers.

It’s always interesting to see that USA Network sells the same space Raw occupies for double or triple when Tennis and the Dog Show preempt it. And Raw gets triple the ratings they would. But the viewership is seen in a higher class. It’s not totally true, but Fortune 500 companies view the UFC audience as low-class.

While I do roam these message boards as a fan of the sport and looking for casual, mindless conversations on mma – I really don’t appreciate faux intellect snobs who try to ignorantly thumb their noses at people when they don’t have a clue.

When you talk about the internet advertising previously being cheap, you are referring to the days where people would put “This Space For Rent” areas on their website for cheap. The increased costs are due to a completely different system where Google or AdBrite and the like take higher fees but distribute ads to millions and millions of sites in their ad bars. Not only are you getting increased exposure, but they use keyword filters to make sure your ad is placed on a site discussing the same field you’re trying to advertise about.

With UFC on the other hand, you’re getting the same exposure those fighters gave you when you only paid them directly….except it’s going to cost you $100,000 in a shakedown to Zuffa, so, according to you it will “feel more important.”No larger audience to expose to, no increased visability like zooming in on the logos. Just “we think we’d both feel more important if you paid us too.”

And Monte Cox, who is in the loop of MMA news unlike we spectators, made a claim that it will be 100K per event. Maybe he’s full of shit, but with the UFC power trip there’s a reason why nobody but certain gimmick posters are playing it down and why it sounds completely believable.

You can’t compare the entire internet to buying space on a t-shirt for some guy to wear for 3 minutes total in front of 600,000 viewers.

But at least we’ve been upgraded to Junior College status. Hopefully a small state college will be next.

I just got done reading MMA Logic. WOW!! The warchest he is talking about obviously is tons of cash.

He did say Affliction didn’t even break 100,000 buys.

I get the feeling from what he said that the UFC and Strikeforce are on friendlier terms then anybody really thinks. That Strikeforce knows their role and are there to take up the Showtime deal and it helps the UFC. Not to mention that if Strikeforce messes with the UFC, the UFC will just go after their talent and crush them.

I assume the new weight classes will be:

265, 220, 205, 195, 185, 175, 165…. And then the WEC will have 155, 145, 135, & 125.

If this does happen, I likely won’t be on these message boards anymore. MMA will officially be like boxing. Not good.

I also get the sense that they are preparing for a war with Goldenboy. And they are prepared to up the stars salaries in order to do so. Not to mention just look to crush them.

The internet is going through this exact problem right now. They have given away ad space for basically nothing for a few years, and they are finding it very hard to charge a higher price now.

The problem with websites is that they waited for it to get popular until they attempted to change their strategy.

The UFC, at least in the minds of Zuffa, hasn’t hit a peak yet. Therefore, it is beneficial to raise the bar now, whether it be for themselves of for the fighters, in order to increase the type of people advertising on their broadcasts.

And yes, by actually putting an initial price tag on these items, it will make advertisers believe they are getting more. Doesn’t mean it’s true, but that’s what happens. Do some learning beyond the Marketing 101 Classes at Junior College. There is deception in advertising. And there is deception in getting those advertising dollars. It’s a two way street.

UFC 103 vs. Mayweather/Marquez…. Both scheduled for September 13th.