Madison Square Garden Shows an interest in MMA
Mixed martial arts is not legal in New York State, but that has not stopped Madison Square Garden from jumping…
Mixed martial arts is not legal in New York State, but that has not stopped Madison Square Garden from jumping into the cage.
Radio City Music Hall, which the Garden operates, will host a news conference on Wednesday for the Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-view card on Saturday in Newark. The fights, to be contested at the sold-out Prudential Center, will be shown on a big screen at Radio City.
The Garden also has a co-promotional deal with Bellator Fighting Championships, a smaller mixed martial arts organization based in Chicago, to have fights at a Garden-owned theater in Chicago and a theater in Boston.
The world’s fastest-growing sport seems like a perfect fit for the world’s most famous arena, said Scott O’Neil, the president of Madison Square Garden Sports.
As revenue for some leagues and teams has fallen during the economic downturn, crowds for mixed martial arts have continued to grow. Saturday’s UFC event will take in at least $4 million in ticket sales.
Melvina Lathan, the chairwoman of the New York State Athletic Commission, has expressed support for legalizing the sport, and momentum for it to become sanctioned seems to be growing with the state’s budget deficit.
Lorraine A. Cortés-Vázquez, New York’s secretary of state, favored the legalization and regulation of mixed martial arts in an op-ed articleshe wrote for The Times Union of Albany. She cited its potential economic benefits, among other issues.
Gov. David A. Paterson included a proposal to legalize the sport as a way to raise money in his budget proposal in December. But when Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch presented a five-year financial rescue plan this month, he did not mention any specific programs.
The UFC is hoping the economic potential of events in New York will keep mixed martial arts as a part of the state’s revenue plans.
We have people who fly in from all around the world to our events, said Dana White, the president of the U.F.C. That is a lot of hotel rooms, a lot of merchandise. And this week, a lot of hoopla in New York for a sport that is prohibited there.
O’Neil did not see any contradiction in promoting an event for another arena.
We have had press conferences for lots of events that did not take place here, he said.
O’Neil denied that the Garden was trying to make a point by showing how much revenue a fight could generate if it were in Manhattan.
White said the U.F.C. was just doing business as usual, promoting an event in the most visible way in a major market.
This is not some small little cult following, he said. We have millions of fans.
The number of fans has grown with the number of states sanctioning the sport. A lobbying effort led by Marc Ratner, vice president for regulatory affairs with the U.F.C., has led to 44 states sanctioning the sport.
It is not a question of if we will be sanctioned in New York, but when, Ratner said.
