UFC Reebok Deal - Compensation Details

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The information UFC fighters have been waiting for is in.


UFC bantamweight Cody Gibson tweeted a screenshot of an e-mail sent to fighters Wednesday, explaining how much they will be paid through the organization's uniform deal with Reebok. UFC senior vice president of public relations Dave Sholler confirmed the figures to MMAFighting.com.


Fighters who have between one and five fights in the UFC will make just $2,500 per fight under the tiered system. Fighters with six to 10 UFC bouts will make $5,000; 11 to 15 will get fighters $10,000; 16 to 20 fights earns $15,000; and 21 bouts and up gets a fighter $20,000. Title challengers will make $30,000 and champions will pull in $40,000.


The UFC's contract with Reebok is worth $70 million over six years. Fighters cannot wear any of their own sponsors inside the Octagon, during fight week or as part of any UFC-related event.


The e-mail sent to fighters, which was obtained by MMAFighting.com, reads that athletes will get their compensation within 10 business days following a bout. As previously announced, Strikeforce and WEC fights under the Zuffa banner will also count toward athlete's tenure.


Aside from the tiered structure, UFC fighters will also get a percentage of money made from sales of merchandise with their name and/or likeness. That percentage will be determined based on the terms of their UFC merchandise rights agreement, according to the e-mail.


The UFC's Reebok deal will take effect beginning International Fight Week on July 7.



"The above outlined compensation structure will result in UFC distributing the vast majority of the revenue generated through the AOP directly to the athletes," the e-mail states. "We continue to believe the introduction of the official outfitting kits for our athletes is a beneficial investment, which will elevate and create long-term value for you, the UFC brand and the sport."

 

[Presser]

not a bad Tiere system, not too sure about killing al other sponsor logos, of course thats good for reeebok, but not sure about the athlete

 

[9mm]

the tiers make since but the compensation is garbage and fighters are not happy about it

Cody Gibson ✔ @TheRenegade559 The Reebok payout is comparable to what many entry level fighters make in sponsors. I can't speak for veterans. #UFC #reebok

Roger Narvaez ✔ @Silverback316 Wow 2500$ for my next fight for reebok sponsorship. ....i mad twice that off 1 sponsor my last fight!!!! Sucks!

Roger Narvaez ✔ @Silverback316 @Mayhem2_3 @marc_raimondi just hurts because I have great sponsors that have always financially helped....it's going to be hard on fighters

Roger Narvaez ✔ @Silverback316 @Silverback316 understand what theUFC trying to do...those numbers just hurt fighters like me who spend 2-3k on fight camp just getting prep

Aljamain Sterling ✔ @FunkMaster_UFC I understand the reasoning given for the Reebok deal, but the deal has to make sense for at least 80% of the fighters in regards to tiers

Aljamain Sterling ✔ @FunkMaster_UFC For me, I barely got any sponsorship money, but Im ok w/not whoring myself out to 6-7 companies to look NASCAR. New system= half my earnings

Scott jorgensen ✔ @Scottjorgensen Checked my email to good news! 21 in the books with zuffa. Thank you @lorenzofertitta @danawhite @Reebok @ufc

Sarah Kaufman ✔ @mmasarah Definitely need to get more fights booked...according to what counts, I'm only at 6 since 2011...definitely not enough!!

Matt Mitrione ✔ @mattmitrione Congrats @Reebok, you got the deal of the century. Unfortunately, it was at the cost of the fighters. Hope the bad press is worth it. @ufc

Tim Kennedy ✔ @TimKennedyMMA Dear @ufc Am I to understand that for my exclusive apparel sponsorship I'll make $2,500? I'll pass. Thanks for the generous offer. #reebok

Mark Bocek ✔ @MarkBocek UFC gets rich from fighters blood, UFC determines how much fighters can make thru only 1 sponsor. No choices and everyone thinks it's Xmas.

Ramsey Nijem ✔ @RamseyNijem I made more money my 2nd fight in the UFC on Facebook prelims. Not complaining just stating facts

Brendan Schaub ✔ @BrendanSchaub I've made six figures in sponsorship in each of my last 6 fights

Tim Kennedy ✔ @TimKennedyMMA @BellatorMMA Hey! #Reebok

Tito Ortiz ✔ @titoortiz Too all fighters that want some freedom? @BellatorMMA are welcoming with open arms! Contact @ScottCoker @spike

 

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Nathan Quarry ✔ @NateRockQuarry @SBNLukeThomas @bokamotoESPN just like any other sport? With Pacquiao making 2.5 million in sponsors alone? Or nba wearing their own shoes?

 

[Presser]

yeah I kind of figured tat, as we sponsored a couple fighters and had them wear our MC logo on their shorts, and we paid damn good money for that shit and they still had other sponsor logos on their shorts, so I'm sure they could do better if they were able to add other sponsors on their own,

 

[csuperman]

thats pretty shitty, like the one fighter said he made more off one sponsor or the guy who made six figures a fight from sponsors, he's taking a major pay cut.

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first reebok took crossffit now they are taking over UFC

 

[Presser]

thats pretty shitty, like the one fighter said he made more off one sponsor or the guy who made six figures a fight from sponsors, he's taking a major pay cut.

