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In a recent article with Mike Sager of Esquire Magazine, Dana White estimates that 18 fighters make more than a million dollars in the UFC:
The UFC typically gets a lot of flack for the disclosed pay figures that only factor in a portion of each fighters take-home purse, so most fans are likely surprised that as many as 18 fighters are making a million dollars or more per annum. That’s a number that’s likely only going to increase as the UFC moves forward.
I can understand where both sides are coming from. The fans see all the money and success that the UFC has had come its way in the last few years, then compare it the disclosed payouts for certain events, and conclude that the fighters are getting shafted. However, those payouts represent only a portion of the take-home purse and there’s a lot more to running the organization and growing the sport than what the public reads about. Yes, the UFC has had a gross margin of around 30% in the past, but that doesn’t factor in the operating expenses the company is paying on a yearly basis to fund its massing marketing and lobbying efforts to a.) build the UFC brand, and b.) regulate and expand the sport.
The UFC is not operating in a mature industry where it has the luxury of relying on goodwill to manifest into a full-blow marketing and promotional campaign led by dedicated and subservient media. The reality of the existing situation is that the UFC still very much is in a position of having to do these things itself.
White estimates that eighteen of his ultimate fighters earn in the millions per annum. Many others make in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. New guys make fifty to seventy-five, “depending where you are in the pecking order.”
Payout Perspective:The UFC typically gets a lot of flack for the disclosed pay figures that only factor in a portion of each fighters take-home purse, so most fans are likely surprised that as many as 18 fighters are making a million dollars or more per annum. That’s a number that’s likely only going to increase as the UFC moves forward.
I can understand where both sides are coming from. The fans see all the money and success that the UFC has had come its way in the last few years, then compare it the disclosed payouts for certain events, and conclude that the fighters are getting shafted. However, those payouts represent only a portion of the take-home purse and there’s a lot more to running the organization and growing the sport than what the public reads about. Yes, the UFC has had a gross margin of around 30% in the past, but that doesn’t factor in the operating expenses the company is paying on a yearly basis to fund its massing marketing and lobbying efforts to a.) build the UFC brand, and b.) regulate and expand the sport.
The UFC is not operating in a mature industry where it has the luxury of relying on goodwill to manifest into a full-blow marketing and promotional campaign led by dedicated and subservient media. The reality of the existing situation is that the UFC still very much is in a position of having to do these things itself.
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