Episodios
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Francis Ngannou got away and weâre so very happy he did. Going from a $600K payday in the UFCâall because of the UFCâs hard-nosed tactics at the negotiation tableâto a 10-figure purse in your second boxing match is unheard of unless your name is Conor McGregor. Ngannou may be giving the Irish superstar a run for the money in that regard very soon, and might even wind up on the coveted Forbes List this year. But how did he get there?
The long and the short of it is that he bet on himself and waited for the terms of his sunset clause to come to their conclusion, and then he took the Francis Ngannou show on the road. First stop, Riyadh, where he took the lineal heavyweight boxing champion of the world to a split decision that many in the community felt he won. He even put the champ on the canvas. Impressive for a pro debut, to say the least.
Now, heâs set to take on the number one contender in the world, a former champion in Anthony Joshua, and heâll be doing it for a huge payday. After itâs all said and done, Francis could be looking at a $30M - $40M payday in his second pro bout. And the best part is he doesnât have to give up a percentage of that to his MMA promoter, as the UFC requires.
Letâs take a look at some of the topics we covered in this episode:
1. How much do we think Ngannou is making for this fight?
2. How much is Joshua making?
3. What is PFL going to be watching to come out of this match?
4. There is a Harvard case study that came out, what does that say about Ngannou's PFL contract? Does it give us any info on what the terms are? How much he is getting paid?
5. When we look at what Ngannou is making, one would think other fighters would try to follow his path. Why haven't we seen other UFC fighters do what he did?
6. What are the changes the UFC made in their contracts that prevents other fighters from doing what Francis did?
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TKO Group Holdings, the conglomerate that went public last fall after the merger of the UFC with the WWE, released its full 2023 financial results last week. Having reported on their SEC and investor reports for the first and second quarter of last year, I am once again only going to focus on what we learn about the UFCâs finances from their 8-K, 10-K and earnings call.
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The big takeaway is that everything was gold for the UFC, setting records in almost every category. They saw increases in their revenue (including increases in each of the four segments that make up revenue), an increase in their EBITDA, and, in some good news for their fighters, even an increase in their athlete costs AKA fighter pay.
REVENUE
In 2023, the UFC delivered record financial results once again. Total revenue increased 13%, from $1.140 billion to $1.292 billion, an increase of $152 million. A breakdown of the individual segments is as follows:
* Media rights and content fees were up 10%, from 2022, going up $76.2 million from $794 million to $871 million last year. âThe increase in media rights and content fees was primarily related to higher domestic and international rights fees resulting from increases in contractual revenues, higher fees associated with international renewals and one additional pay-per-view event in 2023 as compared to the prior year period.â
* Live events revenue were up 34%, a $42.6 million increase to a record $168 million, driven by growth in ticket revenues and site fees. âThe increase in live events revenue was primarily related to 5 additional events with a live audience (26 in 2023 as compared to 21 in the prior year) and higher site fees.â In 2021 they sold out 20 live events with seven of them now ranking among the top 20 highest grossing UFC events of all time.
* Sponsorship revenue were up $29.5 million over the previous year, an 18% increase to another record $196 million. This was driven by new brand partners and renewal increases.
* Consumer product licensing was up from $53.6 million in 2022 to $57.3 million last year.
You know you can count on us for quick, consistent quality UFC coverage. The MMA Draw is an independent, reader supported publication. Please subscribe to our newsletter to keep up with our best work and learn how you can support the site. Weâre constantly refining to try and provide our readers and listeners with the best, most current MMA news and opinions.
This is a public episode. If youâd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com/subscribe -
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Ryan Garcia has once again called out UFCâs bantamweight champion Sean OâMalley. Boxingâs babyfaced superstar engaged in a back-and-forth on X (formerly Twitter) with the UFC bantamweight champion, prompting many to wonder if Oscar De La Hoyaâs Golden Boy Promotions would be able to co-promote a fight with the UFC between the two sluggers. OâMalley has âŠ
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The WWE is in hot water thanks to a lawsuit filed by former employee Janel Grant. The lawsuit alleges Vince McMahon, other officials and even included a former UFC superstar engaged in sex trafficking and/or sexual assault and the suit came with evidence. McMahon resigned from all his positions at WWE and TKO Holdings within hours and the evidence from âŠ
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A pair of unrelated videos surfaced yesterday that grabbed our attention, mainly for the inaccuracies contained in both. The first is a short clip of an interview former presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy conducted with Dana White. The second is from the Joe Rogan Experience and features a conversation between Joe and former UFC heavyweight Brendan ScâŠ
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Conor McGregor isâand has been for yearsâone of the most enigmatic figures in combat sports. Hell, heâs one of the most enigmatic figures in all of sports. Much like Ronda Rousey, heâs had a transcendent career journey, crossing the threshold between sports and pop culture. And with pop culture actually driving the demand for more events, stars like ConâŠ
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Over the course of the last few weeks, several boxing stories have dropped. We watched Showtime air its last boxing event after nearly 38 years of broadcasting the sport. From there, PBC, who had been calling Showtime their broadcasting home, ended up signing a huge deal with Amazon, so weâve got one major promotion secured and accounted for.
