On Tuesday, the UFC and Reebok held a press conference in New York City to announce a partnership which Reebok will become the exclusive authentic global outfitter of UFC.
The partnership is for six years and the apparel line will include “Fight Week” and “Fight Night” gear for the fighters and their corner.
“Together with Reebok we are changing the landscape of MMA,” said Lorenzo Fertitta, UFC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Working with another global brand with such a strong history in training and fitness will deliver long-term value for UFC athletes and their brands by elevating and further professionalizing the events and the sport. Every UFC athlete will benefit from high quality performance apparel specifically developed, tested and produced for MMA athletes. Never before has the sport had a global athletic footwear and apparel brand committed to investing so much in the research and development of products specifically for MMA.”
With this new partnership in place, how will this change sponsorship deals for fighters beginning in July of 2015? According to the UFC website, here are the changes that are coming for fighters.
Athletes will no longer be permitted to have outside sponsor logos on athletic apparel during UFC fight week official events, including fight night, UFC-produced content or other official UFC events.
And individual sponsor banners will no longer be permitted for the walkout or inside the Octagon beginning with the UFC event on July 11, 2015, coinciding with International Fight Week in Las Vegas, Nev. The new policy will start the week of July 6, 2015.
Athletes can continue to maintain their individual apparel and non-apparel sponsors outside all UFC events, and existing or prospective sponsors may use an athlete’s name and likeness. But they cannot use UFC trademarks unless they have a direct commercial relationship with UFC.
How will fighters be compensated? During the press conference, UFC President Dana White stated that all of the money that comes in from Reebok will go to the fighters and they will also get 20 percent of anything that sells with their name on it. The compensation structure for the Reebok deal for fighters is below and is based on the UFC media rankings.
The tiered compensation levels for fighters, based on the media-selected rankings system, will reward champions of the respective divisions the most. Other tiers will reward fighters ranked 1 through 5 (Tier 2); 5-10 (Tier 3); 10-15 (Tier 4). Unranked fighters will be compensated at a Tier 5 level and those non-ranked fighters will receive the same compensation.
“This partnership is much more than a licensing agreement,” said Matt O’Toole, President, Reebok. “It is a true collaboration between two great brands, which will not only give UFC a new and exciting look, but it will harness the global reach of both brands to also benefit young people around the world, particularly those at risk of being involved in crime and violence.”