Politicians Eye Tax Increases on MMA in New York
In an odd lesson of "be careful what you wish for," it looks like politicians in New York are taking the UFC's talking points about revenue very seriously. The AP report on the UFC's legalization effort also has an interesting note on tax plans of certain politicians:
Englebright said he was looking at revenue implications for New York during these dire economic times. He said he made changes to last year's bill, including increasing the state's share of gate revenue from 3 percent to 10 percent. The bill will have a three-year sunset clause, giving the state a chance to study the sport.
For the UFC, it's not a huge amount of money. If they do a 4.5 million dollar gate, it's the difference between $450,000 and $135,000 in taxes. It's a significant amount of money, but not enough to dissuade them from coming to New York. As usual, however, the UFC will likely only bear a small portion of the tax increase, and will likely pass it along through lower discretionary bonuses.
The pain here will be for smaller MMA companies trying to run in New York, already facing losses, and barely able to survive. The likely outcome in my view is that few companies will be able to pay a 10% gate fee in addition to their state and federal obligations.
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Which state?
Which state was it that Dana avoided because the costs were too high? It came up on this site awhile back?
by rainmaker6 on Jan 21, 2009 3:14 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
Hawaii
And this isn’t as bad, but still not great.
by subo on Jan 21, 2009 3:27 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I’m not sure what Hawaii wants for taxes, but there are a ton of added benefits that come from fighting in NY. It’d almost be worth putting a show in MSG as long as they could make a dollar off of it because of the media exposure that it would get.
by Phildo on Jan 21, 2009 7:56 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Hawaii’s tax system is ridiculous; it’s too steep for small shows, but adds extra penalties for large shows…
They’d still do shows at MSG, for certain, but likely not anywhere else in the state, and as Rome says, small shows are screwed.
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
by AJB on Jan 21, 2009 1:41 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Dumbass politicians strike again. facepalm
by Dexerion on Jan 21, 2009 7:13 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
“Bite the nose to spite the face” as my Grandma always said.
by Benicio on Jan 21, 2009 7:19 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
This is always a bad idea, whether the tax burden is relatively high or not. People besides the “rich” guys that run the UFC will end up sharing in the consequences of such action.
by Cannon Jacques on Jan 21, 2009 10:37 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

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![According to this translation of a passage from Takanori Gomi's blog, the Japanese lightweight free agent has been in talks with Zuffa while in Las Vegas for the Pacquiao-Cotto fight, aided by his friend Tito Ortiz. Gomi says that if talks with Zuffa fall through, Strikeforce is another option, and that he wants to have a deal in place to start the new year.
Photo by Dan Herbertson for Sherdog.
[UPDATE] It looks like the post has gone missing from Gomi's blog (that, or the quote was fabricated), so take this with a grain of salt for now. However, Gomi was most definitely in Las Vegas this past weekend for the big fight.](http://cdn3.sbnation.com/fan_shot_images/86199/20091102045748_200910302479_small.jpg)












