The Show Money crew is back to spew their sometimes educated, sometimes random theories on the only show exclusively dedicated to the business of MMA.
The Show Money crew is Paul the economist, Jason the lawyer, and John the man who knows everyone and everything in MMA.
In today’s episode, the guys are in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the courthouse, to cover the first two days of the UFC Antitrust expert hearings.
Follow along in the player above, as we give updates gleaned from the crew’s time in the courtroom today. The first day of live testimony included the economic experts for both sides: Dr. Hal Singer for plaintiffs and Dr. Robert Toepel for Zuffa. Most importantly, Motion to Dismiss: DENIED. UFC has issued a statement regarding today’s decision:
Fighter wage share of revenue was a particularly hot topic brought up today, which seems to be the biggest thing the UFC doesn’t want the public to know about. According to our own John Nash, “Apparently, fighter wage share of revenue was 26% in 2007, dipped to low 20’s, then dropped again after 2011, where its been around 18-19% since; another interesting tidbit, was Zuffa internally projected fighter wage share would stay at 20% or less, with total pay estimated at $196m in 2020 (on $980m revenue).”
The original class-action, antitrust lawsuit against the UFC for monopolization and anti-competitive business practices in the sport of mixed martial arts was launched by former fighters Cung Le, Nate Quarry and Jon Fitch last December, 2018 — since that time additional fighters have rallied to join the cause. Keep checking Bloody Elbow for more updates from the hearings this week. Be sure and follow Paul at @MMAanalytics, John at @heynottheface, and Jason at @dilletaunt for all of their twitter musings.
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