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(Updated) The current zeitgeist regarding New York MMA legislation
By Zach Arnold | May 11, 2011
(Update at bottom of post)
From Eddie Goldman’s Sunday night radio show.
“Here in New York, where I’m located, the image of Mixed Martial Arts is still so bad and so terrible that even though Zuffa has thrown thousands and thousands of dollars into the coffers of these politicians that we have here, who of course are always up for sale, they still cannot get Mixed Martial Arts legalized in the state of New York. And this is a growing topic of debate and in a recent news conference (and this was put on Youtube) and unfortunately included in an otherwise very good film which was the film about The Coalition to Legalize MMA in New York which Kahleem Poole did which will be premiering for the public at The Bronx Week Film Festival starting on Monday, May 16. Good film, check it out…
“But, one bad part of that film is they decided to include a quote by Dana White, thinking, ‘well, a lot of people know him and that’s going to help the cause.’ If anything, it complicates the cause because the quote that they put in there is of White saying, “Well, this is much bigger. MMA is not legalized in New York, there’s something bigger going on.’ And in the Youtube video, he talks specifically where he attacks unions and he said that it’s because of unions that MMA is not in New York. And he points out how the Fertittas, of course they the principal owners of Zuffa, that their Station Casinos are the largest non-union gaming operation in Las Vegas. What he doesn’t talk about, of course, is the huge battle that the workers have been having against Station Casinos and in some ways the fact that White raised this … helps the worker’s struggle because, now, more people want to know, ‘what’s really going on?’ New York is a big union, what’s really happening with the unions?”
“(In) 2008, The Culinary Workers Union Local 226, part of the umbrella organization, the umbrella union Unite Here, did start a corporate campaign against MMA in New York which was ill-advised and I’ve said so publicly and privately many, many times because whatever Station Casinos does and whatever the Fertittas do, really the sport of MMA is a legitimate sport (and) stands on its own merit. And MMA in New York would not only be UFC, would not only be the Zuffa organizations, but you would see a tremendous growth, a tremendous springing up of new organizations all over the state from local, indigenous New Yorkers. So, it’s not just a question of bringing in this Nevada gaming organization that’s on trial at the NLRB. It was very ill-advised and they stopped it. They really haven’t done anything in a few years on this issue. But people like Bob Reilly and the people in the New York state legislature that are opposed to MMA are not doing so because they got some union contributions. They’ve gotten union contributions all along, for decades. The trade union bureaucracies and the Democratic Party have been tight-in-bed for decades, this is absolutely nothing new. But, these people like Reilly are against fighting sports, they’re against combat sports and there are a number of other ones, primarily liberal Democrats and primarily from New York City and downstate, although Reilly is from upstate New York, who do not want people to have that warrior culture, do not want people to compete in pretty much any sport & particularly in combat sports. That’s what has to be battled and the image that’s being put out by most of the MMA organizations today does not really help at all in that battle because it’s not positioning itself as a sport. It’s being positioned as ‘I want to mess you up,’ with the cursing, with the skull t-shirts, all the racist & homophobic rhetoric that’s throwing around all the time. And, of course, boxing is not exempt from this at all — boxing is almost as guilty, but MMA is guiltier on all these fronts. These are the kind of issues that have to be addressed in the grass roots struggle that we do have in New York, such as in The Coalition to Legalize MMA in New York. And this cause is not going to be helped by associating ourselves with Zuffa, with the Fertittas, with Dana White, with Station Casinos, and with everything that they do.
“So, there’s a lot of education, there are a lot of battles that go on and what we’re hearing this year is so far not very good for MMA. Some people think it might be brought up in the next few months while the budget has been finalized but we don’t see a lot of movement on the bill to legalize MMA. We hope that there will be. By the way, on the issue of unions, Keith Wright who is the head of the Assembly Labor Committee, is one of the big supporters of the bill to legalize MMA. He’s publicly spoken out on this issue and he’s a guy very much tied into the unions. So, if the unions are the problem, why is Keith Wright actively supporting this? It’s more nonsense put out by Dana White…”
(Update 5/11): Ariel Helwani has a new article titled Union memo reveals its arguments against MMA in New York. Read it and respond here.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 26 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
The problem is that Zuffa has spent more money on educating their various public through the way of The Ultimate Fighter reality show where you see fighters at their worst using television as the vehicle.
I don’t blame the old guard political regimes for not embracing MMA. I can see why they don’t want this in their backyard.
