New York MMA Regulation Hits Major Roadblock

Posted on | June 8, 2011 | No Comments

By: Rich Bergeron

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New York MMA fans will have to wait a little longer to see the sport they love sanctioned in their state despite recent indicators that regulation efforts were making headway in the Empire State. One of New York’s most powerful lawmakers, State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, recently told a New York Daily News reporter that there does not appear to be any major support in the assembly for allowing for regulation of Mixed Martial Arts in the state.

This latest bad news for the sport comes on the heels of a more positive development for a bill moving through the legislature that would create the framework for regulation of MMA in the state. That regulatory bill recently passed through the Assembly’s Tourism, Parks, Arts and Sports Development committee by a 16-3 vote. The same bill swept through the state senate (in a 42-18 vote in support of regulation) before coming before the tourism committee.

The New York Daily News is polling readers as part of their report on Democrat Sheldon Silver’s vote of no confidence for regulation. At last check the poll shows 85 % of voters say regulation is important for safety reasons while 14 % of voters say sanctioning the sport would encourage violence. Despite the growing support among the public, politicians may still block progress on regulation for both personal and political reasons that have nothing to do with the sport’s safety record.

Though public political sentiment surrounding the sport seems to point to how “barbaric” mixed martial arts is perceived by opposing lawmakers in New York, Ultimate Fighting Championships’ President and Minority Owner Dana White has been making the rounds blaming union forces for the rising tide against regulation. White’s recently been demonizing union efforts and painting the Culinary Union’s parent company (UNITE HERE) as the enemy to furthering the acceptance of the sport in New York state. White made headlines recently after calling attention to “union idiots” in New York spending money to oppose MMA’s regulation there. UNITE HERE is lobbying against the sport in New York state due to multiple issues unions typically work to address on behalf of their members. A memo, put out by UNITE HERE members and mentioned in the above-linked story, points to problems specifically caused by the “near monopoly” the UFC created by purchasing Strikeforce.

Fighter pay and contract issues do seem to be legitimate reasons for UNITE HERE’s opposition to MMA, though the Station Casinos case against the Culinary Union is also clearly a minor, indirect contributor. The UFC and Station Casinos often neglect to keep their businesses from overlapping, so it’s no coincidence Red Rock Casino hosted the most recent fighter summit that sought to quell many of the issues calling attention to the potential need for a fighters’ union for MMA. It’s also no coincidence that the same Fertitta brothers who don’t seem to want their casinos to become union shops seem to also be concerned enough to make moves that give the impression that they care about their UFC fighters as much as any fighters’ union would.

New York Assemblyman Bob Reilly was already a staunch opponent of MMA’s regulation in New York state before hearing Dana White’s “union idiots” chatter after UFC 129. Since Reilly admittedly received many donations over the years from various unions, he was obviously offended by White’s union bashing and attempts to link the Culinary Union issue to the regulation debate. Reilly’s Colleague Sheldon Silver is 34-year veteran of the assembly who wields incredible power to determine what the political landscape might be like for any particular bill. Despite massive lobbying efforts put forth by the UFC brass in New York in recent years and a $74,600 donation by UFC parent company Zuffa given to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s election campaign last year, running afoul of unions seems to be more of a threat to New York’s political bigwigs than offending lobbyists and the governor’s donors.

There also may be an effort to impact the debate on campaign finance reform behind the blockade being imposed on MMA regulation by certain political forces in New York. Since it’s been so widely publicized that the UFC is spending a ton of cash to influence voters and politicians alike in New York, if the sport is regulated the storyline will no doubt be all about how the vote represents the “pay to play” trend in politics. This creates a climate which seems to make it more of a political victory for powerful politicians to spurn the UFC brass and their deep pockets. Those politicians also don’t seem to care that the sport could bring major revenue to the state by way of tourism and taxes generated by major events in the state. They seem to be making a statement that they refuse to be bought by out of state billionaires and would rather agree with union forces within the state who are also doing their fair share of lobbying on the issue.

Whatever the reasons behind the rising tide against regulation in New York may be, it seems clear that the sport will continue to face an uphill battle there for the forseeable future. It’s also apparent that the true underlying reasons for delaying or denying regulation will remain hidden under what appear to be uneducated claims that the sport is not safe and only encourages violence. Politicians simply don’t seem to want to own up to their real motivations for blocking regulation and the UFC brass seems content to blame unions rather than talk about their own dirty secrets. The fact is, Zuffa is acting as more of a monopoly with each passing day. Their majority owners, the Fertitta brothers, traditionally try to tackle some of the most significant issues they’ve faced by throwing money at them and buying out their competition. That approach isn’t working in New York, so Dana White’s so mad he’s resorting to name calling. He’s proving that one thing the UFC doesn’t stand for is Union Friendly Company. Zuffa as a whole is also proving that as huge and powerful as the organization has become, they’re not too big to fail.

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