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The Fertitta Family may be bankruptcy winners (plus an open letter to Lorenzo Fertitta about a fighter’s union)
By Zach Arnold | June 7, 2010
Try accomplishing that if you have to file for bankruptcy on a personal level. Good luck. Any time you have an article that says they have bested their creditors at every turn, it lends you to ask the question — why continue to do business with them? Are they smarter than they appear or is everyone else dumber than they look?
I don’t know if MMA fans in Milwaukee continue to be suckers for boilerplate Zuffa statements of “yeah, we may come one day to Milwaukee,” but the Milwaukee media sure buys it hook, line, and sinker every time.
A very interesting interview with Ron Frazier at Fighthype where he talks about the fight that MMA “is not a poverty sport” like boxing in the sense that you see a lot more college graduates in MMA and that it takes more money to train the right way in MMA as opposed to boxing.
Jake Rossen wonders why fighters look at MMA media writers and interviewers as advisarial marks when most of the coverage tends to be flattering towards anyone who gives a writer access.
Bobby Southworth is trying to get back on The Ultimate Fighter TV show. Speaking of TUF, production for Season 12 with Josh Koscheck & Georges St. Pierre has just started.
Todd Martin is now with Sherdog/ESPN and debuted today with a column talking about UFC’s handling of Chuck Liddell and how Strikeforce being an option for Liddell as a free agent has kept the UFC/Liddell relationship strong.
Ryan Bader will be in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on June 19th for a wrestling clinic.
Tonight, Quinton Jackson is supposed to appear on WWE RAW from Miami. It’s a three-hour show starting at 8 PM EST/PST on USA Network. Ironic that The Undertaker recently got hurt and won’t be at the all-brands show, since Undertaker was supposedly the wrestler who didn’t sign an autograph for Rampage when he was a kid watching wrestling in Memphis. Oh, and Rampage is still defending himself in the press based on crude remarks he made in the past. This is not going over well.
As for the idea of having a fighter’s union in Mixed Martial Arts and Lorenzo Fertitta’s recent statements about such a concept, go to full-page mode for this article and read an interesting open letter penned by someone (not me).
An Open Letter to Lorenzo Fertitta (and Dana White)
In response to a question regarding the potential unionization of fighters asked during the UFC Fan Expo 2010, you responded by stating the UFC had no position, either in support of or against such efforts. “We have no role. . . That’s entirely up [to the] fighters.” I fully agree, and your public acknowledgment of the UFC’s complete neutrality is admirable and greatly appreciated.
You further suggested that a “union” may not be practical or directly applicable to the unique aspects of the sport of mixed martial arts. This may also be true. A union, however, is not at all necessary to improve the status and marketability of professional mixed martial artists—the athletes who make this sport great.
Under your leadership, the UFC has spurred the growth of mixed martial arts from a fringe underground sport into a multi-billion dollar enterprise. The UFC is also leading the global expansion of mixed martial arts, and continuously pushes the sport into new markets. The atmosphere of the live show has made the UFC an event in and of itself, and the production value is the envy of all other promotions in the world.
As to benefits, the UFC carries “more insurance than any other promoter in the history of the world” and covers injuries sustained during an event “100 percent-plus.” Again, the UFC’s practices are enviable in this regard. Unfortunately, fighters on more than one occasion have accepted fights in the UFC to obtain this “in-event” insurance to cover injuries sustained in training or in other organizations. Further, the challenges faced by professional mixed martial artists extend far beyond in-arena competition.
Fighters are regularly victimized by unscrupulous agents, sponsors, and other promotions. New stories emerge on an almost weekly basis of promoters and sponsors failing to pay contracted fighters amounts due. Fighters continue to suffer at the hands of unscrupulous agents and managers, who are at best incompetent, and at worst, outright thieves. This problem will magnify in the future as unsavory characters looking for quick paydays gravitate to the sport as the revenue mixed martial arts generates increases.
These challenges, to name just a few, should not be your responsibility to administer, and can best be addressed by the Mixed Martial Arts Fighters Association (MMAFA) for legal and other reasons. A strong fighters association creates efficiency by eliminating headaches for promoters, and thus, frees your time and resources to your most profitable endeavor–promoting great events. A strong fighters association also serves to increase the legitimacy of the sport and marketability of all fighters, growing the revenue pie for promoters and fighters alike.
Following the collapse of EliteXC, fighters were left in limbo for months, stuck in contracts that EliteXC (i) had no intention of performing and (ii) refused to release the talent from. “Industry” attorneys were seeking $100,000 or more to begin the litigation process on behalf of fighters, and were willing to accept these funds from virtually any source. We took immediate action on behalf of our members, with the assistance of some of the most talented attorneys in the country.
