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<h3><a href="/go=news.detail&gid=457126" target="_blank">
Belfort not impressed with Reebok Deal
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<a href="/go=news.detail&gid=457126" ><img class="photo" src="http://img.mixedmartialarts.com/method=get&rs=110&q=75&x=1&y=22&w=700&h=372&ro=0&s=vitor-belfort-05-09-2016-21-57-56-909.jpg" /></a>
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<p>Vitor Belfort made his UFC debut over 19 years ago, at age 19. He won, and it remains the youngest win in league history. In 2004 he became UFC champion. At age 39, he is the #3 ranked fighter in the ferocious middleweight division. In short, he has seen and done it all.</p>
And in a recent interview with Brazil's SporTv, the fighter indicated he is not impressed with the league's Reebok Athlete Outfitting Policy.
"MMA is a lot closer to entertainment than sport these days," said Belfort, as translate by Lucas Rezende for BE. "I'm not satisfied with the way the company is handling sponsorship. We are pretty much living in slavery. We can't use our own sponsors, they are banned inside the Octagon. We have no properties."
"The good thing about breaking records is when you're not worried about it. When you are, it becomes frustrating. My happiness comes from within. Breaking records is what I do best. I hope I can leave a legacy which fighters can use to raise awareness about a minimum wage pay. It's a contact sport. I don't think it's fair for someone to earn 500 dollars to be elbowed in the face. There has to be a retirement plan, which does not exist now. That's something for the next generation. They need to save their money and invest. They need to know the athlete life will end."
"All my next fights could be my last. So you should make your dream as if it was your last, too. I'm very happy with my career and everything I conquered. I do this because I love it, today. I'm still a voice to be heard. I can still help the sport."
Vitor Belfort fights Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza in the co-main event of UFC 198 on May 14, in Curitiba, Brazil.
I agree with him. What is so interesting is that the NBA is allowing sponsors on their Player's Uniforms very soon. Overeem making 5 grand in sponshorship is ridiculous.
I agree with him. What is so interesting is that the NBA is allowing sponsors on their Player's Uniforms very soon. Overeem making 5 grand in sponshorship is ridiculous.
That's team sponsors. Same as the UFC putting more sponsors on the shorts, and lots of people think it's a terrible idea. Players will get a set cut from that money just like the reebok deal and it will be based on years in the league and not how popular you are, same as the jersey's. Steph Curry gets paid the same exact amount from jersey sales as does some bench guy despite being one of the highest selling jerseys in sports. I'm not sure Vitor understands how sponsorships work in other sports.
I agree with him. What is so interesting is that the NBA is allowing sponsors on their Player's Uniforms very soon. Overeem making 5 grand in sponshorship is ridiculous.
That's team sponsors. Same as the UFC putting more sponsors on the shorts, and lots of people think it's a terrible idea. Players will get a set cut from that money just like the reebok deal and it will be based on years in the league and not how popular you are, same as the jersey's. Steph Curry gets paid the same exact amount from jersey sales as does some bench guy despite being one of the highest selling jerseys in sports. I'm not sure Vitor understands how sponsorships work in other sports.
UFC is not the equivalent of an NBA team in this comparison, the UFC is the NBA itself.
I agree with him. What is so interesting is that the NBA is allowing sponsors on their Player's Uniforms very soon. Overeem making 5 grand in sponshorship is ridiculous.
That's team sponsors. Same as the UFC putting more sponsors on the shorts, and lots of people think it's a terrible idea. Players will get a set cut from that money just like the reebok deal and it will be based on years in the league and not how popular you are, same as the jersey's. Steph Curry gets paid the same exact amount from jersey sales as does some bench guy despite being one of the highest selling jerseys in sports. I'm not sure Vitor understands how sponsorships work in other sports.
UFC is not the equivalent of an NBA team in this comparison, the UFC is the NBA itself.
