MMA Sponsorship

bret69

Does anyone know what kind of money UFC fighters are paid by the likes of Tapout and Silver star for wearing their tee shirts etc?

Also, have the likes of Tapout, Silver Star etc shown any interest in Ireland and Irish fighters yet in terms of sponsorship? If not, how long do you think it will be before we start seeing these brands come to the Irish MMA scene?

Mellor

They won't come to the irish MMA scene. Only high level fighters are going to be sponsored. fighters on regional, or minor promotions are not sponsored in the states, so there is zero chance for irish fighters.

Obviously, an irish fighter on a major promotion like UFC or WEC could get sponsored and then the likes of tappout would use them to promote there products over here

Chris89

Read on fightlinker that he heard some of the prelim fighters in the last ufc made between 10-20k in sponsorship deals.

Dancor

Chris89 wrote: »

Read on fightlinker that he heard some of the prelim fighters in the last ufc made between 10-20k in sponsorship deals.

**** me, thats probably more than what they got for just shown up.

JohnMc1

Chris89 wrote: »

Read on fightlinker that he heard some of the prelim fighters in the last ufc made between 10-20k in sponsorship deals.

Yeah but with all the reports about sponsorship companies stiffing fighters its easy to promise that amount if they have no intention of paying.

dunkamania

Matt Mitrione recently fired his agent Malki Kawa at the ufc 119 post fight press confrence,because he wasnt happy with his performance (Make sure you read that last bit again in a GSP accent).

Kawa responded defending his performance and gave a fair bit of information on the sponsorship payments.

From MMApayout.com
http://mmapayout.com/2010/10/rightful-termination-mitrione/

"Kawa stated that Hitman sponsored shirt and shorts paid Mitrione about $7,500. Kawa negotiated another $5,000 in sponsorship for his shorts. In total, Mitrione received $12,500 in sponsorship in addition to his fight salary and bonus.
On a preliminary card, the average sponsorship range would be $10-$20K depending on the fighter."



Also Bloodyelbow has a good article including the following excerpt
http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2010/9/27/1715233/the-economics-of-mma-fight-night-and-the-sponsorship-game

"A televised walk in to the arena, literally minutes of free advertising to a captive audience of hundreds of thousands of viewers, can increase t-shirt revenue for a televised fighter who isn't yet a star from $1,500 or $3,000 all the way up to $10,000. For sponsors, television time is critical. It's why you see fighters scrambling to put their t-shirts on after the fight. Several times fighters interviewed in the cage after a win by Joe Rogan have forgotten to put on all their gear. The result is the loss of thousands of dollars when penalties in your contract are invoked by a furious sponsor.

Fight shorts aren't a commercial product that companies are able to sell to the general public. What they are is a billboard for advertising that could appear in front of a television audience for up to 25 minutes. Short space is sold in four pieces: the crotch, the butt, and both thighs. The top agents have been able to score more than $30,000 per patch, but that's rare. For a television fighter who isn't a major star, the crotch and butt space are worth from $500-$2,000. Each thigh ranges from $250-1,500. Savvy agents can sell these spaces at a premium if they pitch it right.

"I represent one guy who is a great wrestler," an agent told me in confidence. "When I sell the space on his butt I tell the company 'Look, his ass is going to be in America's face for 15 minutes while he pounds on this guy.' That's incredibly valuable space." "