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<h3><a href="/go=news.detail&gid=169533" target="_blank">
Is WEC's business model going to work much longer ...
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<strong class="ArticleSource">[sports.yahoo.com]</strong>
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The revolution may be coming. We're not big on discussing the pay scale of fighters because so much of what the major stars make in UFC and WEC is off the books, or at least far from the public eye. But you'd have to imagine salaries of $35,000 (includes $10,000 Fight of the Night bonus) for their fight at WEC 41 rub WEC stars Mike Brown and Urijah Faber the wrong way. Do those guys deserve any less than Chuck Liddell, Anderson Silva, Brock Lesnar, Quinton Jackson and Georges St. Pierre? That fight helped draw a WEC record crowd of 13,067 in Sacramento and a big audience on Versus. Hell guys, like Brandon Vera and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira made six figures in their last fights.
Brown, a very reserved guy, won't say anything publicly but Faber and Miguel Torres, the WEC's bantamweight champ have already started dropping hints to the media and fans.
Nice to see Cofield using the superior access Yahoo writers get to do something other than sniff Dana's butt.
What it boils down to is: if WEC's business model continues to depend so heavily on live gates, and guys like Urijah Faber and Mike Brown are the real draw, their purses should be tied directly to the gate, so they get a good chunk of the money they are bringing in for the company. Lets be real here, Arco wasn't packed on Sunday because of "the WEC brand".
He doesn't. He's a great fighter and he deserves a lot of money. But at the end of the day, not even we truly know how much he is making. All we know is what's reported from the state athletic commissions. We don't know how much he is getting from other revenue streams.
I din't think they deserve what UFC headliners make, but if an event draws over 13,000 live gate and is on national TV, the headliners ought to be making well over $35,000.
"I din't think they deserve what UFC headliners make, but if an event draws over 13,000 live gate and is on national TV, the headliners ought to be making well over $35,000."
In order to make an objective arbitrary statement like that one would first need to know the overhead to revenue ratio...
What is the cost of renting the venue? Insurance? Commission fees? Officials fees? Advertising? Other fighter purses? Cage rental and workers?
Then we need to know what the actual income generated was in order to get a fair assessment of exactly what percentage of the net $35000.00 actually is.
Every fighter gets what they agree on. It may not be the best pay or even good pay. If they agree to fight for that amount then why should anyone else be pissed about it? I don't make as much as I would like or even want. However I agree to work for this amount. If I don't want to anymore I either need to move to another company, if there is not other company then I need to find a new job.
Orion - "I din't think they deserve what UFC headliners make, but if an event draws over 13,000 live gate and is on national TV, the headliners ought to be making well over $35,000."
In order to make an objective arbitrary statement like that one would first need to know the overhead to revenue ratio...
What is the cost of renting the venue? Insurance? Commission fees? Officials fees? Advertising? Other fighter purses? Cage rental and workers?
Then we need to know what the actual income generated was in order to get a fair assessment of exactly what percentage of the net $35000.00 actually is.
Actually, none of that should factor in. Guys like Brown and Faber aren't WEC employess, they are independent contractors, so what concern is it of theirs whether or not WEC is profitable?
Lets keep it simple here. How many seats do they sell at Arco without that main event? In this economy and without the leverage of a recognizable brand like UFC, I'm guessing not many. Frank Shamrock has a contract which is tied to the live gate when he fights at the HP Pavilion... Brown and Faber should be pointing to that and saying "I deserve the same type of deal".
smoogy - Actually, none of that should factor in. Guys like Brown and Faber aren't WEC employees, they are independent contractors, so what concern is it of theirs whether or not WEC is profitable?
If an organization isn't profitable and goes under . . . hello IFL, EliteXC, and soon to be Affliction. I think fighters like being able to fight and make money, without their contracts being put up for auction, don't you?
Lets keep it simple here. How many seats do they sell at Arco without that main event? In this economy and without the leverage of a recognizable brand like UFC, I'm guessing not many. Frank Shamrock has a contract which is tied to the live gate when he fights at the HP Pavilion... Brown and Faber should be pointing to that and saying "I deserve the same type of deal".
That's up to Brown and Faber and their management to make that deal. What concern of it is yours? Not every fighter will get the same deal as Shamrock.