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The price tag of a $4 billion UFC sale: competing fighter union proposals
By Zach Arnold | August 11, 2016
The irony of Nick Diaz’s attorney being part of a new UFC Fighters Union is super delicious. Lorenzo Fertitta cashed out just in the nick of time, as he always does.
The Professional Fighters Association is being headed by Barry Bonds’ agent, Jeff Borris. It allegedly has the support of former baseball Godfather, Don Fehr, who is the king of hardball.
The question then becomes: where do fighters race to first? PFA or Rob Maysey’s MMAFA organization and his fighters engaged in an antitrust lawsuit against UFC?
After you answer that question, then there’s a next series of questions:
- Would UFC even recognize or do business with an organization like PFA? There are thousands of fighters willing to fight for peanuts.
- Would UFC be willing to ice out booking any fighter aligned with PFA… even if it involves their top names and even if it means significantly hurting their own quality of product?
- What would a group like PFA mean for USADA drug testing? Collective bargaining agreements handle drug testing. How do you get a CBA with a company like UFC if UFC wouldn’t recognize and accept the existence of a PFA?
- How would a proposed union like PFA manage to clawback ancillary rights for fighters on marketing likenesses if the current UFC contracts signed by fighters gave away those rights in the first place?
- Why would UFC give up their Reebok contract and revert back to fighters being able to obtain their own sponsorships? It goes against the business theory of a 360-style contract to give a powerhouse agency like William Morris the power to market fighters into pop and business culture.
- Why would any fighter with ties to WME or aspirations of ties to WME agree to join a union like PFA?
Bonus question: Should unionization become successful, how much longer before UFC starts raising prices on everything in order to justify rising costs of doing business?
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 5 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
For the union to work it just needs 5 to 10 of the right fighters on board and then everybody else will join.
I’m talking about a GSP, Conor, Jones, and Rouse level fighter.
The biggest problem with a fighter’s union (which absolutely should happen, IMHO)? It won’t materialize because fighters, as a whole, are a greedy and selfish lot. They only think of themselves, and how they can better themselves only. If a fighter makes his money then why the fuck would he care about his fellow fighter? I can think of many good reasons as to why he (fake example, obviously) should care about his fellow fighter, but he won’t. Fighters who care about other fighters is a pretty small number unfortunately.
Another issue is that most fighters are very short-sighted. Most fighters will fight for peanuts and not say anything about it because of the thinking that they will fight for the big money in the future. It’s like middle class and poor people living in the south in the 1800’s who were in favor of slavery. Why should they be in favor of slavery? They didn’t own slaves. They couldn’t afford them! But, the prospect that they themselves may get rich someday and own slaves of their own is what gave that mind set. So be it to say, pretty much all people with that of thinking never made the money to be able to own slaves. Or poor and middle class people of now in favor of tax cuts to the top two percent. Why would anyone not in the top….I’ll say ten percent or so….be in favor of tax cuts for the rich? Because of the prospect that they themselves will be rich. Stupid way of thinking, but it is human nature.
Also, if someone tries to start a union or something of the like? Guaranteed someone will rat them out. Hulk Hogan did it to….either Jesse Ventura or Roddy Piper. Can’t remember which one.
Here is a piece from Sherdog on this issue put up today. It even covers the mindset I was talking about.
http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/McGregor-Would-Consider-Leading-Fighters-Union-in-the-Future-If-It-Is-Presented-Correctly-109817
Read the last two paragraphs especially. As much as Conor McGregor would love a fighter’s union, he is thinking of himself first and foremost. Will he spearhead a fighter’s union in the future? Who the fuck knows. I’ll believe it when I see it.
Professional Fighters Association Press Conference:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7r9LNVAjzY
[…] Then there’s the effort by Lucas Middlebrook, estimable attorney, to create a union for fighters. The argument against that effort by Rob Maysey, a leader in the antitrust lawsuit, is that a union would create a scenario where fighters could not pursue antitrust legal action against UFC because of a prospective collective bargaining agreement. […]