UFC Managers, Fighters Voice Concern Over Action Figure Deal
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Jakks Pacific Creating Line
Of UFC Action Figures |
UFC earlier this month signed a four-year deal with Jakks Pacific to "create a line of action figures based on current UFC stars," but the agreement has "raised concerns by mixed martial artists and their managers," according to Josh Gross of SI.com. At the forefront of the concerns are "undefined terms of compensation, the loss of likeness rights in perpetuity and the inability to audit how much [UFC parent company Zuffa LLC] is making in individual licensing agreements." The fighters and managers are specifically concerned about the "more than half-dozen 'deal-breaker' clauses in the agreement -- mainly: the indefinite term of perpetuity, made worse by a fighter's inability to opt out." Some fighters have declined to participate in the deal, fearing that it "allows the UFC to control an important section of a fighter's career by determining which licensing ventures he can or cannot enter into -- during his career and beyond." UFC has refused to "divulge monetary details of their licensing agreements ... making it impossible to know just how much fighters stand to profit from licensed merchandise sales." As a result "some of the UFC's top names, hoping for better percentages and control, have already sought out other licensing deals." MMA manager J.T. Stewart: "Their first pass at this was not the best deal. Hopefully, they'll come back with a different version." UFC President Dana White said, "I'm excited about it, actually, because what we've been working for a number of years on is getting the fighters more money while not fighting. ... And this new merchandising deal that we did with all these guys is a step in the right direction." Gross notes in addition to the Jakks deal, UFC earlier this month announced licensing and merchandising deals with Bic, JC Penney and US Bank, which has released a UFC Visa credit card (SI.com, 6/24).
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