The economy sucks everywhere. Governmental budgets are being slashed as everyone looks to tighten their belts. New York is no different. The Empire State is looking for new revenue streams, yet its still holding on to the silly view that mixed martial arts is beyond regulation and licensing.
Dean Murray, a N.Y. State Assemblyman, was one of several high ranking officials to attend yesterday's UFC Madison Square Garden press conference/MMA rally.
"The fact of the matter is, this another example of New York being a nanny state. We have to stop doing that. We have to give the choice," Murray during the presser (12:12 mark). "How many TV stations do you have? How many radio stations do you have? You have choices. By us not legalizing this, it's removing that option of all these, literally millions of fans in New York state, having a chance to see their hometown heroes fighting."
Dana White spoke about the impact of bringing two or three UFC events each year to New York.
"The financial study [that HR&A did] is incredibly conservative. In that study we priced tickets cheaper than New Jersey, and we bring a lot of money into that state. We also conservatively projected only two events -- one big PPV at Madison Square Garden, and one upstate, which would be a fight night or a finale or something like that." White told ESPN.com. "But who knows -- maybe we come into New York and we do three events, and you triple whatever that number is. It's absolutely insane and asinine for this not to be sanctioned."
The UFC president pointed out that he's not just fighting for his promotion to land in New York.
"When we're talking about the UFC coming to the state of New York, a lot of other mixed martial arts events will too. Which will create even more revenue. You're going to have all these other organizations that will come here and bring more money in and create more jobs," said White.
Scott O'Neil, the President of Madison Square Garden Sports, said he's a big fan of MMA and gave a glowing report (2:45 mark) after watching UFC 111 in nearby Newark, N.J.
Jamie Springer of HR&A Advisors estimated that MMA would bring a $23 million impact to New York. The estimates were based on two UFC events each year in New York that would generate $16 million. An additional $7 million would come from 70 more MMA events each year in N.Y. Springer based that estimate on the number of fight cards in states like New Jersey, California and Pennsylvania.
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