Bloody ElboâŠ
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MMA has had an incredible year news-wise, thanks mostly to three big stories. Weâve seen all sorts of drama, from the New Year all the way to now. We opened the first week of the year with Dana White assaulting his wife on video for the world to see. Weâve seen Power Slap become a real thing and it has now been sanctioned in Californiaâsomething we woulâŠ
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The UFC antitrust case is the gift that keeps on giving, especially recently. You may be asking yourself âWhatâs happened now?â and the answer to that question would be class certification. Once the honorable Judge Boulware awarded the plaintiffs class certification, it set the wheels in motion for an avalanche of discovery. Thousands of documents, textâŠ
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Yesterday, news broke that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the UFCâs appeal to the antitrust lawsuit, so of course we had to record in the dead of night to bring our listeners all the details. John explains all the upcoming dates the honorable Judge Boulware has set forth and what happens next.
Bloody Elbow is fighting for the sport, the fighteâŠ
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Francis Ngannouâs boxing debut was nothing short of incredible, and even though he didnât get his arm raised in victory, many in the combat sports world felt he DID do enough to get the nod, but the judges instead scored it in favor of reigning lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. The tally would see âThe Predatorâ take a split decision lossâin his fâŠ
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Over the years, John Nash has reviewed contracts from all the major MMA promotions and several big boxing contracts, as well. Weâve been able to see just how restrictive, and at times, draconian, most of the MMA agreements between promotions and athletes truly are. The UFC set the standard with their boilerplate contract and with new changes, have made âŠ
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Itâs been a busy couple of weeks in the world of MMA business and finance, but we tried to cover all the most pertinent topics. Front and center is the new filings that came out last week on the UFCâs first half of the year. We also discuss the latest rumblings of a Bellator buyout by the PFL and what that could look like in the future. Hereâs a list ofâŠ
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A lot has happened in the last two weeks. The court gave a date in the antitrust suit, the defendants requested an appeal, the plaintiffs responded and weâve got all the pertinent details. Spectrum and Disney have been in a battle over rising rates to broadcast Disneyâs contentâspecifically ESPN. John opines on how that could affect the UFC.
Bloody ElbowâŠ
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Nate Quarry might be most famously known for his fight with Kalib Starnes or for his comeback fight against Pete Sell, but he is doing much bigger things these days. These days, heâs known as one of the original plaintiffs in the UFC antitrust suit, but because he was part of the identity class, which was denied class certification, he is no longer a plâŠ
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Since the antitrust case finally received its class certification from Judge Boulware, the community has been abuzz with what the honorable judgeâs written opinion means. The commentary from him was quite serious and he appears to clearly side with the plaintiffs. He used pointed language that left no doubt of this.
Bloody Elbow is fighting for the sportâŠ
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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com
This week, the UFC antitrust lawsuit finally got class certification. Judge Boulware awarded the certification to the plaintiffs (the fighters), then gave his written statement, which was brutally honest. John Nash is back to break down the judgeâs statements, what they mean, and how he views the impact of the UFCâs market power over the athletes.
BloodâŠ
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Thereâs been no shortage of big news in the last two weeks. From Ari Emanuelâs involvement in the SAG-AFTRA strike to how much of Disneyâs assets Bob Iger was talking of selling off and everything in between. Just how differently does Ari treat actors and fighters and why, as well as what âfinding a partner for ESPNâ might entail.
The Bloody Elbow PodcasâŠ
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The UFC is the industry leader in MMA, without a doubt. The promotion is in the unique and very fortunate position of having a monopoly and a monopsony all at once, and their financial statements illustrate that point quite well. One of the ways theyâre able to profit so heavily while the fighters make so little (around a 13-14% revenue share) is becausâŠ
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Over the last month, the sports community has been trying to process the massive bombshell the PGA tour dropped when they announced theyâd be merging with the LIV tour. For months, the PGA tour told the golfing communityâincluding golfers themselvesâthat they had no intention of merging with LIV. And then they did. John Nash immediately started digging âŠ
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