It has nothing to do with not wanting it in their backyard. There is a reason why Bloomberg is in power. Money is huge in NYC and across the state. You need tons of it to make a tiny dent. And even then, there is somebody else with tons of money pushing in the other direction.
Even their consumer protection laws are almost overbearing to the point that it creates too many constraints.
It’s a weird state.
Politics are at a whole different level in NY. It’s one of the toughest states to get things done.
********
Roy Nelson wants 3 minute rounds. Sadly, I see some people actually agreeing with him!! WTF!! That would be the worst thing for MMA. It would turn it into a takedown contest. Fighters would go for a takedown, secure it, do just enough to keep the fight on the ground for a minute and win the round. 3 minute rounds would ruin the sport.
If they really want to change things up…. Here is my wacky idea… And it is worth bashing….
10 minute 1st round with NO JUDGES. Judges are brought into the fight for the last 5 minute round. That way fighters are either trying to finish the fightor do enough damage to their opponents to make them beatable in the 1 round the judges are scoring. Title fights would have 3 rounds of scoring after the 10 minute round.
This idea could completely fail…. But I would like to see it implemented to see if it opens up the action. Either that, or fighters would just stall and conserve energy until the judges came and it would also kill the sport….
http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news?slug=ki-iole_ufc_offers_fighters_accident_insurance050811
“But the worst-case scenario for a mixed martial arts fighter is to suffer an injury days before a fight that requires him or her to pull out of a scheduled bout. That means no paycheck, as well as a stack of medical bills, because the event insurance only covered injuries suffered during a match. As independent contractors, the fighters are only paid if they compete and, until now, the UFC has not been responsible for paying for out-of-competition injuries.
Zuffa LLC, the company that owns both UFC and Strikeforce, is taking steps to erase that problem. Lorenzo Fertitta, the UFC’s chairman and chief executive officer, said the company plans to offer accident insurance that will cover approximately 350 athletes in the event of out-of-competition injury, effective June 1.
MMA fighters and boxers are not employees. They are independent contractors and thus aren’t eligible for things like health-care coverage.
But injuries to fighters, either in the cage or during training, can be disastrous. That’s why Fertitta said he and UFC president Dana White began looking into the potential of offering the fighters accident insurance nearly three years ago.
Lorenzo Fertitta, the UFC’s chairman and chief executive officer, said Zuffa LLC plans to offer accident insurance to its athletes effective June 1.
Zuffa will pay 100 percent of the premiums, Fertitta said, and will have a full-time employee who will coordinate the claims process.”
Here’s some pretty satisfying news, I think this was a big thing that needed to be addressed for fighters so good on Zuffa for stepping up. That’s great for the fighters and the sport, hats off to them. Take note of the numerous clarifications of “independent contractor” and “not employees”.
They will continue to drive home that fact of them being Independent Contractors.
But this insurance increase is great news for fighters.
I think it was also done as a way to downplay some of the union talk. The union talk picked up because of the Strikeforce purchase, and rightfully so.
This will cost Zuffa a decent amount of money based on the number of fighters they have, but will go a long way in fighters not caring to unionize as long as they feel that their basic needs are being met as athletes.
For sure. I mean, the best way to “fight” a union is to give people no reason to look for one. A long used tactics has been for company’s to provide “union-like” benefits and make “employees” happy and realize that a union won’t give them much more than they already have while costing them part of their paycheck. It’s cheaper for employers too.
Excuse me! They are not “employees”. They are “team members”! Team members don’t need unions! Just ask the team members at Whole Foods and Costco (examples of places not allowing unionizing but giving better pay and benefits than most other national chains).
[…] of New York (like Eddie Goldman did yesterday), I can’t help but thing that a positive benefit from this insurance announcement is that it […]
Providing insurance is going to hurt them one day if there is a lawsuit over IC vs. employee. Providing employee-like benefits is a big factor.
LMAO @ a union claiming that somebody else is using exploitive contracts. Looks like unions want to be the only con-job in town.
There are some good unions out there…. But there are many more bad ones. Unions have crippled the American Auto industry. Unions have allowed bad teachers to keep their job for years and have hurt America’s entire education system as a result. Those are just two quick examples.
1) The championship clause has not been used in years and the UFC typically uses it’s due dilegence in signing fighters to fair contracts before that clause ever comes into place.
