I think the jury is still out on how the Reebok deal will turn out. If it gets fighter more guaranteed money than what they are currently getting, than IMHO it's nothing but a good thing.
Can't wait for the fights this weekend.
Also keep in mind, the deal does not start until July 2015. So hopefully any issues get worked out.
Some of the emotion and the way people are overreacting about the deal is both hilarious and ridiculous.
I will just give you an example. In recent years a lot of fighters have complained about dealing with sponsors and how they have dried up for the sport in recent years. Matt Wiman compared dealing with sponsors to dealing with drug dealers and just foregoed them completely. Well now Matt Wiman gets guaranteed money for wearing the Reebok gear every time he fights. He is a guy that just wasn't doing sponsors anymore, so now he gets an automatic sponsor that will compensate him for every fight.
Frankie Edgar mentioned the real value in sponsorships goes outside the cage. He basically said that fighters should be repping their sponsor brands hard outside the cage because that has more value than a patch on your shorts.
Also, this may seem harsh, but ultimately this is UFC's air time. UFC can control what goes out on their air time. Cost of doing business.
Everyone acts like the fighters deserve to have all the logos and banners, but where does it say that? Is there a law that says combat sport athletes must be allowed to have these things? If there is, let me know.
However, this uniform deal is a guaranteed sponsor for all the fighters, and all the fighters are supposed to get paid for it.
Now will the deal net them more money than what they were getting through sponsors before? I do not know because the financial terms of the deal were not revealed.
Not only that, most of us do not even know what various fighters get pay wise from their sponsors from their fights. We do know that sponsors have failed to pay fighters on time and have held out of money. Some sponsors were lowballing fighters with pitiful amounts of money. The Reebok deal means fighters do not have to deal with that when it comes to fight week.
Fighters are still allowed to get sponsors away from the cage. Just for example, Jon Jones is repping Beats by Dre. Ronda Rousey is the spokesperson for Buffalo Jeans.
IMHO what this means is that if fighters want better sponsors, they have to rep more outside the cage. That means think of new creative ways to rep the brand away from the cage.
I think that is one reason a lot of sponsors weren't looking at MMA guys anymore because of low ROI. You don't always see fighters repping their brands on social media before or after fights. If fighters want to make more money with those sponsorships, think of new strategies. Say, "OK I can't have the logo for the fight anymore. But instead I will plug your stuff all over my website, I will go out and do appearances and signings for you, etc."
