Once again, I have to believe that the UFC is ahead of the curve on this front. Fighters, in addition to working for the UFC, are their own brand and websites such as Twitter can help the fighter to directly grow their own personal iamge and receive more exposure. There are different, creative ways for a fighter to use Twitter and other social networking sites to actually make money for themselves. A fighter can tweet about their sponsor or hold sponsored contests through their Twitter account as an incentive for people to follow them and to pay attention, leading to increased value for the fans, the fighter, and the sponsoring company. UFC hall of famer and former champion, Chuck Liddell has even taken the next step and has developed MMAJacked.com a site specifically designed to connect Mixed Martial Arts fighters to their fans on a more personal level. Dana White frequently participates in “Twitter Tag,” an idea that was developed for Shaquille O’Neal by Digital Royalty that allows fans to find you in a public place such as a mall, or restaurant based on your tweets, usually for a prize, or in Dana White’s case, tickets to a UFC event. Georges St. Pierre’s Twitter account isn’t personally run by him, but his handlers had the idea to have fans e-mail Georges during his training by clicking a link that required you to sign up for his fan site before sending the e-mail, which ultimately attracted thousands of new fans.

The UFC is now more accessible than any other sports organization on a personal level. Everyone from the ring girls, to the announcers, to the fighters, to ownership all have highly personal Twitter accounts that are more than just company fluff and that actually give you insight into their lives and opinions which helps us, as fans, relate to them. As social media technology grows I am confident that the UFC will always be at the forefront and it will be interesting to see different business plans develop around these websites.

Please continue to post your comments and follow me on Twitter @zachlipari.

The UFC Has a Stranglehold on Social Media from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

It is easy to make the argument that the UFC is the fastest rising sport in the country and possibly in the world. For someone who is looking to get into the sports industry, it could seem like a potential “gravy train” to financial success. With the landscape of potential major league clients diluted due to heavy competition, MMA may look like a nice alternative to leagues such as the NFL or MLB for prospective agents, managers, or companies. I decided to look a little deeper into the cash flow of a UFC fighter, and his potential to make money down the line.

Just like in major league sports, you have your stars and your role players, your rookies and your veterans. With the UFC; however, the gap is a little larger and the talent pool is a lot smaller. The UFC signs its fighters to contracts based on number of fights and not years like in major league sports. A rookie contract is greatly reduced from that of an established veteran, unlike football where a rookie can come in and be paid millions of dollars before stepping foot on a field. The contracts aren’t guaranteed, and if you find yourself in a losing slump, you will be looking to work elsewhere fast. For most fighters though, you get paid to show (fight) and you get paid to win. Usually the figures are the same to show and to win, so a loss could mean half of your potential purse for the fight. The UFC also offers fight bonuses as added incentives for their fighters. Fight bonuses are rewarded for the fight of the night, knockout of the night, and submission of the night and could be substantial to a fighter. It is the UFC’s way to sweeten the pot for a good fight.

After looking at salary figures from the last few Pay Per View events, it seems that the average fighter’s salary ranges from around $6,000 to $35,000 to show and to win, hardly a fraction of an NFL game check. Marquee fighters who have re-negotiated their rookie contracts earn in the lower six figure range, with the top level salary per fight that I have seen topping out at $500,000. Fight bonuses usually vary, but range between $50,000 to $70,000, a potential substantial bonus for someone in the lower pay range. A fighter could also be awarded multiple bonuses for a fight, which could make for a huge pay day. This past weekend, UFC Welterweight Josh Koscheck earned both fight of the night and submission of the night bonuses for his win over Anthony Johnson. Koscheck’s salary for the fight was $53,000 to show and $53,000 to win, and added to the $70,000 per bonus award, equaled a total of $246,000. Not bad for a night’s work, but hardly the norm.

It is safe to say that fighters make most of their money through endorsements. Companies pay good money to advertise their brand on a fighter through some sort of signage or apparel. I was curious to see how much fighters could potentially make through these kind of endorsements. After looking into it I found some numbers for Joe Lauzon, a ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ veteran and mid-level UFC fighter with not too much name cache’ but someone who was certainly going to be on T.V. The numbers are as follows:

• Team hat: $5,000
• Front of team shirt (entire front): $15,000
• Back of shirt:
  • Top banner (large font, across entire shirt): $1,000
  • Small banners (about 8 total): $500
• Fight Shorts:
  • Butt banner $5,000
  • Outside sides of thighs, front or back: $3,500 each (there’s 4)
  • Inside of thighs (4 available): $2,500

These numbers, when added up equal $54,000, which was likely more than Joe made for the entire fight. Remember this is for a mid-level fighter, so I would have to think that fighters such as Chuck Liddell and Brock Lesnar, etc are making in the six to seven figure range for their sponsorships in addition to their fight salary and potential bonuses. If you were someone who wanted to get into the business of MMA and represent fighters, it would be your job to secure these sponsors for your fighters, and would also most likely be your main source of revenue.

