The MMA Thread: DON'T ASK 4 STREAMS & NO GIFS- Cannonier, Imavov, Reyes, Rosas on NOW

[steevoo1]

Lol. This is what I was saying

The whole body holding up was him waiting on his medicals to get back. He said if he was cleared by the Drs. he's going to fight.

 

[jewseejay]

He's still pretending Mayweather v Mcgregor wasn't a showtime/TMT venture hahajaja

 

[spiderjericho]

My real question is Aljo fought two or three weeks ago and has to turn around and fight in August. What other champion has that schedule (besides Izzy)?

 

[spiderjericho]

 

[xbiker47]

No one is gonna mention sean O’Malley sitting on the sideline hoping cejudo beats sterling so he wouldn’t have to fight him. Sterling is the one criticized for not turning around quick enough and defending his belt. Lol.

 

[steevoo1]

No one is gonna mention sean O’Malley sitting on the sideline hoping cejudo beats sterling so he wouldn’t have to fight him. Sterling is the one criticized for not turning around quick enough and defending his belt. Lol.

100% . Not only Sean but I'm sure the ufc wanted that match up. It's the only reason Henry got the shot when Omalley was healthy on the sideline.

 

[steevoo1]

That John Nash UFC financial piece is crazy. Fighter pay went down 13% while the ufc made its most profit ever last year.

Really hope WME doesn't buy Bellator. It'll just get even worse. Most of that roster will get cut and pay becoming more of a struggle.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

No one is gonna mention sean O’Malley sitting on the sideline hoping cejudo beats sterling so he wouldn’t have to fight him. Sterling is the one criticized for not turning around quick enough and defending his belt. Lol.

Sterling called for cejudo and not O’Malley

Dana actually gave Sterling the nod to call his shot if we’re being honest lol

So I don’t really blame O’Malley at all in this, and I’ve criticized O’Malley more than a few times

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

That John Nash UFC financial piece is crazy. Fighter pay went down 13% while the ufc made its most profit ever last year.

Really hope WME doesn't buy Bellator. It'll just get even worse. Most of that roster will get cut and pay becoming more of a struggle.

Luke said they made 384 million profit and also Mike heck just said the ufc was printing money

アミーゴ what’s the word bro

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Lol

 

[spiderjericho]

You have to pay for the John Nash article?

Fighter pay was only %13 of 1.03 Billion dollars?

$167 million in sponsorships!!

 

[steevoo1]

You have to pay for the John Nash article?

Fighter pay was only %13 of 1.03 Billion dollars?

$167 million in sponsorships!!

Yeah, I'm subscribed to his substack. Here you go.

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13% revenue share? Fighter pay drops, UFC profits blow past every fight promoter combined​

Breaking down UFC finances for 2022.​

JOHN S. NASH
MAY 22, 2023
∙ PAID
21
9




Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc filed financial statements on May 12 with the SEC for their fully owned subsidiary, the UFC. The WWE did likewise, as both companies prepare for their planned merger at the end of the year into a new entity called “TKO.”
This email list is the best way to keep up with Bloody Elbow, the home of independent combat sports journalism. Sign up and join us as we fight for the sport, the fighters and the fans.
Subscribed
Endeavor’s usual filings with the SEC include some details about their Owned Sports Properties, for which the UFC makes up by far the biggest portion of the segment. For the most part, these do not contain much in the way of specifics regarding the UFC’s finances. In comparison, these new filings contain consolidated financial statements that reveal so much about the UFC’s finances from the last three years.
Looking through them, one can only come to the conclusion that the UFC is doing great. And great is an understatement that doesn’t come close to giving their current business justice. Amazing, unparalleled, mind-blowing, flabbergasting. There aren’t enough superlatives to describe how good they are doing. UFC is rolling in it.

UFC filings show highest ever revenue​

According to their 8-K, the UFC generated $1.140 billion in revenue last year. This is the highest revenue the UFC has ever reported for a year.
To read John Nash’s deep-dive into the UFC’s financials you’ll need to be a paying subscriber to Bloody Elbow
It’s more than the $1.032 billion they saw in 2021, and a lot more than the $891 million they had in 2020. It is also a lot, lot more than the $609 million in revenue they reported in 2015, the last full year in which they were owned by Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta.

UFC finances: 2022 profits likely more than every MMA and boxing promoters combined​

Last year they also saw $629 million in adjusted EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest Taxes Depreciation and Amortization.) That was another record for the company (this will be a recurring theme.) It was more than the $402 million they had in 2019, which was more than 2017’s $257 million, and much more than the $189 million in adjust EBITDA they reported for 2015. Their EBITDA margins have grown too, from 31% in 2015 to 55% last year.


