“Outside the Lines” to Report on UFC Payscale; Dave Meltzer Explores the Numbers
Posted: 2012/01/14 Filed under: Mixed Martial Arts | Tags: dana white, dave meltzer, ESPN, ESPN2, lorenzo fertitta, outside the lines, ufc, Wrestling Observer, Yahoo!, Yahoo! Sports, Zuffa Leave a commenthttp://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news?slug=dm-meltzer_ufc_fighter_pay011312
ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” program will be delving into the business practices of the UFC, more specifically looking at the payscale that UFC uses for its fighters. Dave Meltzer, of WrestlingObserver.com and of Yahoo! Sports, wrote a very informative article recapping the major points of UFC’s practices. Most specifically, UFC is a private company which reserves them the right to not have to release pay figures publicly. Therefore, there is potentially a moral debate looming regarding the pay of lower tier performers versus the increasing profit growth that UFC is experiencing in the wake of a major television deal with Fox. As noted by Meltzer in the article (which is linked above), Dana White has already taken to the offensive via his twitter, stating that he will destroy any negativity that the ESPN piece may imply. Whatever the true intention of the ESPN piece may be, the topic itself being brought to light may lead to some major shake-ups in the business model of the UFC.
ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” will air on Sunday @ 10 AM EST on ESPN2. Zuffa CEO Lorenzo Fertitta is interviewed as part of the piece.
– Nick
@DBBNick
DonnyBrookBoys@gmail.com