UFC Merchandising Agreement - Fighters Get Scammed

[amnesiac71]

Originally Posted by neil_cdn

eeh, dunno about this one, you made it sound really bad, but i imagine if they sold 10 million chuck liddell dolls at 10$ a piece, even 10% of that gets you a solid million in your pocket, That whole clause of them claiming royalties for life is something shady tho imo.

Selling 10 million chuck liddell dolls is pretty unrealistic.

[matsfighting]

Originally Posted by FortheLoveofMMA

Billion-Dollar UFC Enters Merchandising in Big Way: Good Deal For Fighters? | The Official Blog of the MMAFA

Marketing Rights Agreement Highlights

· In exchange for granting Zuffa the Merchandise Rights, a fighter is entitled to (i) ten percent (10%) of gross revenue for sales of Licensed Merchandise completed by Zuffa, and (ii) twenty percent (20%) of gross revenue for royalties and/or license payments received from third parties.

· The Agreement grants Zuffa an exclusive license prohibiting even the sale of autographed photographs!

· The Agreement operates to strip even the fighter himself of the opportunity to profit on his own Identity in the marketplace. Not only are fighters being asked to sign an agreement that grants likeness rights to Zuffa on a worldwide, exclusive basis (to the exclusion, incredibly, of even the fighter himself), the term of the Agreement is forever.

· The term of the Agreement lasts forever, and the Marketing Rights for fighter are held by Zuffa even after a fighter is cut!

· The Agreement requires a fighter to make up to Six (6) appearances per year, and each of the appearances may be required of the fighter for no additional compensation.

· The Agreement contains no audit rights which would provide a mechanism for a fighter to enforce the terms of the Agreement and to verify payments are fair.

· The Agreement enables Zuffa to divert royalty and licensing payments by shifting income that could be classified as a license or royalty fee entitling a fighter to payment, into a payment that is Zuffa’s income alone.

· The Agreement requires a fighter to warrant that all permissions have been obtained to utilize third party marks and copyrights.

· The Agreement does not offer any royalty or license payments for video games and DVDs.

· The Agreement prohibits a fighter from not only using Licensed Marks of Zuffa, but also mere words alone!

· The Agreement, in short, is absurd for fighters, and drastically impacts their marketing and revenue producing ability throughout, and even after their athletic careers.


full article here



The full Merchandising Agreement Zuffa is passing sounds largely like an indentured servant contract. When will we, as fans and fighters, no longer tolerate such obvious detriments to our beloved sport?

If anyone has a chance to read this, please do, and let me know your thoughts.

What????

The UFC is screwing their fighters?

Will wonders ever cease?

Add this to the list of reasons the UFC will be passed up by some other organization in the next few years. You simply can't treat your most important asset (your fighters) like dirt and expect the most talented ones (the ones with the option to go to another company) to stick around.

Flash forward to 2010.......

UFC 108 : Chris Leben UFC MW Champ defends his title against Michael Bisping in the main event and 6 other terrible fights.

Elite XC Card that week : Anderson Silva vs Paulo Filho, BigNog vs Werdum, GSP vs Thiago Alves and Rampage vs Shogun

[iamyour41]

Those are pretty outrageous circumstances they must agree to. I know I wouldn't sign it. If you would, you've lost your mind.

Also, if you don't sign it, they aren't allowed to make dolls after you or shirts after you or have you in their games. Just like Affliction can't start making Dana and UFC suck t-shirts. You aren't allowed to do certain things without the consent of the party you are portraying.

I mean, the contract goes on forever and they are REQUIRED to make appearances? Without compensation? They won't get paid for video games? Wtf.

[fdiaz289]

there we go again always finding a way to bitch what about all the risk that zuffa faces,what if fighters make fools of themselfs leave a bad rep or if the product dont sell and other shit im sure these fighters would never and i mean never would get an action figure of themselfs if it wasnt for zuffa they do the impossible and all people think about is there not getting paid enough or zuffa is screwing them come on these fighters know whats up when the time is right for the big money to come its going to come and they know it or they wouldnt do it period

[fdiaz289]

there we go again always finding a way to bitch what about all the risk that zuffa faces,what if fighters make fools of themselfs leave a bad rep or if the product dont sell and other shit im sure these fighters would never and i mean never would get an action figure of themselfs if it wasnt for zuffa they do the impossible and all people think about is there not getting paid enough or zuffa is screwing them come on these fighters know whats up when the time is right for the big money to come its going to come and they know it or they wouldnt do it period

[clinchman]

Everyone complains about how baseball, basketball, football (American) players are over paid - that they basically get millions to play a game. Why do we think that fighters have to make so much money to fight? The average career is short, but so are most football careers. The wear and tear on your body doesn't mean you can't work after you're done fighting. Randy is doing well for himself post-UFC, and Tito will too. Having a beat up 35-40 year old body means you have to be smart to make money after you retire from fighting. But guess what? If you never fought a day in your life, it helps to be smart to make money anyhow. Sure these guys can't retire and become underwater welders or bricklayers, but they can train people, open gyms, make appearances, fight on/run smaller shows. If I signed with the UFC, I'd be happy with the terms. Where I'm from $50,000 a year is a ton of money...to make 100K would pay for all my expenses and leave me to live here as a very well off person. I guess my bottom line is this:

How much money do you need to do what you love? At what point do you see people wearing a shirt with your name on it, or talking about how they picked your character on a video game and not think "wow, that's really damn cool, this is awesome" I think if little kids looked up to me, women loved me, and men wanted to be like me...I wouldn't be worried about making royalties off of a t-shirt. These guys love what they do, and that's why they deal with the bullshit...there are many fringe benifits of being in the most recognized MMA org in the United States/probably the world.

[Konor]

I don't think anyone is holding a gun to any fighters head forcing them to sign the contract. Sign it or don't. My guess, however, is that the ones who sign are going to be happy they did in the long run. Regardless, each fighter should have his own lawyer review the contract and explain it to them in laymans terms so they understand exactly what they are getting into.

[JohnSAFTAHess]

wow, that's bad.


nasty emails should be sent, they should not have rights after the fighter is not under contract either.

[koquerelle]

Do you guys think Couture gets more than 10% for lending his image to Affliction?

[Kajun]

Originally Posted by DNA4421

before Zuffa how many of these fighters were making more than 200k per year???? how many fighters were being sponsered as heavily.....

They wont be able to use their names or likeness for sponsorships if they sign this....not even after they no longer work there. You dont see a problem with that?