Their net income (profits) are even more impressive, growing from $119 million in 2015 to $177 million in 2020, to $272 million in 2021, and reaching $387 million in 2022, a margin of 34%. In other words for every dollar they see in revenue, roughly 1/3 of it will end up as profit.
It’s difficult to express how incredible this is. That $387 million not only dwarfs what all the other MMA promotions - both major and minor- are estimated to make combined, it also dwarfs all the other major boxing promoters, also combined. In fact it likely surpasses the total profits of all MMA and boxing promoters.
That’s not hyperbole. Matchroom Boxing, one of the three biggest promotional entities in boxing, reported profits of £11 million last year, or around 14 million US dollars — a mere fraction of what the UFC is seeing. As for the other MMA promotions, even the supposed “duopoly” rivals of the UFC are lucky if they are not losing tens of millions, if not over $100 million again.

Where did UFC get over a billion in revenue?​

The UFC’s record-breaking revenue extends also to each of the individual segments. Media right and content, live events, sponsorships, and consumer product licensing all set records for 2022.
Media rights and content broadcast rights fees was the largest source of revenue for the UFC, generating $794 million last year, up $26 million from the 2021, while holding one fewer event. Media rights and content was $462 million in 2015, before Endeavor acquired the company. This segment covers domestic and international media rights fees for both live events and taped programming and pay-per-views. Pay-per-views are distributed through cable, satellite, and digital providers to residential (homes) and commercial establishments (bars and theaters). The UFC also owns and operates its own OTT platform, through which they collect revenues through subscribers and digital PPV buys.
Live event revenues totaled over $126 million in 2022, up from $106 million in 2021 and approximately $98 million in 2020. Back in 2015 it generated $75 million. The segment mostly consists of ticket, site fees, and VIP package sales.
Sponsorships have risen from $52 million in 2015 to $167 million in 2022. The UFCs sponsorship revenue includes “arena and octagon signage, digital and broadcast content, on-air announcements, special appearances by fighters and other forms of advertisement.”
Consumer products licensing generated $53 million in revenue in 2022, up from $19 million in 2015. It is “derived from licensing the Company’s logos, trade names, trademarks and related symbolic intellectual property to third party manufacturers and distributors of branded merchandise. Many of the licensing agreements include minimum guarantees, which set forth the minimum royalty to be paid to the Company during a given contract year.”

UFC’s expenses — including fighter pay — have gone down​

While UFC has seen nothing but new highs for their revenue sources, the opposite is true for their expenses which have gone down from 2021 to 2022.
Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased by 13.1%, to $210 for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. The segments expenses primarily include personnel costs as well as rent, travel, professional service costs and an annual management fee of $25.0 million paid to Endeavor.
Direct operating costs totaled $326 million in 2022. This is a 3% decrease from 2021 revenues of $336 million, which in turn was up 25.5% from $267 million in 2020..
Direct operating costs primarily includes athlete costs (including athlete costs related to live events), event production, event specific marketing, and venue costs , as well as, to a lesser degree, direct costs with distributors and sales agents, “technology costs to operate UFC Fight Pass”, and the operation of the athletes performance centers.
The biggest reason for a decrease in direct operating costs from 2021 to 2022, was a $32.8 million reduction in athlete costs. This was primarily due to holding one fewer event, as well as different athlete matchups — meaning different fighters with higher payouts were fighting or earning more from pay-per-view bonuses.

Lowest ever fighter revenue share this era?​

I had previously estimated what the UFC’s total compensation to fighters was for 2021 based on statements by Endeavor CEO Jason Lubin’s during an earnings call.

Lubin also disclosed that fighter pay had increased 26% CAGR since 2005. Since we also know what total fighter pay was in 2005 — $4.3 million — total fighter pay would have been around $178.8 million last year.

