Earlier this week we published a list of the richest MMA fighters in the world. Over the last several days we have received several emails and comments from people who seemed to think that some of our net worth estimates may have been too low. Most of the controversy surrounded fighter Georges St-Pierre who we estimate is worth $7 million. $7 million isn’t exactly chump change but some people are under the impression that GSP earns $5 million per fight, which would make our estimate slightly off. Does Georges St-Pierre Really Make $5 Million Per UFC Fight? And how did Floyd Mayweather reject a $100 million offer to fight Pacquiao?
Georges St-Pierre $5 Million?
The idea that Georges St-Pierre makes $5 million per fight comes from a 2011 Canadian newspaper interview where GSP himself stated: “For me, a fight is (worth) $4 to $5 million, and in the city where the UFC holds its events, there are economic benefits of between $15 to $20 million. It’s huge!” So does Georges St-Pierre really make that much money from a single fight? Unfortunately the answer is no. In fact, as we are about to show, it’s almost mathematically impossible.
Many readers of our original list of the richest MMA fighters falsely assumed that we had forgotten to take into account GSP’s Pay Per View bonuses when we stated that he has earned a total of $3.1 million from his UFC matches. The truth is, even with a generous PPV cut, St-Pierre is not making nearly as much money as you would think. His claims of $4-5 million per fight are big exaggerations. For example let’s take a look at UFC 154. When GSP fought in UFC 154, he earned a $200,000 appearance fee and $270,000 from win bonuses = $470,000 before PPV. There were 700,000 Pay Per View orders for UFC 154 which at $55 a pop = $38.5 million gross revenues. Of that $38.5 million 60% goes to distributors like Comcast, Time Warner and DirecTV right off the bat, leaving the UFC with $15.4 million before any costs like advertising, insurance, fighter salaries, vendors, security etc. Conservatively assuming that these costs eat up another 60%, the UFC is left with $6.16 million in profits. If Georges St-Pierre was really making $5 million per fight, that would mean he is entitled to 81% of the UFC’s money. Do you really think Dana White would give split his money 80/20 with a fighter? More accurate estimates put a fighter of GSP’s clout at 10-15% of net revenues (after costs). That would mean on a night like UFC 154, GSP earned a bonus somewhere in the range of $600,000 – $925,000. Added to his $470,000 base salary and he’s earning roughly $1.5 million off UFC 154 before taxes. For a wealthy person like GSP who is in the highest tax bracket and needs to pay managers, lawyers, agents, trainers etc… that $1.5 million quickly drops to $750,000 when it’s all said and done. Still a really good payday for one night’s work, but nothing near the $5 million he claims.
In order to make the really big money in the world of professional fight promotion, you need to follow the Floyd Mayweather model. The reason Floyd Mayweather is able to take home as much as $40 million from a single night’s work is because he owns 360 degrees of his fight. When Mayweather fights someone, he puts up all the money himself. He pays for the venue, the insurance, the vendors and even his opponent’s purse, out of his own pocket. When Mayweather fought Victor Ortiz he spent $10-12 million of his own money before a single punch was thrown. He also put aside $25 million for himself as an appearance fee. The major risk he is taking is that all these expenses occur before the fight happens. If there was a natural disaster like a hurricane, the fight would be canceled and Floyd would be out of luck. On the other hand, when the Ortiz fight did go through as planned, 1.25 million households ordered it on Pay Per View for $60 which generated $75 million worth of revenue. After 60% is taken out for the distributors and another 60% is subtracted for costs, Floyd is left with $12 million. And unlike Georges St-Pierre who shares a small percentage with the UFC, Floyd has no partners, so that money goes 100% into his bank account (after taxes). When you add Mayweather’s $25 million appearance fee and his $12 million PPV bonus, you can start to understand why he makes $85 million a year.
Floyd Mayweather $40 Million
Floyd’s brilliant business model is also partially to blame for why we have not and likely will not ever see him fight Manny Pacquiao. Pacquiao is like Georges St-Pierre in that he fights for a boxing promotion company, namely Bob Arum’s Top Rank Promotions. Pacman commands high appearance fees but at the end of the day he still splits the PPV revenues with Top Rank. Mayweather is not willing to risk his perfect 43-0 record unless he is the sole promoter. That puts Floyd in the driver seat and so far the two sides have not been able to reach a middle ground. Mayweather has offered a flat $50 million fee with no PPV upside. But Pacquiao and Bob Arum are very aware that this fight would be the biggest Pay Per View event in history and could generate as much as $180 million in revenue. If those numbers were accurate, under his own model Floyd would take home $130 million! Arum’s team countered with an offer that would pay Floyd $100 million and Pacman $80 million (55% vs 45%). Mayweather turned it down. Who knows if there will ever be a compromise, but you have to think that at some point Mayweather can’t keep turning down $100 million! How much is a perfect record (and pride) worth? How much would you give up to go out on top without any losses?
$180 Million Up For Grabs
Read more: Does Georges St-Pierre Really Make $5 Million Per UFC Fight?