The UFC’s road to the mainstream is littered with the bodies of banned sponsors. There was a time when the most lucrative sponsor that superstar Tito Ortiz could find was Spanky’s XXX Playhouse.
Adult website sponsors were probably the first banned. Then gambling sites, something Ricco Rodriguez got around, once, with a fake tattoo. Then condom retailers. All MMA events were banned. Companies that sponsored rival promotions were banned. All sponsors were banned unless they paid an upfront fee to the UFC. Companies were banned that competed directly with UFC sponsors, like GOOD4U energy drinks, which competes with Xenergy. And so on.
A complete gallery of banned sponsors appears below.
Each ban has generated fan outrage. However, mainstream sports leagues like the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, PGA do not permit athletes to cover their uniforms with sponsor patches at all. So the practice of allowing sponsor patches and banners while limiting the sponsors, does not seem unreasonable.
This time the ban appears to stem from FOX.
Although the UFC’s seven-year deal with Fox is still in its infancy, the effects of the deal are beginning to trickle through the MMA world.
The MMA Corner has learned from sources close to the situation that the latest impact is that guns and ammunition sponsors, such as The Gun Store and Ammotogo.com, have been banned from events that take place on the Fox family of networks. It will go into effect on Jan. 23.
Fighters competing at events that air on Fox, FX or Fuel TV will have to find other sponsors for their bouts.
The first such event takes place this Friday, Jan. 20, in Nashville, Tenn., marking the inaugural event on the FX network.
Even at UFC 142, in the preliminary bouts, guns and ammunition sponsors were noticeably absent from both fighter banners and shorts.
At this point in time the ban does not appear to affect pay-per-view main card fighters, but any fighters taking part in Fox-broadcast preliminary card fights will be impacted as they shift from Facebook to Fuel TV in 2012.
Jason Genet weighs in from the fight management perspective.
ABSOLUTELY NO FIREARMS, AMMO, HUNTING OR KNIFE COMPANIES WILL BE PERMITTED AS SPONSORS IN ANY ZUFFA PROMOTED EVENTS.
The announcement came down this morning, and some will say it’s just Another way big bad Zuffa is screwing the fighters. In reality, it won’t be long until there comes a day that no sponsors will be allowed. Why? Mainly because these companies are not sponsors per se. They are ambush marketing televised events. The athletes are paid based on the televised exposure not based on the athlete.
Our company has an athlete that is pro-firearm and has an endorsement deal with a small firearms training center. He is paid a monthly salary to endorse the brand and no logo placement is required. This is a true sponsorship to athlete relationship.
MMA is full of great athletes with amazing stories to tell. The UFC is providing them a platform like no one ever has. It is not what you do on that platform, it is what you do with that overall opportunity that matters. How much of the interest generated will you retain?
That is what managers need to be doing for the athletes they work for. They need to build platforms that enable them to sustain revenue and sell value to brands without the UFC exposure. You cannot guarantee the exposure in the UFC but you can guarantee leveraging the relationship and the exposure that may come.
For the most part MMA sponsorships are about logo placement on televised events. The athletes and brands rarely have a connection let alone an activation strategy. Aside from a few pre and post fight mentions there is not much (if any) activation. Even the biggest names depend more on discretionary bonuses than endorsement deals. They are making more because they are at the top. When they begin to descend it will be interesting to see how many actually end up with a brand of their own that they own and can create revenue from. Very few boxers ever converted their brand as an individual and MMA has a long way yet to create an Ali or Foreman.
It is not too late and these changes from Zuffa will only force the issue more. Stop just selling logos on shorts and start selling a brand building experience.
Very serious gallery of banned sponsors
Yes, this list is a parody.