If that’s accurate, then deducting $32.8 million in athlete cost would make fighter compensation around $146 million in 2022. Or less than 13% of the total revenue.
This would be lower than the $148 million the Plaintiffs’ experts in the Le v Zuffa case were estimating the UFC paid to their athletes in 2016.
The most obvious reason for this decrease in fighter compensation was the absence of Conor McGregor. Two fights between McGregor and Poirier - and the purses both likely commanded for two of the best-selling pay-per-views in the promotion’s history - likely explains most of the $32.8 million decrease. But in many ways that makes it more noteworthy, for even without any blockbuster McGregor pay-per-views, they saw an increase in their revenues. And every dollar of that increased revenue went towards their EBITDA and net income, instead of the fighters.
One other item reached a new high, and that was the companies interest expenses which were up from $102 million in 2021 to $140 million in 2022 due to an increase in interest rates. This is even as the UFC’s debt was lowered from $2.876 billion to $2.793 during that time. The UFC’s debt burden is mostly from loans taken out to pay the previous owners of Zuffa during the purchase of the UFC as well as an additional $600 million that was used to finance a dividend for Endeavor.
In summary, the UFC had their best year yet again, and there’s little reason to doubt we won’t be saying the same thing again next year.

​

​

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

You can give all of the information and more to these fighters and they are still stupid enough to let themselves get violated and robbed

I will continue to repeat this: stop getting mad at Dana white. Stop getting mad at the ufc

That is the most pointless waste of anger you could have

It is solely on the fighters to do something about this

No law requires the ufc to pay the fighters fairly

Stop getting mad at the promotion that is doing exactly what they’re allowed to do

This has been happening since the beginning

It’s almost funny at this point that they refuse to unionize

 

[SORIANOTRON]

Lol

"Franics Ngannou's manager"

 

[steevoo1]

You can give all of the information and more to these fighters and they are still stupid enough to let themselves get violated and robbed

I will continue to repeat this: stop getting mad at Dana white. Stop getting mad at the ufc

That is the most pointless waste of anger you could have

It is solely on the fighters to do something about this

No law requires the ufc to pay the fighters fairly

Stop getting mad at the promotion that is doing exactly what they’re allowed to do

This has been happening since the beginning

It’s almost funny at this point that they refuse to unionize

It can go both ways though. Yeah, a good amount of this relies on the fighters to unionize but it's at a point where the promotion is so far ahead in power that makes it almost impossible.

Should we blame workers of big corporations (Amazon, Starbucks) for being paid unfairly? It's the same ****. Once the word spreads of trying to unionize at a specific location gets brought up they end it right away by closing or firing.

There can be change through political means. If/when the promotion starts making as much revenue to be considered as a "Top 4" sport in America, it will definitely bring more attention for that possibility.

Imo, it should always get talked about whether the fighters take action or not.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

It can go both ways though. Yeah, a good amount of this relies on the fighters to unionize but it's at a point where the promotion is so far ahead in power that makes it almost impossible.

Should we blame workers of big corporations (Amazon, Starbucks) for being paid unfairly? It's the same ****. Once the word spreads of trying to unionize at a specific location gets brought up they end it right away by closing or firing.

There can be change through political means. If/when the promotion starts making as much revenue to be considered as a "Top 4" sport in America, it will definitely bring more attention for that possibility.

Imo, it should always get talked about whether the fighters take action or not.

Of course you can get upset with capitalism, that’s up to the individual. Can yell, kick and scream til you’re blue in the face. That ain’t gonna do anything though unless laws are being broken

The promotion is not too far ahead. It never can be. If the fighters stopped working, the ufc, as powerful and rich as they are would not be able to fulfill their contractual obligations. They would instantly lose their leverage. Especially if the best fighters refused to work

Of course that’s an extreme measure- but that’s what it’ll take and what it was always going to take

What can be done even if the ufc/mma was a top 4 sport? Could laws be passed to pay the fighters more? I genuinely didn’t think that would be possible but I don’t know the law as thorough as maybe some of you guys

 

[bapar11]

that mcgregor forever on netflix was cool.
anybody watch?

 

[spiderjericho]

Yeah, I'm subscribed to his substack. Here you go.

Spoiler

​

Renew


Read in the Substack app
Open app

13% revenue share? Fighter pay drops, UFC profits blow past every fight promoter combined​

Breaking down UFC finances for 2022.​

JOHN S. NASH
MAY 22, 2023
∙ PAID
21
9



Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc filed financial statements on May 12 with the SEC for their fully owned subsidiary, the UFC. The WWE did likewise, as both companies prepare for their planned merger at the end of the year into a new entity called “TKO.”
This email list is the best way to keep up with Bloody Elbow, the home of independent combat sports journalism. Sign up and join us as we fight for the sport, the fighters and the fans.
Subscribed
Endeavor’s usual filings with the SEC include some details about their Owned Sports Properties, for which the UFC makes up by far the biggest portion of the segment. For the most part, these do not contain much in the way of specifics regarding the UFC’s finances. In comparison, these new filings contain consolidated financial statements that reveal so much about the UFC’s finances from the last three years.
Looking through them, one can only come to the conclusion that the UFC is doing great. And great is an understatement that doesn’t come close to giving their current business justice. Amazing, unparalleled, mind-blowing, flabbergasting. There aren’t enough superlatives to describe how good they are doing. UFC is rolling in it.

