The UFC signed a large $7.7 billion deal to maneuver from ESPN to Paramount in 2026, however there are nonetheless loads of questions remaining about how that massive enhance in income may truly profit the fighters.
Earlier than the ink might dry on the contracts, UFC CEO Dana White was fielding questions on fighter pay and the way that impacts the athletes after the corporate greater than doubled its income from the upcoming broadcast rights deal. White didn’t point out any specifics, though he promised that post-fight bonuses would positively enhance from the usual $50,000 handed out at each occasion, however no additional particulars had been revealed.
Addressing fighter pay considerations with this new broadcast rights deal, TKO Group Holdings president and COO Mark Shapiro vowed that athletes are going to benefit from the fruits of this profitable new contract the identical as traders watching the corporate’s backside line.
“We’re working a reasonably lean price construction, and in that price construction is fighter pay,” Shapiro stated in the course of the Goldman-Sachs Communacopia and Expertise convention. “We’re going to proceed to do proper by our fighters and our superstars.
“The cream of the crop will probably be paid the premium {dollars}. After we do offers like this, we don’t hoard that cash. We put money into the product.”
Based mostly on information revealed throughout a pair of antitrust lawsuits filed towards the UFC by present and former fighters, the corporate usually pays out between 16 and 20 p.c of the entire income relating to cash going again to the athletes.
That’s a dramatic distinction from most main sports activities leagues, the place athletes within the NFL, NBA, and Main League Baseball usually take residence round 50 p.c of the income earned by the leagues.
When it got here to potential pay will increase for fighters within the UFC after the brand new $7.7 billion cope with Paramount, Shapiro didn’t supply any numbers or percentages however he promised athletes underneath the TKO umbrella are nonetheless incomes extra money than with every other fight sports activities promotion.
“We’re going to share as a lot because it is sensible with the celebs of each leagues,” Shapiro stated, referring to UFC and WWE. “We will probably be very aggressive. We’re very aggressive. We pay greater than every other competitor we’ve got within the fight sports activities house, and we all know why we’re right here. It’s a crew effort. It’s our model. It’s the work that Dana White does and the WWE facet; it’s the inventive drive that Triple H is. It’s the technique that Nick Khan drives. It’s in the end the exhausting work put in by our crews. Keep in mind, we’re doing numerous fights per week. Monday Evening Uncooked, you’ve bought NXT on Tuesday night time, you’ve bought a Friday night time Smackdown, you’ve bought a UFC battle, and generally you may have a [premium live event] or a numbered [UFC] occasion. These are numerous occasions to place down. There’s no breaks on this firm. It’s 52 weeks a 12 months.
“So we’ve got to pay for efficiency when it comes to our individuals, and the identical goes for our fighters and superstars. You shouldn’t count on something out of the peculiar. It’s a run fee for us, however we’re targeted on it.”
Shapiro acknowledged there are outliers relating to UFC pay, and people athletes are positively incomes greater than others, however that simply comes with the territory for superstars driving rankings and ticket gross sales.
“Sure, you’ll get a few of these Conor McGregors if you’ll that basically transfer the needle or Jon Jones that receives a commission a little bit extra however they ship extra in return,” Shapiro stated. “It’s a scale and it’s a system and we’re very clear about it with our fighters and our superstars.”
UFC CEO Dana White additionally fired again on the notion that the group falls woefully behind different fight sports activities like boxing relating to paying the athletes.
As White prepares to embark on his first official present as a boxing promoter on Saturday for the Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford battle, the longtime UFC boss says fighters in his firm are effectively compensated, however particularly in comparison with the skewed means solely absolutely the prime boxers on this planet earn a hefty paycheck.
“There’s all the time this discuss that there’s this big pay discrepancy between boxing and MMA, which is complete bullshit,” White instructed Ring Journal. “We have now guys that will be thought-about journeymen within the UFC that make hundreds of thousands of {dollars}. The cash’s simply unfold out amongst the fighters higher. Then you may have the blokes that basically matter, just like the Conor McGregors, the Ronda Rouseys. Even a girl got here in and was the highest-paid fighter on the time. You eat what you kill right here within the UFC.
“I believe this [new boxing promotion] goes to create numerous alternatives for younger, up-and-coming guys that will be making a pair grand for some obscure title battle, and with easier weight courses, you’ll truly know a few of these champions now and know who they’re and hopefully care.”
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