2) Should car insurance be illegal in New York if the biggest car insurance company has eronious contracts? No. Laws should not be built upon one company. It is obvious that they are just feuding with the UFC and really have little care for the sport one way or the other.
3) Gross being cited in the article is a great reason why he is still not getting credentialled. When people say: “Hey, what’s the big deal about these journalists writing hack pieces with only pieces of information?” Well, here you go. It’s helping give ammunition to people against MMA, and now there is one less state that fighters can make a living in. Way to go Josh Gross. You royal f-up…..
4) So boxing is corrupt so that means MMA should be treated as corrupt as well? That is what the article memo is basically saying. They are two different sports. The structures are completely different. There have been no signs of corruption on the part of the UFC’s. And they hardly would fall under the Ali act…
Chalk this up to another reason to hate on unions. They can’t unionize in another one of Fertitta’s business’s, and they have having a temper tantrum over it. Want to know what is the saddest part of this? Two things:
1) Fighters have one less place to compete with big money gates.
2) The people in this union are having the dues spent on something they have nothing to do with. It’s downright criminal….
I’m not sure if I directly said this, so I will say it very simply….
What do all of these issues have to do with making MMA legal in New York and sanctioning it?
If New York State wants to put more restrictions on the UFC specifically to run within their state…. That is one thing. But it’s a purely seperate issue then actuallyg legalizing and sanctioning the sport. Shame on the union for acting as if they are the same.
Unions did not cripple the American Auto Industry nor have they ruined the American education system. Don’t believe that “political fluff” and/or executive bullshit for one second, that’s just the easy out that these companies took and it is total crap. TOTAL.
I disagree 100%.
I have directly worked with the benefits of these major car company retirees. And what they get both compared to private and even public employees is downright criminal. From pension to 401(k) matching to retiree health benefits…. it’s so over the top and out of wack. The UAW became too powerful and used it’s leverage to get benefits for employees that are far beyond what their pay and skill levels should have ever provided them. And it financially crippled the car industry. Just go look at one of these companies public filings. Future benefits owed are insanely high…. More then any other industry without question.
As for teaching…. I do not have any first hand knowledge of the unions but I have a few family members who are teachers…. And their own horror stories are unbelievable. It’s nearly impossible for a teacher to be fired. And it only hurts the kids.
There are good unions. But they are typically LOCAL UNIONS who have DIRECT interests of their employees LONG TERM success. Anytime you get a union that is more national, it operates just like a business and has far too many issues then it helps.
I won’t argue that the UAW/CAW didn’t play a part in the failure, especially the benefits part of it. But if I was making a list of reasons why the Big 3 failed, the unions is probably 4th or 5th down the list.
Not to mention those pension plans were so underfunded when they went under it was ridiculous, so it’s not like the cash was hemorhagging out of the business in any real sense. Yes, I agree the UAW/CAW helped dig the grave, but they were using shovels while the management was using a backhoe.
As for unionized teachers, they seem to be working in Canada and a number of other countries very well. Why is it that unions only seem to suck really badly in the U.S.? Too much cronyism and corruption?
http://mmaweekly.com/chael-sonnen-put-back-under-suspension-in-california
Excellent.
Where’s EJ? Probably weeping into his pillow that we won’t have some boob trolling to the lowest common denominator of fans with his tired “heel act”.
Toldja 🙂
Actually i’m laughing histerically, because the CSAC has actually managed to reach new depths of stupidity and ineptitude.
If this doesn’t once and for all prove what a bunch of bumbling buffons these people are and how much mma is in danger that they are running it nothing will.
These people set up a bogus appeals process and it’s blown up in their face and now they want to pull this bs?. Seriously I can’t wait until this latest hearing, because it’s going to expose once again just why the CSAC is a joke and no one should take them seriously until there are wholesale changes.
http://www.cagesideseats.com/2011/5/11/2165493/ufcs-chael-sonnen-suspended-in-ca-for-perjury-money-laundering
From George Dodd: “The commission wants to review his testimony, and they felt they need to suspend his license because they felt there was some false testimony given to the athletic commission when he appeared back in December. That way Chael can come explain himself. Obviously, there were comments made during that commission meeting that have come up to be false, and so we’re going to review those, as well. […] His license in California will be suspended until the commission feels he’s provided rehabilitation, or whatever the commission feels that needs to be done in order to re-grant his license.”
As inept as the CSAC is, I will never argue that, it is tough to argue that they can’t claim they discovered testimony he provided in his appeal turned out to be false, if not intentional perjury.
