Salaries in MMA?

Question

Does anyone care to guess what the average percent of revenue the UFC pays to all fighters combined on a card?

First we have to put this in perspective.

The average revenue paid by all sports franchises in all sports is 50%. The average for baseball is lower slightly and the average for football is slightly higher, but it is around 50%.

In boxing the fighters on the card get an average of 75% of the total revenue.

The UFC has been paying about 10% of their revenue to combined fighters on the card.

I don't mind to pay Anderson Silva and GSP and BJ Penn and Chuck Liddell, but I don't like thinking that when I purchase an event the Fertitta brothers and Dana pocket around 90% of my money.

I don't mind them making money and making a lot, but 90% of my purchases shouldn't go to them.

This is a long way for me to say that I hope Trump and Cuban can put a dent in their market share.

Answer 1

Please, show me your source for this info.  Claiming they pay out 10% of their total revenue is a statement I'd like to see backed up with some proof.  Regardless, as much as I don't mind other MMA organizations other than UFC and I do enjoy watching their shows, all bottom out due to cost of running the show.  People comparing the payouts of the Affliction event to the last UFC event need to realize Affliction didn't even get close to breaking even from that pay per view.  Affliction lost a considerable amount of money due to less than ideal pay per view buys and what else?  The amount of money paid out to their fighters.  Trump and Cuban will likely not continue backing Affliction if they have a few more events that lose the amount of money this past one did.

Answer 2

What about all the years they lost money?  

What about the production costs and all the other people that get paid?

Since the debut of "The Ultimate Fighter" Season 1, just 3 years ago, UFC fighter salaries have risen by 1000%.

3 years ago, the UFC was losing money.

5 years ago, the UFC was not even on PPV and was illegal in more than 1/2 the states.  

MMA would not be where it is without Dana White and the Fertitta brothers.  

Yes, the UFC is making money now and the increase in fighters salaries are showing that.  

Think about Pride FC, they had some of the best fighters in the world and they were wildly popular in Japan and the USA, but they still folded due to financial and legal problems.

These things take time.  The UFC is taking care of their fighters.

Affliction has some good heavyweights.  But they are non-exclusive and can fight anywhere.  

Outside of the heavyweight division, there are only a handful of non-UFC fighters that have what it takes to fight in the UFC.  A few examples are Matt Lindland, Cung Le, Frank Shamrock, maybe Robbie Lawler.  The others are mid tier, probably washed up former UFC fighters.  

The UFC is going to be king for a long time.

James

Answer 3

Here's a link to a website that shows the payouts for the last UFC fight night that had Silva vs. Irvin....

http://mmamania.com/2008/07/21/ufc-fight...

Answer 4

You are an idiot. To suggest that they pocket 90% is ridiculous.

It costs lots of money to put on a show with the quality the UFC does. They rent out the best arenas, have to pay for a traveling crew and equipment. Not to mention a huge staff of logistics people at a home office.

Also Dana White has done a great job at investing the money they have made back into the company. The UFC currently has over 200 fighters on contract, other companies average around 80. They have funded 8 seasons of The Ultimate Fighter and small cards for UFC Fight Night.

Lastly, the published salaries of the fighters does not include thier take of the gate and ppv sales. Those salaries are published long before those numbers are even finalized.

Could the fighters stand to make a bit more money? Yes, but even Affliction has said there is no way they can afford to pay thier fighters nearly as well as they did for thier first show.

Tim Silvia is not worth 800,000 a fight.