A sponsorship tax is being introduced for this weekends Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum event in Dallas, Texas. The UFC has already implemented such a tax back in 2009 for those companies looking to sponsor fighters at their events.
With the purchase of Strikeforce by Zuffa, it appears that policy is now being applied to those companies looking to promote themselves through Strikeforce fighters.
BloodyElbow.com ran a summary of the “sponsorship tax” after news surfaced on the Underground Forums and on Fighters Only Magazine.
Unofficially, the tax is hitting sponsors for about $35,000 and is leaving fighters questioning whether they’ll even have sponsors for Saturday’s event.
Bloody Elbow talked to Chad Griggs about the sponsorship tax.
Q: I understand you don’t want to talk yourself into trouble, but I have to ask: Is it a distraction at all that it happened this close to a fight and all of a sudden, you have to worry about something else that isn’t the fight?
CG: I like to say it isn’t, but absolutely (it is). It’s not something I really wanted to be worrying about, but I’m here, I’m supposed to be fighting in two days and I’ve got all my gear and all my shorts and I’m wondering, ‘OK, well, am I going to be going out in a Speedo to fight? Or will I be duct taped up all over?’ I’m not even really sure what I’m going to be wearing out there, but I’ll be there to fight.
So it will be interesting to see how this effects the smaller promoters as well as the amount of tape that may be plastered over fighters shorts and banners this Saturday in Dallas.
The brush stroke that applies to “Business as usual” appears to be very wide indeed.