Fertitta ‘cautiously optimistic’ about MMA in NY

For nine years the UFC has journeyed to Albany, New York to push for the regulation of mixed martial arts in the Empire State. What began with optimism slowly turned to something else, as five times it got through the Senate, and then each time, then Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver did not bring it to a vote.

Now the witch is dead – Silver was arrested on corruption charges, and resigned as Speaker in Jan. A new study shows that regulation MMA would lead to $135,000,000 in benefits. And SIlver has been replaced with new Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, a supporter of the bill.

UFC Chairman and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta was in Albany on Tuesday, and spoke with Robert Harding of the Auburn Pub.

The Nevada’s Culinary Union has for years tried and failed to get the Fertitta owned Station Casino chain unionized. In response to their failure, they have gone after the UFC, also owned by Feritta and his brother, through a series of front organizations. These bizarre attacks have had little effect beyond comedy except, in New York, where the false charge that MMA and the UFC are misogynistic institutions landed hard.

Fertitta took sharp exception to the characterization.

First and foremost, no other sports organization in the world has embraced women athletics like we have. We took Ronda Rousey, Cat Zingano, Holly Holm and Raquel Pennington and put them on the top bill of our biggest pay-per-view card of the year, where they sold out the Staples Center in the biggest venue that we go to. We have embraced women athletics. We’ve given them the same opportunities that we give to the men. And quite honestly, when you talk about the millions of women that train in martial arts and MMA every day around America and the hundreds of thousands in New York state alone, it’s really appalling that somebody would say that. I think you’d get a fairly visceral reaction from somebody like a Ronda Rousey or other women. This sport has essentially changed their lives. It’s a comment that can’t be backed up by any facts or any truths whatsoever. The sport of MMA is empowering for women. It certainly doesn’t hurt them.

Fertitta also expressed cautious optimism about the prospect of MMA being regulated in NY.

We’re feeling pretty good. We’ve had a very good reception. We’ve been coming up here since 2007. We’ve passed it in the Senate five years in a row. It just got through (the Senate Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks and Recreation Committee) this morning. We definitely feel like we have support there.

For the past five years, we have not been able to get a vote on the Assembly floor. But from walking up and down the halls and having conversations, we certainly have majority support there. Hopefully we’ll have an opportunity this year to get the bill voted upon.

The Assembly leadership situation was an impediment in the past.

We’re cautiously optimistic. (New Assembly Speaker Heastie) has been a supporter in the past, but he’s in a different role now. He’s got to figure out what his caucus wants to do and manage that process. We’re doing our best to try and educate the members and tell them, at least in our opinion, why this will be great for the state of New York.

There’s a lot of reasons for doing it. At the end of the day, New York is the only holdout. There’s 49 other states in the union including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico all have regulated and allowed mixed martial arts. It’s now become a mainstream sport that’s broadcast on free-to-air television via News Corp and Fox. It has become part of the mainstream sports landscape in America. Year-to-date, we’re out-rating the NBA on ESPN and on TNT. We out-rate the NHL. We out-rate Major League Baseball. So, we’re clearly part of mainstream sport. We have an impeccable track record of health and safety with our athletes. And we’re going to bring a significant economic impact to the state of New York. Studies show, on a conservative basis, $135 million a year.

In addition to that, the sport needs to be regulated because in 2014, there were 54 amateur events in New York that were unregulated, which means that fighters didn’t get paid purses, they didn’t do the same level of testing for pre-fight medicals, they didn’t test blood for blood-borne diseases, they didn’t have the correct medical staff on site and they didn’t collect any taxes for the state. The Legislature needs to step up and allow the New York State Athletic Commission to essentially do their job and regulate the sport like they do other combat sports.

Our highest ratings come out of New York. When you look at individual pay-per-view transactions, New York state is at the top of the list of all 50 states. There’s a tremendous following and we know that we’ll be successful. But even in addition to that, when you talk about doing an event up in Buffalo or Syracuse where the border of Canada is right there, we’ll be able to attract the significant fan base that we have in Canada, importing Canadian tourists. When we do an event in New York — it’s such a worldwide, global city — we’re going to have people from all over the world attending that event there. There’s a huge appetite for the sport and there’s really no reason that it shouldn’t be allowed in this state.

Read entire interview…

NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo was in Rochester on Wednesday and was asked about the concerns expressed by male grandmothers that the sport is too violent.

“I understand the point. I focus on that less,” said Cuomo. “Football is a violent sport, rugby is a violent sport, some people say politics is a violent sport. So I get that point, but to me it’s more about the economics and whether or not we create jobs.

“This is a big sport and it’s growing, and if it can create jobs and economic growth in the state of New York, then I’m interested in it.”