Unlike other plans that were circulated by various members of the MMA community, the MMAFA has steadfastly refused to endorse any plan that seeks to impose a “tax” on a fighter’s purse. The MMAFA views any such plan as both confiscatory and unnecessary. Our model works, remarkably well, and requests nothing at all of any promotion. Approval of the logo during events, held in trust for the benefit of members, would be appreciated but not necessary for success.
Talent follows desire. I firmly believe this statement, and Dana White seems to also live by it. It is Dana’s passion and your commitment that have made the UFC as successful as it is today—a billion dollar company. After investing a reported $42 million dollars in the UFC, however, you asked Dana to inquire about sale opportunities. To your credit, only after a suitable offer failed to materialize, you decided to proverbially “double-down” on your investment, and financed the production of “The Ultimate Fighter.” “The Ultimate Fighter” was an instant success leading to unprecedented growth for the UFC.
While I haven’t lost tens of millions of dollars invested, I have never wavered in my belief that the MMAFA will assist promoters and fighters alike in maximizing the success of this great sport. So thoroughly convinced of the MMAFA’s ultimate success, I have frequently turned down other opportunities for personal gain in mixed martial arts. Several months ago, one of the most well respected agents in the sport asked if I was using the MMAFA as a stepping stone for future advancement, whether in the form of becoming an agent, or taking a promotional job. As I responded at the time, the answer is absolutely not. The Mixed Martial Arts Fighters Association is not a stepping stone to any other role in mixed martial arts—it is the end in and of itself.
I welcome the opportunity to meet with you in person to discuss our association, and will interpret silence or lack of response as the UFC’s continued expression of complete neutrality.
Regards,
Rob Maysey
www.mmafa.tv
www.twitter.com/mmafa
www.facebook.com/TheMMAFA
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, WWE, Zach Arnold | 10 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Best of luck, brother.
Fertitta said that in the media because I believe it’s illegal…. or close to illegal…. for a company to not give it’s employees the option of a union. Of course there are legal tactic that can be used, but Fertitta would be on a slippery slope to say he is against a union.
Overall, the UFC treats it’s fighters well. Can things be improved? Absolutely. But for all of the UFC’s faults, they give 10 times more fairness and opportunity to fighters then the rest of the organizations out there.
Personally, I would like to see a union. As long as it’s sole mission isn’t to suck to UFC dry. I think a softer union, one that works with the UFC as a partner…. But also looks after the best interests of the fighters, would be beneficial to the sport.
As much as I really do think Fertitta has the fighters best interests at heart…. He is still in charge of running a business. Which means by the very nature of the relationship, he is incapable of really giving 100% thought towards the fighters needs. But like I said, I do see him as a good guy in a sport filled with bad ones. And it’s nice to see him as the head of the UFC.
Things that a union could help with are:
1) Implementing a base fighter pay.
2) Advocating for the fighters on likeness rights, revenue sharing on merchendising, and so forth. I know the UFC does some of this, but it can be used more widespread.
3) Transparency on fighter pay. I don’t think it needs to be public information. But I believe the fighters need to be able to access salary information on their fellow fighters through the union.
And I’m not in favor of an overall fighter’s union. I’m in favor of a UFC Fighter’s Union. Having one major organization with a fighters union is perfect. It makes sure all of the top fighters fight each other, but with enough leverage that fighters are still compensenated and treated fairly without the checks and balances of a competitor.
For some reason, that Daily Finance article was taken down.
Zach is hoping against hope that John Cena lays out Rampage to make him feel better for being such a pro-wrestling mark.
http://mmajunkie.com/news/19445/koscheck-suggests-olympic-style-drug-testing-needed-for-st-pierre-fight-champ-agrees.mma
Read some of the stuff that Koscheck says in this article. Just amazing stuff. The ultimate bad guy.
Good thing for all of us that Dana doesn’t give a fuck what Kos suggest one way or the other. For all of his faults one thing I like about Dana is that he doesn’t put up with any of the bullshit that has hurt boxing.
Also I was giving Kos a good shot to give GSP a challenge but after all of that crap he talked. I think he’s going to get his soul taken from him like BJ was, anyone who hates Kos better order this fight. Because you’re going to see the biggest beating GSP has ever given out to anyone ever.
smoogy,
here is a google cache of the story…. funny thing is…it’s got comments from the guy’s editor basically ripping him a new hole….
http://tinyurl.com/2drrr6u
And people say MMA media is bad…99% of the editors comments were legit. That could have been a very informative news piece, but instead it was just a largely disappointing and really poorly written piece.
[…] couple of days ago on the site, I linked to an article written by Michael Kaplan about the Fertitta Family coming out as ‘winners’ in their bankruptcy proceedings. If […]
All of the talk about a union in MMA is misleading. The MMAFA is not a union and its purpose is not collective bargaining, but rather merchandising and partnering with the promotions.