We are your free recource for news, fight cards, fighter profiles, rankings, MMA TV, MMA Videos and more. Discuss MMA with other fans and enthusiasts. Are you a chump or champ?
Registration is free and takes less than one minute. You can register your free account here.
You must join the forum to watch fight videos and you will gain access to the Live Streams Forum
Dana White announced huge merchandising deals with major retailers this week that will put all kinds of things UFC out to the masses. This not only helps the UFC but the fighters themselves.
With fighters such as Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski (and most likely Tito Ortiz) jumping ship to other organizations do they still think that was a good idea? This is going to give UFC fighters the potential to more big pay days without doing much work at all and it is for an infinite amount of time....people will still buy Iceman action figures well after he retires. Fighters are jumping ship for bigger fight pay days but they need to look at the big picture and financial stability of other organizations.
Can the other organizations offer this???? Not any time soon. I bet there are some fighters kicking themselves after hearing this.
Excerpt from story...
"Already, close to 80 current UFC fighters have signed on for these licensing deals, with more coming on board every day. And while favorable royalty percentages and the ability to make money even when retired from the sport are nice, what has put smiles on the faces of these athletes is that the UFC licensing deals are non-exclusive, still freeing the fighters up to do whatever they choose in terms of other non-exclusive deals.“Our deal is non-exclusive,” said White. “These guys can do any other non-exclusive deal they want as long as they don’t use the Zuffa name. If they want to market their image and do that themselves, they can. We’re not trying to take money out of their pockets; we’re trying to put it in their pocket in perpetuity. And on top of that we’re trying to enhance their Octagon image with the UFC to the world.”
“All of our fighters are really excited to see themselves, along with the UFC, becoming a brand,” added Soares. “And I think this merchandising deal with the UFC is going to help build these guys into their own individual brands. As a manager, it’s always important what’s best for our athletes, but at the end of the day, we’re all on the same team in a sense, and we have to find out what’s going to be the best deal for both parties, because the more money that the UFC makes on this deal, the more money we make on this deal, so it’s a win-win all around.”
I don't know about restrictions however this gives fighters the ability to get paid after they stop fighting. There are no retirement plans or 401k's to fall back on. The good one's are starting gyms, being commentators, etc. however it is a small %'s doing this. This is a BIG plus to the UFC vs other organizations.
I said a while back that the UFC backlash was coming. I think that the UFC will survive it, but it will be harsh.
Going mainstream may not be the best thing for sport preservation.
I really think that some of the big names and lesser known names vacating now before the public backlash will actully help the UFC recover.
As for the action figures, I dont know, I think that may not make or break a career. I mean what if you are the lame action figure that ends up on clearance or at the dollar store?
I wouldn't mind being an action figure in the dollar store, as long as people buy it. Something is better than nothing with money. It seems like it could be a good competitive advantage the UFC has however if it takes off Affliction and others could team up with other companies that would be willing to follow the trend and do the same thing.
Right, but their image and brand is their asset and all they have. The successful fighters are branding their names on gyms, clothing lines, etc. Action figures are just another stream of income for them.
It's like other sports; it pays to have a good financial guy or team in their corner (no pun intended) to ensure the money stream doesn't stop between fights or especially after the fighting is over.