It's not. The NBA teams make up the NBA and they share revenue on lots of stuff like this. The UFC doesn't share money or negotiate as a group with all the other organizations. The NBA teams aren't individual entities, they're all part of the NBA and they all follow the rules they agree on. They all had to vote to allow this jersey advertising thing to happen. (The players didn't get a vote afaik.) It's definitely not comparable to an NBA team in any way other than maybe the direct connection between the organization and the athletes.
I agree with him. What is so interesting is that the NBA is allowing sponsors on their Player's Uniforms very soon. Overeem making 5 grand in sponshorship is ridiculous.
That's team sponsors. Same as the UFC putting more sponsors on the shorts, and lots of people think it's a terrible idea. Players will get a set cut from that money just like the reebok deal and it will be based on years in the league and not how popular you are, same as the jersey's. Steph Curry gets paid the same exact amount from jersey sales as does some bench guy despite being one of the highest selling jerseys in sports. I'm not sure Vitor understands how sponsorships work in other sports.
UFC is not the equivalent of an NBA team in this comparison, the UFC is the NBA itself.
It's not. The NBA teams make up the NBA and they share revenue on lots of stuff like this. The UFC doesn't share money or negotiate as a group with all the other organizations. The NBA teams aren't individual entities, they're all part of the NBA and they all follow the rules they agree on. They all had to vote to allow this jersey advertising thing to happen. (The players didn't get a vote afaik.) It's definitely not comparable to an NBA team in any way other than maybe the direct connection between the organization and the athletes.
That's what I said, the UFC is not comparable to an NBA team.
I agree with him. What is so interesting is that the NBA is allowing sponsors on their Player's Uniforms very soon. Overeem making 5 grand in sponshorship is ridiculous.
That's team sponsors. Same as the UFC putting more sponsors on the shorts, and lots of people think it's a terrible idea. Players will get a set cut from that money just like the reebok deal and it will be based on years in the league and not how popular you are, same as the jersey's. Steph Curry gets paid the same exact amount from jersey sales as does some bench guy despite being one of the highest selling jerseys in sports. I'm not sure Vitor understands how sponsorships work in other sports.
Yeah but the players can wear whatever brand of shoe they want which is a nice source of income I'm sure... KD has a 300 million dollar deal and LeBron has a lifetime deal worth around 500 million lol.
Let's be honest, these companies didn't sponsor fighters because they wanted to support them. They did it to get seen on ufc shows. They can still support fighters and get exposure but the fact is once the opportunity to get seen on ufc shows went away then so did most of those sponsors. I see the ufc's point. If you want to advertise on the ufc shows them you need to deal with the ufc and pay them instead of sidestepping them by paying fighters a fraction of the money they would be charged. That's just the way the game works.
JoeHurley - Let's be honest, these companies didn't sponsor fighters because they wanted to support them. They did it to get seen on ufc shows. They can still support fighters and get exposure but the fact is once the opportunity to get seen on ufc shows went away then so did most of those sponsors. I see the ufc's point. If you want to advertise on the ufc shows them you need to deal with the ufc and pay them instead of sidestepping them by paying fighters a fraction of the money they would be charged. That's just the way the game works.
Completely disagree.
No sponsor on earth does so for zero exposure, part of your value to a sponsor is how much you can do for them. It's a balance, they can want to support Fighters all day long but they still have a business to run.
Zuffa was upset fighters had income they couldn't get a,piece of, that is why they take millions and millions from the Reebok deal and say it is for administrative fees.
I agree with him. What is so interesting is that the NBA is allowing sponsors on their Player's Uniforms very soon. Overeem making 5 grand in sponshorship is ridiculous.
That's team sponsors. Same as the UFC putting more sponsors on the shorts, and lots of people think it's a terrible idea. Players will get a set cut from that money just like the reebok deal and it will be based on years in the league and not how popular you are, same as the jersey's. Steph Curry gets paid the same exact amount from jersey sales as does some bench guy despite being one of the highest selling jerseys in sports. I'm not sure Vitor understands how sponsorships work in other sports.
UFC is not the equivalent of an NBA team in this comparison, the UFC is the NBA itself.
It's not. The NBA teams make up the NBA and they share revenue on lots of stuff like this. The UFC doesn't share money or negotiate as a group with all the other organizations. The NBA teams aren't individual entities, they're all part of the NBA and they all follow the rules they agree on. They all had to vote to allow this jersey advertising thing to happen. (The players didn't get a vote afaik.) It's definitely not comparable to an NBA team in any way other than maybe the direct connection between the organization and the athletes.
That's what I said, the UFC is not comparable to an NBA team.
JoeHurley - Let's be honest, these companies didn't sponsor fighters because they wanted to support them. They did it to get seen on ufc shows. They can still support fighters and get exposure but the fact is once the opportunity to get seen on ufc shows went away then so did most of those sponsors. I see the ufc's point. If you want to advertise on the ufc shows them you need to deal with the ufc and pay them instead of sidestepping them by paying fighters a fraction of the money they would be charged. That's just the way the game works.
Completely disagree.
No sponsor on earth does so for zero exposure, part of your value to a sponsor is how much you can do for them. It's a balance, they can want to support Fighters all day long but they still have a business to run.
Zuffa was upset fighters had income they couldn't get a,piece of, that is why they take millions and millions from the Reebok deal and say it is for administrative fees.
Then how is that every athlete in every other sport can make millions without wearing their sponsors to work? Shoes are the only thing that NBA players can sponsor on the court and they're far from the only sponsor. I'm not sure NFL players can sponsor anything on the field but even if they could wear their own shoes it wouldn't matter becase NFL players don't move shoes like NBA players do. Carwin talked about it on Reddit, the fighters that just sold the space lost their sponsors because the sponsors were only interested in that billboard space. The fighters that built relationships and got themselves sponsored for themselves kept their sponsors because they promoted the brand outside of just the billboard space. Ronda didn't lose MetroPCS when they could no longer put their name on her shorts. It's hilarious that these fighters were crying poverty when it turns out they were supposedly making millions on sponsorships that were based purely on getting time on UFC broadcasts and not themselves.
JoeHurley - Let's be honest, these companies didn't sponsor fighters because they wanted to support them. They did it to get seen on ufc shows. They can still support fighters and get exposure but the fact is once the opportunity to get seen on ufc shows went away then so did most of those sponsors. I see the ufc's point. If you want to advertise on the ufc shows them you need to deal with the ufc and pay them instead of sidestepping them by paying fighters a fraction of the money they would be charged. That's just the way the game works.
Completely disagree.
No sponsor on earth does so for zero exposure, part of your value to a sponsor is how much you can do for them. It's a balance, they can want to support Fighters all day long but they still have a business to run.
Zuffa was upset fighters had income they couldn't get a,piece of, that is why they take millions and millions from the Reebok deal and say it is for administrative fees.
Then how is that every athlete in every other sport can make millions without wearing their sponsors to work? Shoes are the only thing that NBA players can sponsor on the court and they're far from the only sponsor. I'm not sure NFL players can sponsor anything on the field but even if they could wear their own shoes it wouldn't matter becase NFL players don't move shoes like NBA players do. Carwin talked about it on Reddit, the fighters that just sold the space lost their sponsors because the sponsors were only interested in that billboard space. The fighters that built relationships and got themselves sponsored for themselves kept their sponsors because they promoted the brand outside of just the billboard space. Ronda didn't lose MetroPCS when they could no longer put their name on her shorts. It's hilarious that these fighters were crying poverty when it turns out they were supposedly making millions on sponsorships that were based purely on getting time on UFC broadcasts and not themselves.
The UFC is more comparable to motocross than NBA.
Guess who gets to have sponsors on their uniform in their chosen professional independent contractor career?
In the UFC are you part of a team or are you an individual in an event?
Do motocross fans complain of bland uniforms?
Man, if only skateboarding adopted a strict uniform code! Think of how much skater clothes you would see instead of all the Reebok fight kits all over the place!
