UFC Antitrust Lawsuit Update
A group of fighters are suing the UFC, accusing it of using anticompetitive actions to maintain an illegal monopoly. The fighters also allege the UFC has used anticompetitive methods to maintain an monopsony in which it positions itself as the only avenue for fighters who wish to be employed for their MMA skills.
Zuffa LLC purchased the UFC brand in 2001. The fighters argue in their suit that the UFC is valued in excess of $2 billion. In 2005 the UFC’s annual gross revenues were greater than $500 million. The UFC denies the allegations, siting intense competition from other sports and entertainment competitors, vying or customers’ time and money.
Last year, the UFC filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that the phrase ‘Elite Professional MMA Fighter’ used in the suit is not a real term, and that the plaintiffs used circular logic in their allegations. In September the court denied the plaintiff’s motion to dismiss.
Most recently, the UFC defense team filed its answer to the plaintiff’s Amended Complaint.
The UFC’s response argues that the complaint “attempts to penalize Zuffa for protecting and promoting the UFC product and brand and for competing aggressively for top talent,” adding that “Zuffa denies that it has violated the Sherman Act or engaged in any anticompetitive activity, or that it has injured the Plaintiffs in any way.”
The UFC produced more than 108,000 documents, and recently produced an additional 17,909 documents (totaling 239,923 pages). This data includes information about fighters, venues, sponsor contracts, and Strikeforce acquisition FTC investigation documents.
The UFC has requested documents including MMA and non-MMA contracts to see if fighters could potentially find full-time employment outside of fighting.
The plaintiffs have argued that this case doesn’t warrant the use of search terms to narrow the scope of discoverable documents. According to the UFC, the volume of documents “will likely be in the millions.”
The next step in this case will be class certification.
