Bloody Elbow: An SB Nation Community

Navigation: Jump to content areas:



Sports blogs for fans, by fans.
New Blog: Backing the Pack for NC State Fans!


WAMMA'S True Intentions Revealed

In Rob Meysey MMAFA blog, he explores WAMMA's organizational structure and motives in latest post.

Star-divide

On June 20, 2008, when asked about whether WAMMA will charge sanctioning fees for its title matches, Szady replied: "No. We are not taking any sanctioning fee from a promoter nor are we taking any percentage of a purse from a fighter. Our business model and our revenue stream come strictly from our sponsors for the WAMMA belt or for sponsoring the events themselves along with the promoters." Lynch, echoing Szady, replied: "WAMMA is in no way charging a sanctioning fee from the Affliction promotion nor are we asking for a percentage of the fighter’s purses. As Dave said we truly are trying to emulate the best aspects of boxing’s sanctioning bodies while eliminating all the aspects of sanctioning bodies that we find in boxing that will be a detriment to the sport."24 Szady’s response above is unqualified as to whether WAMMA will charge sanctioning fees. The response of Lynch however, who is a lawyer, may leave room for maneuver. Lynch’s reply in regards to WAMMA not charging sanctioning fees may be read as applying only to the Fedor Emelianenko-Tim Sylvia title bout in the Affliction promotion. In order to eliminate the possibility of any misunderstanding, I asked Lynch whether WAMMA can state, "with 100% certainty, that sanctioning fees will never be sought and/or collected from any promotion and/or any fighters purse." Lynch replied, "Yes. . . Most importantly, WAMMA will NEVER make a living off a fighter’s back by taxing a fighter’s purse." However, in WAMMA’s materials presented to athletic commissions at the ABC Convention for MMA held in Montreal, WAMMA indicates that it will "receive revenue from title sponsors, online portal subscriptions, sale of unique digital content, merchandising, and in the future sanctioning fees."25 The WAMMA brand is not yet established, and networks are not yet utilizing its rankings. Thus, the necessary traction does not yet exist for WAMMA to require sanctioning fees. If the WAMMA brand becomes entrenched, however, sanctioning fees, as WAMMA’s own presentation materials indicate, will follow.

This article includes more comprehensive examination on WAMMA's goals and structure. This article is a must read.

The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Bloody Elbow readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloody Elbow editors or staff.

0 recs | Comment 6 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Display:

“Rob Maysey”

by Banned In DC on Oct 8, 2008 4:49 PM EDT reply reply actions actions   0 recs

My problem with this is that there’s a limited amount of money that sponsors would be willing to put into MMA (at least there’s limited space on the mat, TV screen, and things they can name like the Bud Light Replay).

Isn’t every dollar that goes to WAMMA a dollar that could have gone to the org or to the fighters?

by Phildo on Oct 9, 2008 8:38 AM EDT reply reply actions actions   0 recs

I'm going to

reach out to WAMMA’s CEO and COO on this and see if they are as willing to address rumors and situations such as these as they claimed to be when I interviewed them earlier this year.

Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.

by Brent Brookhouse on Oct 9, 2008 8:41 AM EDT reply reply actions actions   0 recs

WAMMA

An organization professing to rank fighters, award championship belts, sanction fights, etc., should NOT be a for-profit corporation, ESPECIALLY when it conceals the identity of investors.

Being a private company and not revealing its investors makes WAMMA smell to high-heaven. Hiring an ex-FBI agent as an executive is such an obvious ruse.

Why is WAMMA not a Sec. 501 © (3) tax-exempt non-profit corporation? Simply because everything would then have to be transparent. They way it is, there will always be an appearance of huge conflicts of interest and no one will ever know.

Guarantee you, somewhere down the line (after everyone has joined) they will have the leverage (and great reasons) for changing their policy about sanctioning fees.

by ringstar on Oct 9, 2008 8:02 PM EDT reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Comments For This Post Are Closed


User Tools

"All men are frauds. The only difference between them is that some admit it. I myself deny it." -- H.L. Mencken
Start posting on Bloody Elbow »

Join SB Nation and dive into communities focused on all your favorite teams.

FanPosts

Community blog posts and discussion.

Recommended FanPosts

Small
UFC 100 to Air in Korea; Akiyama and Kim Leading the Way
N46600342_991_small
The Real UFC 100
Bob_sapp__potato_head_small
A Message For Our Troops
Weo_animation2_small
Exclusive: An Interview With "The Veteran Voice of the Octagon" Bruce Buffer
Stpierre_472917a_small
The Official UFC 100 Bloody Elbow Meet-up Thread

Recent FanPosts

Weo_animation2_small
Michael Bisping: "Dan Henderson Crossed the Line"
Yes__small
REMINDER: UFC's 100 Greatest Fights on Spike Tonight!
Weo_animation2_small
Gesias JZ Cavalcante to Compete at DREAM.11 But Not Against Eddie Alvarez
Weo_animation2_small
UFC 100 Preview: Paulo Thiago Talks Jon Fitch and Josh Koscheck
Ebola_small
Next MMA Fighter To Die?
Picture_010_small
Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley

Post_icon New FanPost All FanPosts Carrot-mini

MMA Rankings

USA Today / SB Nation Consensus MMA Rankings