The Cambridge Dictionary describes a trade union as “an organization that represents the people who work in a particular industry, protects their rights, and discusses their pay and working conditions with employers”.
The first trade unions were established in the 18th century during Britain’s industrial revolution. The massive expansion of the labor force and the brutal and sometimes inhuman working conditions triggered a powerful desire of collective representation. Although trade unions and collective bargaining faced prohibition and repression for almost three-quarters of a century they were legalized in 1872 by the “Eleventh and Final Report of the Royal Commissioners appointed to Inquire into the Organization and Rules of Trades Unions and Other Associations“.
The same social and economic unrest among the working population led to the emergence of labor unions in the US post-Civil War era. These sometimes poorly structured and managed worker organizations faced a lack of recognition and actual impact for years to come. As a part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal”, which featured a wide range of social reforms between 1933 and 1938, the “Wagner Act” legally assured the American workers the right to organize in unions.
As the major North American professional sports leagues and teams developed into modern, entertainment and revenue driven businesses, professional athletes began to form their first unions. Founded it in 1954, by legendary Boston Celtics Hall of Famer Bob Cousy, the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) was the first players union. Nonetheless it took the NBPA 10 years to officially get recognized by the NBA team owners. The National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) was established in 1956, the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) and the National Hockey League Players' Association followed in 1966 and 1967. Nowadays these unions take a major role in representing the professional athletes interest in collective bargaining and salary cap negotiations and are firm components of US sports.
In the early nineties a new dynamic, thrilling and controversial sport began to spread like wildfire throughout the United States of America – MMA.
The term “mixed martial arts (MMA)” was first introduced by Pulitzer Price-winning television critic Howard Rosenberg, during an attempt to describe the televised martial arts tournament “UFC 1”. This tournament featured fighters representing different combat styles, such as Boxing, Muay Thai, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and so on, in order to determine the most effective style the hard way. Nowadays MMA is a professional full contact combat sport uniting striking and grappling techniques both standing up and on the ground. Although the Ultimate Fighting Championship promoted the tagline “There are no rules!” in the early nineties the thrilling spectacle transformed into a highly regulated and professional fighting promotion company. Present the UFC is the most popular and largest MMA promotion company in the world, featuring ten weight divisions. The UFC hosted more than 300 events showcasing the premier MMA fighters so far and is on its peak of popularity.
The masterminds behind the rapid ascent of the UFC is the triumvirate consisting of the brothers Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta and their business partner Dana White. In 2001 the Fertitta brothers bought the ailing company for 2 million dollars, following the advice of Dana White, who was already involved in the sport managing MMA legends Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell. They founded “Zuffa LLC” as the parent entity of the UFC. Zuffa LLC is based on co-ownership giving the Fertitta brothers 40,5% each, Dana White 9% and Abu Dhabi based “Flash Entertainment” 10%. Whereas the Fertitta brothers, also known for their majority stake and executive positions in Las Vegas gaming company “Station Casinos”, fulfilled the role as the gray eminences behind scenes, Dana White embraced his role as the charismatic President of the UFC.
Characteristic for combat sport MMA and specifically the UFC produced a few mega stars, such as Randy Couture, Anderson Silva, Vitor Belfort, Jon Jones, Connor McGregor, Georges St-Pierre, that rake in high fighting salaries. On the other hand the majority of the fighters are paid a fraction still literally risking their lives stepping into the Octagon (the UFC’s octagonal structured fighting cage). As the popularity of the UFC grew and the salaries of the few stars with it the rest of the fighters became more vocal on the issue of income inequality and collective bargaining. Advocates of better fighter representation are former construction worker and UFC heavy weight Mark Hunt and T. J. Dillashaw, who publically complaint that the UFC is treating fighters like employees without benefits. Popular UFC welterweight Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone stated that his UFC insurance only covers injuries caused during training or official fight but does not include dental medicine:” I have no dental. I'd like dental." However not all fighters are expressing their wish for unionization. UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes said: “I'm not a union fan, bottom line, I think unions started as a good thing back in the day, but they've turned into a monster. So I just don't see a need for it. Fighters have a choice to fight for any organization they want. They've got a choice of playing baseball, basketball, football, swinging a hammer, being a lawyer, doing anything they want. But they wanted to fight."
In summer 2016 two major events changed professional MMA and especially the UFC for good. In May 2016 ESPN reported that Zuffa LLC was planning to sell its majority stake in the UFC for approximately $3.5 billion to $4 billion dollars. Although Dana White denied the sale of the UFC at first the rumors turned out to be true. On July 9 it was officially announced that the UFC would be sold to the entertainment group WME-IMG for $4 billion dollars. The UFC issued a statement that Dana White would remain as president despite the change of ownership.
On August 11, 2016 the Professional Fighters Association (PFA) released a statement stating its official formation and the objective of collectively bargain terms of employment. The statement addresses the desire for better contract negotiation conditions and the solidarity of the other major sport Unions NFLPA, MLBPA, NHLPA and MLSPU. A direct causal relation of the two events produced a lot of speculation and discussions so far.
The PFA was founded by Jeff Borris, a former baseball agent, and attorney Lucas Middlebrook, known for representing UFC fighter Nick Diaz during his appeal against Nevada State Athletic Commission. The PFA published charts on its website portraying the disparity of the league income revenue split, further stressing the issue.
Jeff Borris has not been afraid of advocating his cause publicly: “Right now, the UFC dictates what happens. They dictate everything, and they’re going to continue to dictate it until someone pushes back.” His counterpart Dana White, who was never shy speaking his mind, has not directly addressed the unionization yet.
Decision postponed.