He lied and/or provided false testimony in his appeal in order to get a reduced suspension. Why shouldn’t they be allowed to revisit it if it’s been shown that the testimony/evidence he provided in order to get the suspension reduced was a complete lie? If it’s going to be a farce, they might as well go full Broadway.
Oh well…justice served.
It’s clear that they can supposedly do whatever they want, my point is that it’s their own fault that this blew up in their face.
Because they’ve set up an appeals process that isn’t legit it’s not about finding out if guys are taking PED’s or not. The Sherk case exposed that they don’t care about evidence or facts they just want to appear tough and flex their muscles. How can anyone trust anything they do when their entire system is a flaud and an almost corrupt mess?.
This goes beyond Sonnen to me even though i’m a fan of his, i’m an mma fan first. And these people are in charge of mma in a huge state and they can’t be trusted we might as well not have a commission in Cal. instead of this debacle.
Given the background with Station it is hilarious that they trumpet using union hotels/venues when they put on shows.
UFC is the sport, and along the way the ownership of UFC has made some enemies in their other business…so the sport has made an enemy. Because UFC is the sport. It kinda sucks for us NY fans for now, but it will change sooner or later. The issue is indeed money and eventually one side will run out of it, or the other will pay the price necessary. That’s the way of things in NY. Indignation about the union’s tactics or ideology painting them as any worse than the employers they grapple with should be left for campaign season.
http://mmapayout.com/2011/05/the-sports-tv-landscape-pac-12-landmark-deal-where-mma-fits/
More and more signs point to the UFC leaving SpikeTV. Which will make SpikeTV the TNA and Bellator show…. Not exactly first rate.
A new deal is worth it to the UFC if they decrease overall exposure for network TV exposure. That would be trading quantity for quality.
And if the article is right…. Just as mmalogic said the same things a few weeks ago and people bashed me for posting it…. the UFC is going to be getting a good deal out of this.
I just don’t get your need to cite “mmalogic”, you do a very good job of justifying your arguments and presenting your opinion on your own.
Leaning on him as a crutch of “Well mmalogic says…” or “Mmalogic said it too!”, just detracts from your point if anything. The guy has a horrible track record of “scoops” and just doesn’t really add much value. He reminds me of the “corporate lady” from the Simpsons, he comes onto message boards, insults people and uses a lot of buzz words to wow people but ultimately doesn’t say anything at all. On the rare occassion that he does, it’s no different than your average intelligent fan’s opinions except he says “fuck”, “metrics”, “revenue driver” and talks about banging 19 year old Thai girls.
When MMA Logic get’s hundred things wrong, but 10 things, you still follow him on his word. Why is that?
Everybody gets lucky sometimes. His record of more than speaks for itself.
Exactly.
I made a comment that seemed to get lost (*KHAAAAAN!!*) in the same vein. 45 is quite capable of making his own solid arguments and salient point/counterpint without resorting to an “mmalogic cite”. I just don’t see the need to point to mmalogic as an authority to validate your point, in fact I think if anything it just takes away from it.
If the dude was important of an insider as he says he is, he wouldn’t have time to troll BloodyElbow. He’s clearly a wannabe insider with a very loose ‘connection’ to someone in corporate that gets some jollies out of the “power” he wields on the website. And he has an uncanny knack for showing up every single time there needs to be some astroturfing done (TV deals in the news, SF deal, Fedor, Affliction, show in new market). So my ultimate “theory” on him is that he’s a paid “astroturfer” that thinks he’s a far far bigger insider than he claims to be.
There’s probably more chance of Bellator going out of business and Zuffa buying them and perhaps merging Strikeforce & Bellator into one, that way they can stick with Spike, Showtime and maybe CBS and the UFC can go on to another Network.
According to MMA Weekly Sean Shelby has taken over match making duties for SF. This is a great move Shelby did a really goo job booking fights in the WEC and this will also mean the end of top guys being protected or fighting in lopsided fights. Should be very interesting to see how the next couple of SF shows now start stacking up since SF 3.0 is going to be alot different from now on.
Are you guys talking about this MMALOGIC? http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2010/1/1/1229804/why-dana-hates-internet-media
LOL that dude is one of the biggest morons I’ve come across. I love his source for that article: Meltzer, without any dates or issues where he quoted those numbers. Several are wrong. And to assume that PPV buys has to do with trending and not with stars & matchups is completely
retarded.