Earlier this week, the news came that there would be a new MMA promotion looking to have an athlete association and a 50/50 revenue split between fighters and the league. Well, that league has come forth with its official name and logo.

Veteran mixed martial arts reporter Ariel Helwani was the first to report the news of this new league via his Substack page. On his Friday posting, he unleashed a massive new information dump regarding the proposed league, some of the forces behind it, and the key tenets that it will be based around.

The World Fight League reportedly backed by stars in the NFL, NBA and MMA

The new addition to the MMA landscape — which is planned for a 2023 debut — is dubbed World Fight League. The report states that the league’s leadership is made up of former and current athletes in the NFL, NBA, and MMA. And includes several world champions from mixed martial arts. The WFL was originally formulated last year and will be run as a “non-profit,” and it was officially recognized and established as such in May of this year.

There will be at least eight teams, with a roster built through free agency or a league draft. The teams will compete in “home and away” matchups, and be split up into four regional conferences. Those conferences would be North America, South America, Europe/Africa, and Asia/Oceana.

You can find many more of the key details from Helwani’s Substack report below.

-The group is made up of several former/current professional athletes from the world of NFL, NBA and MMA, including multiple MMA world champions, five former respected MMA promoters, former MMA Executives and matchmakers, actors and recording artists.

-Each Conference will consist of no less than eight teams and no more than 24.

-Each team will roster 24 athletes, comprising of three athletes per weight class.

-They are currently focused on launching in North America first, however, the framework is in place for a true world league.

-At this time, they have six approved franchise owners (four in the USA and two in Canada) and claim they have multiple proposals and applications being submitted for other teams.

-A conference will launch when there are eight respective approved team owners.

-According to sources, the CBA terms can’t and won’t be negotiated until they have a union of athletes established. However, any approved franchise owner has signed agreements that enforces certain terms and conditions they must abide by. Some of these provisions are put into place so they will not be able to take more than a 50 percent revenue share. Additionally, per sources, they must provide specific levels of health insurance, career-ending insurance, and pension plan for their athletes. When the union is established, the plan is for athletes and owners to finalize negotiations and agreements. 

The report adds that several “players” competing in the league could be announced in the coming days.

What are your thoughts on the WFL, the logo, a concept completely different than the UFC and similar to other major professional sports leagues?