-Comparing the UFC upping pay to, it would seem, GM and Chrysler’s unionization, asserting that it has had negative complications for others. Putting out a crappy product for 25 years doesn’t help, but, you know…

-That the UFC is interested primarily in making money! A tremendous rebuttal to the guy who says it is morally repugnant as to the methods which they try and achieve that goal.

-That the UFC killed Pride. Truly, he did an awesome job of that…by giving them millions of dollars for nothing and helping to essentially bankroll the first few DREAM cards.

-That Japan’s MMA scene “pitifully limps along”. Clearly, that 19.1 peak that they had…jesus, ANY DAY GUYS AND ITS ALL OVER AMIRITE.

In baseball, the minimum salary does not include licensing money at all–that is another, seperate check players receive based upon service time during the year. For minimum salary guys, the licensing check received often exceeds the the minimum salary amount–thus, they more than double the annual income.

In other words, it isn’t part of the minimum salary amount at all–it is a seperate revenue stream entirely.

The sponsorship money is built into the salary. The Union negotiated that.

That’s definitely not the same situation as the UFC is in.

If the UFC upped the base salary…10K/10K, then I would believe that’s a start.

Otherwise, they are just treating the low level, up and coming fighters like shit with this ridiculous Sponsor tax.

Dana was the one that said that he didn’t need big sponsors.

Now that he has a few big ones, he’s shitting on all of the other sponsors that helped pay his fighter’s salaries.

We all know the Xyience saga started this attention on fighter and cage sponsors. I’m glad people continue to challenge this racketeering attitude being displayed by Dana and the UFC brass. A non-compete clause in a fighter’s contract is one thing, but this is starting to get ridiculous. Next thing you know they will be taking money out of each fighter’s purse for an “Octagon use fee.”

Fighters do the most dangerous work for the organization, and they seem to be paid the least amount possible for it. Otherwise, they wouldn’t need the sponsorships. This new idea is bunk. Unless some multi-million dollar purses are in the pipeline, this only hurts the guys who put it all on the line and risk everything so the guys who do nothing but brag and posture can get all the benefits.

Outside of the stadium, or when he is not representing the team, I am sure he can plaster himself with whatever sponsor logos he wants to (and so can UFC guys). But, while in team uniform and playing in a sanctioned event his sponsorships are limited to the companies approved by his team. Correct?

The point is that the FIA is a sanctioning body. They control the regulations of Formula 1 in a fashion much like, as you point out, the NSAC controls and enforces MMA’s regulations in the state of Nevada. Same thing goes for FIFA. Neither takes cuts of individual or team sponsorships.

On top of that, the anti-smoking ban was driven by the EU, not F1 or the FIA. It’s just that Philip Morris were the only ones stupid enough to pay more than $100 million a year for a meaningless barcode (and a red livery that Ferrari had even before the Marlboro sponsorship and would never abandon anyway).

Lester, I can only imagine that you think Ferrari is akin to the UFC in your analogy, but that is incorrect. This is the correct analogy:

UFC -> F1 / FIA
Fighters -> Scuderia Ferrari and their drivers, Raikkonen and Massa