The World Series of Fighting is entering the pay-per-view business in 2015 with a plan that could, according to officials, “forever change the earning potential” for MMA fighters, per MMAJunkie.com.
WSOF officials announced on Tuesday that the promotion would be adopting a revenue-sharing model as a means for compensating fighters featured on pay-per-view telecasts.
Per the report, fighters will be receiving 50 percent of all net revenue brought in by an event.
Fighter pay is a frequently debated topic in combat sports, as many expect some of their favorite fighters to be paid along similar lines of professional athletes in other sports. Unfortunately, there is a huge gray area between what’s fair and unfair in the fight business.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship has been in the pay-per-view business longer than any other MMA promotion on the planet, and UFC fighters have often complained about being undercompensated.
MMA legend Wanderlei Silva accused the UFC of underpaying fighters and taking away his desire to compete in a recent YouTube video. Longtime MMA trainer Cesar Gracie backed Silva’s message in a Twitter post, citing that fans aren’t paying to watch “greedy promoters”:
WSOF president Ray Sefo, a former fighter, believes this new module could be the domino that finally tips the negotiation process in favor of the fighters, per MMA Junkie:
Until now one of the main things holding this sport back from becoming even bigger than it is today has been fighter compensation and the inability of the sport’s top athletes to earn on par with top-level professional athletes in other sports.
The net revenue attained by the WSOF will heavily depend on the pay-per-view card lineup and the ability of the fighters to promote the event. Unfortunately, Conor McGregors don’t grow on trees.
The WSOF already has a growing stable of talent, including Jon Fitch, Rousimar Palhares, Yushin Okami, Jessica Aguilar, Melvin Guillard, Justin Gaethje, Nick Newell, Rick Glenn and many others.
But with half of its revenue going straight to the fighters, it still remains to be seen if the promotion has the star power to actually turn a profit with this new module.
Jordy McElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA writer for Rocktagon.
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