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first reebok took crossffit now they are taking over UFC

who even wears Reeboks anymore anyhow? lol, I haven't owned a pair of Reeboks in like 20 years, Nike always make a better looking sneaker, though NIKE sneakers fall apart far to fast lol, anyhow, Reebok is fucking loaded to be taking over the UFC and Crossfit as you said.

I went looking for Crossfit sneakers for my wife this past weekend, and They are only made by REEBOK, and every store i went to , didn't have them and a couple sales people chuckled over me even asking for Reeboks lol, Reebok just isn't as popular as it once was!!!

 

[charliebigspuds]

I think that last tweet from Tito says it all. Maybe we are going to see a few guys leaving. ?

and presser you are so right about reebok. They are pumping millions In to things and you try and get any thing with reebok cross fit on the label and you will pay £££. For it.

 

[9mm]

wait, are you dudes saying you didn't run out and buy a pair of pumps after you saw this?

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Ryan Jimmo was on "MMA Fight Radio" talking about his upcoming fight vs Francimar Barroso and has a few things to say about the new sponsorship deal. Here are the cliffs:

Jimmo rips into the UFC as a monopoly
Likens Dana White/Fertita's to a fat mayor hoarding all the food and starving the population
Claims $35 million of Reebok's money is unaccounted for
The host used to be in charge of obtaining sponsorships for over 50 fighters. He would be fired if he got less than $5000 for a UFC spot
Monarch paid $75,000 for one patch on Tito's shorts in one of his Lidell fights (goes to show the deal is particularly bad for the bigger non-reebok fighters)
Steele McCall, a regional fighter in Colorado joins the show and says he made $2500 in sponsors for his last fight

 

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Marc Raimondi for MMAFighting.com reached out to a number of leading managers, and received a variety of responses, including managers who were for it.


John Fosco, VFD Marketing (Travis Browne, Clay Guida)


Fosco said the athletes he represents will not take a hit, because he has spent the last two years preparing his fighters' sponsors for the change. Further, he has little sympathy for managers who did not.
"[Managers] are selling those ratings [to sponsors] and shame on us for f---ing saying, 'Oh my fighter is going to lose money.' ... You do not sell your athlete based on who they are, unless they're special. You sell it on ratings. You sell it on the UFC's TV time."
"The barrier for entry to become a manager or agent in this space does not exist. So when you have zero barrier to entry, a lot of the people are viewed as whatever in the industry. They haven't really done s---, but talked their way into some young kid's brain who has a fantasy and capitalized by signing him."
"These guys who do not sell tickets and do not get ratings with the crop of talent out there, what the f--- are they worth? They're not owed anything. There's this mentality, 'Oh, I'm owed something.' You're given an opportunity. You want to make money? Go knock the f--- out of people, because I promise Dana will pay you if you go out there and knock the f--- out of people."


Ryan Hass (Myles Jury, Johnny Case)


Hass's client Jury was one of the most vocal critics of the deal, but has apparently worked things out with Reebok and the UFC.
"Dana helped mend fences already and we're all good with Reebok," said Hass. "The whole situation was a misunderstanding.
"(Dana White) is a man of his word and he definitely stepped in and helped out when he didn't need to. I have nothing but respect for who Dana is as a person and how he handles everything behind the scenes. Most don't hear 90 percent of all the great things he does and how genuine he is."
"Everyone wins and is happy if every fighter is allowed three to four sponsors on their shorts and a banner. truly hope Dana and Lorenzo will approve that into the uniform policy to eliminate all of this uniform talk and then have everyone excited about the change."


Mike Roberts, MMA Inc., (Anthony Pettis, Urijah Faber, Paige VanZant, Chad Mendes)


Roberts said that "10 to 15 percent" of the fighters he manages will benefit from the new deal.
"The other 85 to 90 percent, it's gonna hurt," he said. "This Reebok deal is not going away. It's just not gonna go away. It's gotta be fixed. It's gotta be tweaked, because everybody is not worth the same."
"For years it was, you can get your own sponsors and that was a way for [the UFC] to be able to compensate you less on the purse. There has to be a way to figure this out."
"I really believe when this deal started that Dana and Lorenzo had good intentions. The problem is I don't think there's a way to do it that's gonna be fair for everybody."


Monte Cox (70+ fighters)


Sara McMann's manager said her $2,500 sponsorship is half of what she used to be paid for a singe shorts patch on her shorts.
"There are people who are getting that to fight in Legacy and other smaller events," said Cox.
"I don't have anyone on my team that thinks it's a good deal. The only people who like it are the guys who have 20 fights and still aren't title contenders."
"One of the big plusses for the UFC was the amount of sponsorship money fighters can get. It was one of the big selling points to try to get in there. Now it's not. I'll have guys in Bellator making more money than the guy I have headlining a UFC event."
An MMA manager's meeting has been organized by Roberts and Jeff Meyer in Las Vegas before UFC 187. Undoubtedly some improvements to the Reebok Deal be proposed. The UFC has shown flexibility thus far, and hopefully will continue to do so, until a majority of fighters do not view the deal as a loss.