UFC filings show highest ever revenue​

According to their 8-K, the UFC generated $1.140 billion in revenue last year. This is the highest revenue the UFC has ever reported for a year.
To read John Nash’s deep-dive into the UFC’s financials you’ll need to be a paying subscriber to Bloody Elbow
It’s more than the $1.032 billion they saw in 2021, and a lot more than the $891 million they had in 2020. It is also a lot, lot more than the $609 million in revenue they reported in 2015, the last full year in which they were owned by Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta.

UFC finances: 2022 profits likely more than every MMA and boxing promoters combined​

Last year they also saw $629 million in adjusted EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest Taxes Depreciation and Amortization.) That was another record for the company (this will be a recurring theme.) It was more than the $402 million they had in 2019, which was more than 2017’s $257 million, and much more than the $189 million in adjust EBITDA they reported for 2015. Their EBITDA margins have grown too, from 31% in 2015 to 55% last year.

Their net income (profits) are even more impressive, growing from $119 million in 2015 to $177 million in 2020, to $272 million in 2021, and reaching $387 million in 2022, a margin of 34%. In other words for every dollar they see in revenue, roughly 1/3 of it will end up as profit.
It’s difficult to express how incredible this is. That $387 million not only dwarfs what all the other MMA promotions - both major and minor- are estimated to make combined, it also dwarfs all the other major boxing promoters, also combined. In fact it likely surpasses the total profits of all MMA and boxing promoters.
That’s not hyperbole. Matchroom Boxing, one of the three biggest promotional entities in boxing, reported profits of £11 million last year, or around 14 million US dollars — a mere fraction of what the UFC is seeing. As for the other MMA promotions, even the supposed “duopoly” rivals of the UFC are lucky if they are not losing tens of millions, if not over $100 million again.

Where did UFC get over a billion in revenue?​

The UFC’s record-breaking revenue extends also to each of the individual segments. Media right and content, live events, sponsorships, and consumer product licensing all set records for 2022.
Media rights and content broadcast rights fees was the largest source of revenue for the UFC, generating $794 million last year, up $26 million from the 2021, while holding one fewer event. Media rights and content was $462 million in 2015, before Endeavor acquired the company. This segment covers domestic and international media rights fees for both live events and taped programming and pay-per-views. Pay-per-views are distributed through cable, satellite, and digital providers to residential (homes) and commercial establishments (bars and theaters). The UFC also owns and operates its own OTT platform, through which they collect revenues through subscribers and digital PPV buys.
Live event revenues totaled over $126 million in 2022, up from $106 million in 2021 and approximately $98 million in 2020. Back in 2015 it generated $75 million. The segment mostly consists of ticket, site fees, and VIP package sales.
Sponsorships have risen from $52 million in 2015 to $167 million in 2022. The UFCs sponsorship revenue includes “arena and octagon signage, digital and broadcast content, on-air announcements, special appearances by fighters and other forms of advertisement.”
Consumer products licensing generated $53 million in revenue in 2022, up from $19 million in 2015. It is “derived from licensing the Company’s logos, trade names, trademarks and related symbolic intellectual property to third party manufacturers and distributors of branded merchandise. Many of the licensing agreements include minimum guarantees, which set forth the minimum royalty to be paid to the Company during a given contract year.”

UFC’s expenses — including fighter pay — have gone down​

While UFC has seen nothing but new highs for their revenue sources, the opposite is true for their expenses which have gone down from 2021 to 2022.
Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased by 13.1%, to $210 for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. The segments expenses primarily include personnel costs as well as rent, travel, professional service costs and an annual management fee of $25.0 million paid to Endeavor.
Direct operating costs totaled $326 million in 2022. This is a 3% decrease from 2021 revenues of $336 million, which in turn was up 25.5% from $267 million in 2020..
Direct operating costs primarily includes athlete costs (including athlete costs related to live events), event production, event specific marketing, and venue costs , as well as, to a lesser degree, direct costs with distributors and sales agents, “technology costs to operate UFC Fight Pass”, and the operation of the athletes performance centers.
The biggest reason for a decrease in direct operating costs from 2021 to 2022, was a $32.8 million reduction in athlete costs. This was primarily due to holding one fewer event, as well as different athlete matchups — meaning different fighters with higher payouts were fighting or earning more from pay-per-view bonuses.

Lowest ever fighter revenue share this era?​

I had previously estimated what the UFC’s total compensation to fighters was for 2021 based on statements by Endeavor CEO Jason Lubin’s during an earnings call.

If that’s accurate, then deducting $32.8 million in athlete cost would make fighter compensation around $146 million in 2022. Or less than 13% of the total revenue.
This would be lower than the $148 million the Plaintiffs’ experts in the Le v Zuffa case were estimating the UFC paid to their athletes in 2016.
The most obvious reason for this decrease in fighter compensation was the absence of Conor McGregor. Two fights between McGregor and Poirier - and the purses both likely commanded for two of the best-selling pay-per-views in the promotion’s history - likely explains most of the $32.8 million decrease. But in many ways that makes it more noteworthy, for even without any blockbuster McGregor pay-per-views, they saw an increase in their revenues. And every dollar of that increased revenue went towards their EBITDA and net income, instead of the fighters.
One other item reached a new high, and that was the companies interest expenses which were up from $102 million in 2021 to $140 million in 2022 due to an increase in interest rates. This is even as the UFC’s debt was lowered from $2.876 billion to $2.793 during that time. The UFC’s debt burden is mostly from loans taken out to pay the previous owners of Zuffa during the purchase of the UFC as well as an additional $600 million that was used to finance a dividend for Endeavor.
In summary, the UFC had their best year yet again, and there’s little reason to doubt we won’t be saying the same thing again next year.

​

​

Yooooooooooo

This is wild. UFC low key lucky this article is behind a pay wall. Not a lot of the MMA media is talking about this (think I heard a few podcast mention it).

They could pay Tyson Fury to fight Jon Jones lol and it wouldn’t really hurt them.

Bellator and PFL got a looooong way to go to catch up. The MMA market is a monopoly.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Ariel, MMAfighting guys, Luke Thomas, BC etc. have been talking about fighter pay for years

Luke and BC dedicated most of their show today to the story

I think that Nash guy has been the lone solider waging this war, for years

This is nothing new and clearly getting worse. There is currently nothing to regulate Dana nor the UFC which is exactly why he's allowed to treat everyone the way he does. He's only gaining more power with all of the recent deals, it's going to get worse

As a fight fan it's terrible in terms of knowing fighters are being essentially robbed. Just wait til it starts affecting the product. For now it's been fine but wait til they stop caring as much about the quality of cards and start doing interim belts after a champ fought a month ago lol

Their deal with ESPN has paved this road. As long as they pump out X number of cards they'll keep writing the UFC big checks

Luke said Bellator and the PFL don't even turn a profit

 

[spiderjericho]

John Nash is definitely the MVP of Bloody Elbow. The only reporter who reports on fighter pay, the antitrust trial, etc. Sucks they had to move behind the pay wall.

I’m listening to the Morning Kombat right now.

PFL, One definitely ain’t making money. They got the potential to generate major deals with the ESPN or Amazon deals. But they got to do a better of making their products more attractive. Bellator might not be Bellatoring next year. UFC could easily buy them if that $200 million price is true.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

John Nash is definitely the MVP of Bloody Elbow. The only reporter who reports on fighter pay, the antitrust trial, etc. Sucks they had to move behind the pay wall.

I’m listening to the Morning Kombat right now.

PFL, One definitely ain’t making money. They got the potential to generate major deals with the ESPN or Amazon deals. But they got to do a better of making their products more attractive. Bellator might not be Bellatoring next year. UFC could easily buy them if that $200 million price is true.

The Morning Kombat was great today. They really explored all of the aspects of this mess

I guess I'm just being a cold person when I call the fighters out- but at this point I just don't know what else it will take. Because as I said the UFC is only gaining more and more power, money and leverage

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Damb, just read the allegations. Crazy story. Dern having to pay her ex $4k a month in child support too... wow

idk why but this made me laugh

“I never physically attacked Mackenzie, she is an MMA fighter,” Santos wrote in a court filing. “I would never even try to get physical with her. I would have no chance.”

 

[atransta]

Damn, $4k??

 

[SORIANOTRON]

As a fight fan it's terrible in terms of knowing fighters are being essentially robbed.

Outside of MMA media, I don't think fans give a flying ****

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Outside of MMA media, I don't think fans give a flying ****

Agreed, I doubt most fans care. They just want their fights