UFC Threatens Lawsuit Against The State Of Oklahoma

http://mmaworldwide.com/blog/UFC_Threatens_Lawsuit_Against_The_State_Of_Oklahoma/
The state of Oklahoma has fast become a hotbed for mixed martial arts. With OU having one of the top wrestling programs in the country, many athletes have gone on to pursue a career in MMA after graduation.

Unfortunately, after March 31st of this year, combat sport competitions will come to a grinding halt in the state of Oklahoma. The state is under a threat of a lawsuit by none other than the UFC. It seems the UFC wants the state to drop a 4% pay-per-view tax imposed by the state, but without it... they will no longer have the funds necessary to regulate any boxing or MMA events held in Oklahoma.

Combat sports are a multi-million dollar industry in the state, and now it seems that mixed martial arts will be slipping back into the shadows indefinitely.

This move will effect nearly 200 events that happen each year across Oklahoma, and if the UFC and the state can't come to terms... promoters will have to take their business onto tribal grounds and casinos where they have their own regulations.

MMA Worldwide & TapouT Magazine will be following this story closely, and we will have more in-depth coverage in the next issue of TapouT Magazine. How witll this move effect promoters, fighters and MMA fans? We will answer those questions and more in the next issue. Stay tuned for details.

Below is a copy of the letter sent from the commision to local promoters:

Quote :

This move will effect nearly 200 events that happen each year across Oklahoma, and if the UFC and the state can't come to terms... promoters will have to take their business onto tribal grounds and casinos where they have their own regulations.

Plenty of those around. Got some right here in my town.

OU wrote:

Quote :

This move will effect nearly 200 events that happen each year across Oklahoma, and if the UFC and the state can't come to terms... promoters will have to take their business onto tribal grounds and casinos where they have their own regulations.

Plenty of those around. Got some right here in my town.

tarts like saying they need to find a new brand of bottled water to drink

shouldn't be to hard, hopefully this doesn't bite UFC in the ass

Thinking about going to this

the UFC certainly files a lot of law suits don't they?

UFC vs MMA, UFC takes this round.

Dana White's hovering over the great state of Oklahoma enrages me.

I remember watching some old discover or Nat geo show when I was young about lion prides in Africa, how when a new alpha male takes over it kills all the cubs. When I saw the Lion King I asked how come Scar didn't kill Nala? "Because it's Disney". Well I didn't approve of that answer one bit.

GDPofDRC wrote:

I remember watching some old discover or Nat geo show when I was young about lion prides in Africa, how when a new alpha male takes over it kills all the cubs. When I saw the Lion King I asked how come Scar didn't kill Nala? "Because it's Disney". Well I didn't approve of that answer one bit.

I think he wanted her to grow up nice and pretty and then establish his dominance.

Two weeks ago, the future of mixed martial arts -- and all combat sports -- in the state of Oklahoma looked bleak. Today, according to Joe Miller, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Professional Boxing Commission, that prognosis appears to be much brighter.

On March 5, Miller issued a letter to promoters announcing the suspension of all events in Oklahoma after March 31. The potential ban was prompted because the state, which has charged a four percent tax on all pay-per-view events since 2004, including those held outside of Oklahoma, was being threatened with a lawsuit from the UFC to have the tax removed.

“The purpose of this letter is to inform you the Oklahoma State Athletic Commission will not be accepting applications for event permits for events scheduled after March 31, 2012,” it read. “The commission is faced with an out-of-state threat that, if successful, could greatly affect the commission’s ability to provide for the public safety and for the health and safety of the athletes for future events throughout Oklahoma.”

In short, without funding from pay-per-view revenue, the Oklahoma State Athletic Commission wouldn’t be able to survive. In an email to mmavalor.com, Miller said that the state receives approximately $80,000 each year from UFC pay-per-views.

Things have changed since then, however. Miller told Sherdog.com on Wednesday that he has been visiting with state legislature and has received “verbal acknowledgements that they are going to ensure that the commission does not dissolve.”

Miller has proposed a number of options that would allow the commission to continue with business as usual, albeit with some new limitations in terms of the budget.

“There will be a number of cuts. I’ve got about 25 different scenarios of what we can do and still survive,” Miller said. “Some of them require drastic cuts in the way we support the events with personnel. Some of them require some increases for license fees and some charges where we’ve never charged before, such as national MMA IDs. ...The promoter will probably be responsible to pick up the tab on some of the things that we have in the past such as the cost of inspectors and things like that.

“There’s no one ingredient, no one model that we’ve settled on yet. All of that is still to be determined as to how we’re going to do it. It’s just going to depend on what the legislature will allow us to do,” he said.

Although the UFC promised legal action if Oklahoma continued with the pay-per-view law, the Las Vegas-based promotion is now working with the commission to find an answer for its impending financial woes.

“They’re not totally trying to can the commission and make us go away,” Miller said. “They’re being helpful in trying to formulate some solutions to help us build and continue.”

With the aid of the state legislature as well as the UFC, Miller is confident that combat sports events will continue to have a place in Oklahoma after March 31.

“Right now I’m on the verge of rescinding that particular letter and continuing business from the indication I’ve received from some of my state legislators,” he said. “With everybody working together...I think we’ve got (enough) support in place that’s going to ensure that we continue in some shape or fashion. I fully intend not to miss a beat after March 31. It could come in May or June this year that we may have to take another look at it and see where we’re going. Because without adequate funds, there’s absolutely no way we could exist and do what we’re charged to do.”

The UFC has not held an event in the Sooner State since UFC Fight Night 19 at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City on Sept. 16, 2009. The promotion had journeyed to Oklahoma just once before that, for UFC 4 at the Expo Square Pavilion in Tulsa, Okla., in 1994.

Good news. Oklahoma has a good number of MMA events.

The State Impact article reports that in 2011 64% of its revenue is generated from the PPV fees. 23% of its revenue were from live fights within the state. Chart via the Oklahoma State Athletic Commission.


The Oklahoma Attorney General is reviewing the constitutionality of the law. As a result, Zuffa is holding off on filing a lawsuit until the AG makes its decision. Thus, this appears the reason why the commission continues to operate.

As of right now, SB 1533 – known as the “Oklahoma State Athletic Commission Act” – would provide the commission with $200,000 in hopes of quelling a potential lawsuit from the UFC. The money would make up for the amount it would receive from the PPV payouts. The bill passed the House of Representatives Appropriation and Budget Committee.

An interesting sidenote as most of the PPV generated in the state is from pro wrestling PPVs and not the UFC. Yet, there has not been public lobbying from the WWE (or TNA) about the tax.

Payout Perspective:

SB 1533 passed preliminary committee with no opposition so if passed, it appears that the resolution may suppress a Zuffa lawsuit. Yet, it will be interesting to see the outcome of the AG’s decision on the constitutionality of the PPV tax. We will see if Zuffa presses the AG for a decision regardless of SB 1533 as a means to quash any further state taxation on PPVs.