Fighters could also take these sponsorships, and with the help of a good manager, turn them into endorsement deals. Print ads, commercials, and online signage is a very profitable business and could be a great way to add increased revenue for your fighter. Also, endorsement deals are different from sponsorship deals in the sense that the UFC doesn’t ban their fighters from endorsing brands, but have recently put certain sponsors on their own little blacklist at UFC events. Brands who have challenged the UFC in some way, big or small, have found themselves on the outs with the UFC, and it can affect some fighters profoundly. The UFC can justify this by saying that in other promotions, the sponsorship dollars don’t even come close since the UFC is so popular. They feel that controlling sponsorships is perfectly justified. There was talk around UFC 100 that the UFC was going to charge potential sponsors $100,000 for the right to sponsor a fighter at the event because of the sheer magnitude of the night. Is this any different than the NFL charging millions of dollars for 30 second commercials during the Superbowl? That is to be debated, but is something to be considered if you are a company looking to get involved.

There is money to be made if you are a fighter or represent a fighter in the UFC. Compared to other professional sports organizations and boxing, the UFC still seems to be on the lower side of things as far as compensation for their athletes, but for a privately owned company who puts on and promotes their own events, it is reasonable for the moment. Still, some fights feature fighters who make $300,000 against fighters who are making $30,000, something I wouldn’t exactly call fair, especially when the $30,000 fighter wins. Such is life in the UFC at the moment, and one would think it is just going to get better as it gets bigger.

Please post any questions or comments and have a safe and happy Thanksgiving! Follow me on Twitter @Zachlipari

MMA Athletes: Fighting For Every Dollar from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

While other organizations are beginning to challenge the UFC for some of the top fighters, MMA’s growth can be closely tied to the excellent job Dana White and the Fertitta brothers have done with the UFC. White took a brand that had almost no current value, legitimized it by working with legislating bodies, added more safety elements and rules and made some excellent decisions marketing the new product. The result was an organization North American fans looked to as the leader in the MMA world and largely recognized the UFC champions as the best in the world. While the now defunct Pride organization had arguably just as good or better fighters, it competed in a separate market from the UFC and did not confuse North American MMA fans during the sports rebirth.

While MMA and boxing fans love to argue about which is better, another controversial topic is the instant attention being paid to two new stars. Kimbo Slice is EliteXC’s poster boy and a Youtube sensation. Kimbo (Real name Kevin Ferguson) made a name for himself through tapes of him brawling in backyards and parking lots in Florida and being the toughest guy in the neighborhood. EliteXC wanted to capitalize on his Youtube popularity and helped put him in touch with MMA trainer and former UFC champion Bas Rutten. Kimbo holds a 2-0 professional MMA record with wins over little known Bo Cantrell (10-11) and fan favorite David “Tank” Abbott. However, Abbott’s last professional win was over two and a half years prior to his fight with Kimbo and his best days as a fighter are behind him. Fighters such as Chuck Liddell have gone on the record either expressing their distain for the attention being heaped at Kimbo or to say that if put in the octagon against them, Kimbo would be no match.

The UFC has its own version of Kimbo Slice in Brock Lesnar. Lesnar, the former WWE champion (not real fighting) was the co-main event of a UFC card in his first UFC fight and only his second professional MMA fight, losing the fight to Frank Mir, an expert in submissions and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. However, Lesnar’s collegiate athletic experience separates him from Kimbo. In 2000, Lesnar was the NCAA Heavyweight Division 1 champion in wrestling, one of the critical elements in MMA competition. Lesnar is such a great athlete that the Minnesota Vikings welcomed him to try out for the team. While he did not make the team, the fact that an NFL team would welcome an athlete to try out for their team with limited football experience speaks to his raw athletic talent.

Kimbo Slice vs. Brock Lesnar is an interesting comparison. Round 1, being a comparison of the way they have been managed to date goes to Kimbo Slice. Kimbo has been matched up against opponents he can beat who are willing to play to what we can only believe is his strength, his standup game and power. The first televised MMA card on a major network is on May 31 and features Slice against James Thompson. This fight is set up to show what may be MMA’s largest ever television audience a devastating Kimbo Slice knockout. Thompson has lost 7 times by either knock out or technical knockout. Thompson usually likes to trade punches and definitely will be under pressure to do so here.

By contrast, the UFC matched Lesnar up with one of the worst possible opponents for him. If it was a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lesnar’s strength and take down abilities make him rock. However, the UFC put him up against a Jiu-jitsu expert who was able to submit him. Frank Mir in this case is paper. While usually pretty great at matching and marketing fighters, this particular fight left many scratching their heads. Possibly, the UFC was trying to recoup the large investment they made on Lesnar and figured a fight against someone as well known and as talented as Mir would make him legitimate for a monster fight if he won or, if he lost, he would be able to withstand it and remain a large box-office pull while Mir would once again become a headliner. Round 1 goes to Kimbo.

Round 2, based on intimidation, goes to both fighters. If you put either of these guys into a bull-fighting arena, they would probably charge at the bull and the bull would be wise to run away. If either of them hit an average person, the average person would be lucky to ever get up.

Round 3 is purely potential as a fighter. Both are insanely strong. Lesnar though is one of the greatest collegiate wrestlers of the past decade. Kimbo was a brawler before being a technical striker but has picked up the skill set quickly and looked much more pure than Abbott in his last fight. However, Kimbo would want to stay on his feet and strike against Lesnar, while Lesnar would be able to use his wrestling to take the fight to the ground. Ultimately, Lesnar would be able to ground-and-pound Kimbo and win the fight. Lesnar is also a younger fighter who has more time to learn the complexities of the sport. While Kimbo may have a great career, and Lesnar stumbled out of the gate, look for Lesnar to be a legitimate champion before Kimbo Slice. Lesnar, Round 3, KO.

Kimbo Slice Vs. Brock Lesnar from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules