Expenses for elite fighters

GSP said that after he had received many deals. Once a fighter reached his status they could consider the same move imo Phone Post 3.0

JuryJiuJitsu - 
liljacare - Myles, do you think it is doable if you remove managers for a fighter? Will it make a fighter life better or harder?

GSP brought this up before and said that you just need a lawyer to go thru the papers for each transaction you do instead of having a constant manager that get 20% of your purse.


It depends with what you want out of your career and business model. If you only want a broker for your contracts and negotiations, yes, you could do this without a management team. 



If you want a fully invested manager that brings a lot to the table to maximize your career, your management would be very important and your most valuable player. 



There's a lot of shitty managers in this buisness, so it varies with who the manager is and what they offer. I have heard a lot of horror stories. My management has worked out for the best in my career without a doubt. 



what exactly is it tht a mgr does beyond this that makes him so valuable in your mind?

TTT. 

lifeaftrprison - GSP said that after he had received many deals. Once a fighter reached his status they could consider the same move imo Phone Post 3.0


I touched on this towards the end of the blog..... "The upper echelon fighters making 6-7 digits per fight, are configured differently."

Great piece look forward to reading more. Phone Post 3.0

Great article! I enjoyed the last one too. Please keep them coming! Phone Post 3.0

JuryJiuJitsu -
lifeaftrprison - GSP said that after he had received many deals. Once a fighter reached his status they could consider the same move imo Phone Post 3.0


I touched on this towards the end of the blog..... "The upper echelon fighters making 6-7 digits per fight, are configured differently."

Yea.
Many fans and young fighters don't believe you need a manager - I've heard fighters say I'm not giving 10% or 20% to anyone , I'm the fighter !
My statement was always the same - do you have time to train , contact business , look for marketing opportunities , run a social media campaign , do local
Radio or TV and set up all the times as well ? Not to mention I would much rather give up 20% of 20k over nothing of 4k.
There is so much a manager can do to get your brand out - it's too much to list-
Show me a fighter who manages himself and I'll show you an unhappy fighter.
Great read - btw Phone Post 3.0

Totally agree! There's a lot of creative things that each manager/fighter duo can do for a much more successful career, with the fighter only needing to focus on training, fights and getting better.

JuryJiuJitsu -


Totally agree! There's a lot of creative things that each manager/fighter duo can do for a much more successful career, with the fighter only needing to focus on training, fights and getting better.

Do you think that is where a lot of the push back from the Reebok deal came from?

Obviously it sucks that Zuffa took away the easiest way to make money, but it appears that a lot of the mangers were doing nothing more than what a sports attorney would plus they answered phones to get sponsorship deals that many companies never paid for.

It seems now that your management really has to earn that percentage (bring in more money than you are losing by paying them). Obviously it's probably not the best idea for you to comment on the Reebok deal, but it seems like a lot of managers were getting a free ride and now they have to hustle to show their worth. Phone Post 3.0

Interesting read. Thanks Myles Phone Post 3.0

Spinning Shit -
JuryJiuJitsu -


Totally agree! There's a lot of creative things that each manager/fighter duo can do for a much more successful career, with the fighter only needing to focus on training, fights and getting better.

Do you think that is where a lot of the push back from the Reebok deal came from?

Obviously it sucks that Zuffa took away the easiest way to make money, but it appears that a lot of the mangers were doing nothing more than what a sports attorney would plus they answered phones to get sponsorship deals that many companies never paid for.

It seems now that your management really has to earn that percentage (bring in more money than you are losing by paying them). Obviously it's probably not the best idea for you to comment on the Reebok deal, but it seems like a lot of managers were getting a free ride and now they have to hustle to show their worth. Phone Post 3.0
Was going to ask the same thing. Good question Phone Post 3.0

JuryJiuJitsu - 
liljacare - Myles, do you think it is doable if you remove managers for a fighter? Will it make a fighter life better or harder?

GSP brought this up before and said that you just need a lawyer to go thru the papers for each transaction you do instead of having a constant manager that get 20% of your purse.


It depends with what you want out of your career and business model. If you only want a broker for your contracts and negotiations, yes, you could do this without a management team. 



If you want a fully invested manager that brings a lot to the table to maximize your career, your management would be very important and your most valuable player. 



There's a lot of shitty managers in this buisness, so it varies with who the manager is and what they offer. I have heard a lot of horror stories. My management has worked out for the best in my career without a doubt. 


Woah! That make sense as well.

It also depends on fighters knowledge and schedule if he can handle such tasks on his own instead of having a manager.

Fighters are lucky if they have a wife, relative that they can trust and be their manager.

Sub Phone Post 3.0

pistolpete86 - Great article! I enjoyed the last one too. Please keep them coming! Phone Post 3.0
Thread turning into good read to Phone Post 3.0

liljacare -
JuryJiuJitsu - 
liljacare - Myles, do you think it is doable if you remove managers for a fighter? Will it make a fighter life better or harder?

GSP brought this up before and said that you just need a lawyer to go thru the papers for each transaction you do instead of having a constant manager that get 20% of your purse.


It depends with what you want out of your career and business model. If you only want a broker for your contracts and negotiations, yes, you could do this without a management team. 



If you want a fully invested manager that brings a lot to the table to maximize your career, your management would be very important and your most valuable player. 



There's a lot of shitty managers in this buisness, so it varies with who the manager is and what they offer. I have heard a lot of horror stories. My management has worked out for the best in my career without a doubt. 


Woah! That make sense as well.

It also depends on fighters knowledge and schedule if he can handle such tasks on his own instead of having a manager.

Fighters are lucky if they have a wife, relative that they can trust and be their manager.
The wife or friend as a manager usually. doesn't work. When a family member assumes that roll it's a bad idea Phone Post 3.0

The tax numbers aren't accurate at all. S

Someone making $10k a fight, and fighting 2 or 3 times a year doesn't pay anywhere close to 30% in taxes. Likely they wouldn't even pay 20%. With the exception of social security, they'd get pretty much everything back.

Beyond that, even if we did pretend that they paid 30% in taxes, it would be 30% after paying the manager, the gym, and all of the other fees mentioned.

In both cases as an independent contractor they would be able to show expenses covering almost the entire fight check, and as such would have almost no tax burden.

The $6k number in your fight winning math should be replaced with maybe $2k, and even that is likely a high.

In the example where he loses, his taxes would be less than $500.

Great read... looking forward to more.

Pura Vida - The tax numbers aren't accurate at all. S

Someone making $10k a fight, and fighting 2 or 3 times a year doesn't pay anywhere close to 30% in taxes. Likely they wouldn't even pay 20%. With the exception of social security, they'd get pretty much everything back.

Beyond that, even if we did pretend that they paid 30% in taxes, it would be 30% after paying the manager, the gym, and all of the other fees mentioned.

In both cases as an independent contractor they would be able to show expenses covering almost the entire fight check, and as such would have almost no tax burden.

The $6k number in your fight winning math should be replaced with maybe $2k, and even that is likely a high.

In the example where he loses, his taxes would be less than $500.
This was my first thought. Regardless, still a pathetic payout Phone Post 3.0

I notice a lot of people focusing too much on the management cost, which doesn't make sense. They are working for your company, like a CEO/president. Once you get to a certain point, a company doesn't just fire their employees to save and turn their backs on them...... The more successful you get, the more work there is to do. Again, you get what you pay for. 

OriginalTUFer - The issue is that you built in the expense of management (4000) without also including the income you get from having management. Also, you didn't mention the Reebok income.

The numbers you provided were inaccurate for these reasons, amongst others mentioned. Phone Post 3.0


Wrong. This is 100% accurate for the fight pay and what is "guaranteed." Bonuses, would be the only missing amount, which aren't guaranteed. 



There's a plethora of other avenues to make money, but they should run as their own entity / sub-division. 



For example, I run my endorsements/sponsorships as it's own entity with a different structure. I'll have a blog soon touching on the importance of endorsements and how they're supposed to work.