I don’t get how Boxers get paid 15M+ for fights and top MMA fighters never break 500k. At the last UFC event according to this link:
http://mmajunkie.com/news/21951/ufc-125-salaries-thiago-silva-and-frankie-edgar-top-872k-fighter-payroll.mma
The main event fighter (Who is a Belt holder) only made 102k, and that’s including his win bonus too.
At first I thought maybe way more people go to Boxing live events and they fill 100k stadiums, but then I figured, the last UFC with GSP headlining had 23k and they still didn’t come close to a boxing payroll. Then I logically thought way more people must watch Boxing PPV’s, however at the GSP vs Koshcheck II post-fight press conference Dana White mention how the UFC is “In half a billion homes worldwide”.
So what is it exactly that allows Boxers to be paid so much more? I can’t imagine, even if it’s more popular than the UFC that it can be THAT much popular. For it to make sense in that way, they would have to be in 5 billion homes worldwide and selling out 800k stadiums, it’s just not logical.
So anyone know the secret to this advance boxing marketing?
Categorized | Affiliate Marketing 101
How Are Boxers Able To Make So Much More Money Than Mma Fighters?
Posted on January 14, 2011.
because boxing is already an established sports and business whereas UFC is a new sports enterprise and needs a lot of promotional marketing. boxing has a huge fans base in every country, mexico,
usa, puerto rico, uk and other asian countries.
UFC screws its fighters when it comes to money. The question is not why boxers make so much, but why are UFC fighters making so little? If they are selling that much, why are the fighters not seeing the money?
First I want yo say that this is only my opinion and a bit controversial….
I do agree that it is because Boxing is an establish sport & while MMA is a booming enterprise it’s still relatively new. But I also believe that alot (not all) boxing is rigged and there is more betting against and for the competitors.
Oh and I also agree with Scott!!
The only ones who say that MMA is more popular are the die-hard MMA fans. Boxing is a much more popular sport and much more established. The UFC is notorious for exaggerating figures, including PPV figures. Officials in the industry have stated this numerous times. Just recently, the 80,000 seat cowboy stadium sold out for the Pacquiao vs Margarito fight. I don’t think this has ever happened in MMA, let alone get close to the 140,000 record for boxing. I know a lot of die-hard MMA fans and MMA marketers (e.g. Joe Rogan) have stated that “mma is swallowing boxing” but this is entirely incorrect. MMA is still a relatively minor sport with a niche market. The more demand there is for a sport, the more money is involved. Hence the reason as to why a boxer can earn 20 million per fight and Brock Lesnar is on a 400,000 dollar salary. Boxing has household names all around the world that everyone knows. If you ask people on the street if they knew who Cain Velaquez was, then i can guarantee that 99% of them wouldn’t have a clue.
I’m not saying boxing is a better sport, im simply saying it is much more popular. A far cry from what many die-hard MMA fans like to believe.
Don’t listen to Dana White or Joe Rogan. They’re simply trying to market and over-hype their sport.
I am saying this as a fan of both sports
First, there are only a handful of fighters who makes millions for every fight…and usually some of those will just get a million pay if the opponent is ultra popular.
For example, the upcoming Pacquiao – Mosley fight. Mosley will probably get 3 million on this one and Pacman about 10 million. If Mosley will fight…say Juan Manuel Marquez, although a very popular boxer, Mosley will get only half or less than of what he will get fighting Pacquiao.
2nd, these guys are boxing pro for the past 10 years while most MMA fighters are only pro for 5 years or so…so boxers are more popular hence a household name already which translates to bigger sponsors and better pay.
My take on this is that boxing has been around for a really long time and through all of this it has grown into a money machine.
The MMA fights have been around for a long time too and believe me there is money in that as well, just not like there is in boxing.
Boxing matches are against two people who hold the main card where most of the money is going to be paid out, as far as what the under card fighters get I would have to assume it is payment that is not great because they are truly up and comers and not well known.
As far as MMA goes you are dealing with the same with two fighters holding the main slot while up and comers are the under card fighters, but the up and comers are actually all pretty well known in the sport so they deserve a little bit more money because they are known to most fans if not all fans.
I would say that MMA is not as popular as boxing is overall which makes up for some of the money difference, the other part is I believe that their are just way more MMA fighters to have to deal with all the time. They seem to fight allot more frequently then most big name boxers do, at least it seems that way to me I could be wrong.
So I would say more or the same amount of money spread out over 8-10 fighters equals less for MMA fighters and more for just two big name boxers with lesser unknown under card fighters and less fights to deal with which makes the overall take greater.
And just like in boxing other people get paid in MMA too, I think Dana White is the new Don King and that’s nothing to brag about believe me that guy is a thief and a con artist.
Boxing has been around longer.
Boxing is more popular.
More popular => more people watching, around the world.
More people watching => more sponsors / advertisers willing to spend money on it
More sponsors / advertising => more money.