Home

Politics As Usual: An Overview Of The UFC’s Struggle In New York

Category: Mixed Martial Arts

Published Date

Written by Mr. Wizzle

Zuffa, LLC, parent company to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) filed a lawsuit against the state of New York on November 15, 2011. The lawsuit states that New York’s ban on MMA is unconstitutional and is in violation of the first amendment. The 123-page complaint cites various other violations including equal protection clause, due process clause and commerce clause. Of the 48 states with regulatory bodies or athletic commissions, the UFC is sanctioned in 45 of them. The three remaining states are Vermont, Connecticut and New York. Of the three states New York is the only one in serious opposition to legalizing MMA. Worth noting is the fact that legislature to legalize MMA has passed through the New York State Senate three times, most recently with a vote of 48-18. The process from there is the legislation must be voted on by the House/State Assembly. If the vote is in favor of the legislation the Governor then signs the legislation into law. What’s interesting is when it is put in the hands the House they have refused to vote on the legislation on all three occasions. This begs the question, “why?”

The Official Face Of The Opposition

The public figure who has become the face of this crusade to keep MMA out of New York is Assemblyman Bob Reilly. In his opinion, as stated in various interviews, “MMA is a violent sport and violence begets violence.”

He believes that in a state like New York, where so much effort has been put into eradicating and eliminating violence, it would be counterproductive to bring MMA or Ultimate Fighting as he calls it, in. He has often bundled MMA in with sentences that also include human cock fighting, dog fighting, domestic violence, bullying and rape, as if to suggest MMA is somehow similar.

“I don’t believe we can to say to young people it’s alright for two adults to get in a cage and fight sometimes tragically even to death but you don’t fight in school yards and don’t you bully ahh… your class mate.”

For anyone who has listened to Mr. Reilly’s argument against MMA and knows anything about the sport, it becomes apparent rather quickly that he lacks any sort of knowledge of the subject on which he speaks.

Bob Reilly’s Stance On MMA Is Hypocritical To Say The Least

Bob Reilly’s position on MMA is clear. Curious however is his position, or rather lack thereof on other violent sports like boxing, football and hockey. With these sports he claims that violence is not the nature or purpose of the sport but rather a byproduct so-to-speak. And rules are in place to protect athletes who participate in these sports.

But in the NHL fighting is not only part of the game, it is encouraged and applauded. In any given season there are on average 76 players who suffer concussions. There are also about 6600 other injuries per year that include fractures, lacerations, sprains and bruises.

In the NFL, there are between 120 and 130 concussions per season and between 10 and 20 injuries per week that cause players to miss games. Do the math.

In professional boxing, a report was released by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons that 90% of professional Boxers sustain brain damage.

With this being the case, logic would suggest that for a man who is against violence the way Mr. Reilly claims to be, an effort on his part to get violence out of these sports should also be taking place. But it isn’t. And with so much evidence to counter Mr. Reilly’s claims regarding MMA it seems odd that the bill to legalize it can’t even get a vote in the House. In a democratic society, that seems pretty undemocratic. With all this in mind one begins to wonder if there are reasons beyond Mr. Reilly’s position this particular piece of legislation can’t get a vote by the State Assembly. Evidence would suggest the answer is yes.

The Culinary Union Has A Problem, With MMA?

To further their efforts Zuffa, LLC filed with the State Legislature to lobby in favor of legalizing MMA in the state of New York. They were surprised to find out that the people who filed to lobby against them weren’t Bob Reilly and his team but, instead the New York State Culinary Union. The Culinary Union represents men and women working in the hospitality and service industry, as in hotels and restaurants.  This immediately comes across as peculiar because the UFC brings a lot of business to the industry this union represents. When the UFC first came to Toronto Ontario the economic impact on the city was over $45 million. Much of this went to hotels and restaurants. So why on earth would a union that represents people that could only benefit from such an event lobby against it in the State Legislature?

History Rears Its Ugly Head For Zuffa, LLC.

The Fertitta brothers who own the majority shares of the UFC also own a Nevada-based company called Station Casinos, Inc. This company owns and operates several resorts and casinos in the state of Nevada. Station Casinos Inc. is the largest gaming company in the state to employ non unionized workers. There in-lies the issue. For the last 30 years the Culinary Union in Las Vegas has been trying to unionize the employees of Station Casinos Inc. and for 30 years they have been unsuccessful. When asked in an interview about the subject Lorenzo Fetitta had this to say,

“They have wanted our team members to be unionized for the last 30 years and our position is, you know what? That’s not really up to us. That’s up to our team members and they can have a vote if they choose to decide to want a union and that’s up to them but so far for the last 30 years when we started the family business, 90 employees, to now where we have around 13,000 employees, they’ve chosen like they don’t feel like they need a third party intermediary to negotiate for them. It’s their choice.”

The Culinary Union’s Method Of Attack

It is believed by the Fertitta brothers and Dana White that the Culinary Union in Las Vegas is behind the Culinary Union in New York’s decision to lobby against the legalization of MMA there. The theory is if they can keep the UFC out of New York for long enough perhaps the Fertittas will cave and strike a deal with the union to unionize their employees. It seems pretty straight forward but there is more to the story.

In August of 2011 the Culinary Union sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requesting a formal investigation into the business practices of Zuffa, LLC. The Union states they believe that Zuffa, LLC is in violation of antitrust laws. It is possible that this investigation is currently underway and is now the reason for the hold up in the State Assembly. The FTC does not discuss open investigations until they have been closed but other fight promoters say they have answered questions from the FTC with regards to the practices of the UFC. There may be some validity to this as the point can be made that the Culinary Union has not gone after Zuffa, LLC in any other state in the 10 years they have owned the UFC. Perhaps the Culinary Union is making an effort to unionize MMA fighters now. When asked about the possible investigation, Dana White has made a point to never answer the question directly.

The Future Of Zuffa, LLC And The UFC

MMA is the fastest growing sport in the world. There is no denying that fact. But as a sport relative to other professional sports it is still in its infancy having only existed for 18 years. The legislation will eventually pass in the New York State Assembly because there is simply no way that the epicenter of America is not going to host what will soon be the biggest sport in the world. If aging politicians want to make this their final fight so be it. If unions that would only benefit from such an event want to oppose it so be it. If the FTC wants to take a crack at the company so be it. As stated above, Zuffa ,LLC and the UFC are still young and are figuring out this sport as much as they are creating it. If changes need to be made as time goes on they will happen. The sport is still evolving. One thing is for sure, MMA is here to stay and the UFC is the major league, bottom line.

Until the next time we speak...

• < Prev