Law Times

Law Times • July 7, 2014 Page 13 www.lawtimesnews.com UFC growing fast after overcoming legal hurdles By Michael McKiernan For Law Times ast month, more than 13,000 people crammed into Vancouver's Rogers Arena to see Demetrious Johnson claim the Ultimate Fight- ing Championship's f lyweight crown. Hundreds of thousands paid premium rates to watch UFC 174 in homes and bars across the continent. Toronto fans of the mixed- martial arts competition, which borrows techniques from across disciplines including boxing, judo, wrestling, and jiu jitsu, are already looking forward to their next chance to witness the fighters in the f lesh as they snap up tickets for UFC 178 in September. Yet less than five years ago, neither bout would have been possible. In between, a fearsome lobby- ing effort by the UFC helped over- turn a ban on professional MMA in Ontario and spurred changes to the Criminal Code that opened up the possibility of professional events across the country. "The mandate has always been to grow the sport and to take the sport and our athletes and brand to as many jurisdictions in Can- ada and across the world as pos- sible. If that's what it was going to take . . . to change the Crimi- nal Code, then we wanted to do that," said Tom Wright, managing director for UFC operations in Canada. Wright, a former commis- sioner of the Canadian Football League, was speaking at an On- tario Bar Association event on March 25 focusing on full-contact professional sports. Buoyed by a series of successful battles with regulatory authorities in Canada and around the world, he told members of the OBA's entertain- ment, media, and communica- tions section he now has his eyes on an even bigger prize: Olympic recognition for MMA. Wright said the introduction of a golf tournament for the 2016 Summer Games bodes well for other sports with a strong worldwide following but no Olympic representation. "The Olympics is all about making sure they keep their brand growing and that they keep audiences. And what's one of the most popular and fastest-growing sports in the world? It happens to be MMA. If you're running the Olympics and you've got a chance to look at the different sports, are you going to go with the standing pistol, a riveting sport to watch, or perhaps bring in MMA in 10 to 15 years? I hope that in my lifetime I see that happen," said Wright. Wright's colleague Michael Mersch, senior vice president of athlete relations, business, and legal affairs at UFC owners Zuffa LLC, told the same audience he was confident about MMA's chances at some point in the future after meeting with mem- bers of SportAccord, the umbrella organization for international sports federations. "There are many hurdles that you have to go through to do that. It's a very political process in terms of seeking IOC [Inter- national Olympic Committee] approval," he said. "Maybe it hap- pens in 10 years. The industry has to be prepared to go through those political hoops." Olympic status would mark an astonishing turnaround for a sport frequently maligned in its short history. In fact, just a few years after bursting onto the combat sports scene in 1993, the UFC, MMA's dominant but by no means only incarnation, was already on its knees. UFC 1 in Denver was a hit, but the organization's trademark event numbers had barely hit double figures when John Mc- Cain, the Arizona senator and later a Republican presidential nominee, delivered an almost fa- tal blow in 1996. Leading a cam- paign to ban the sport, which had garnered a violent reputation, the boxing enthusiast labelled it "hu- man cockfighting." "That is literally a term that lives to this day among detractors of the sport," said Mersch. He noted the UFC's lawless image in those early days was a double-edged sword as it drew the attention of regulators and law- makers as well as fans. "'Two men enter the cage; one man leaves.' 'There are no rules.' That was literally the advertis- ing that would come on your TV screen," said Mersch. Soon, the sport found itself banned in most U.S. states and unappealing to many potential broadcast partners. "It got banned from pay per view. You've got porn on pay per view. It's pretty hard to get banned from pay per view, but some- how these guys managed," said Mersch. When Zuffa acquired the busi- ness for a bargain $2 million in the early 2000s, a 180-degree turn marked the beginning of a detoxi- fication campaign. By the time Mersch came on board in 2007, there were still only 18 U.S. states that would sanction UFC bouts, but a new focus on the health and safety of athletes and independent oversight by athletic commissions led jurisdictions to lift their bans. "The way they chose to handle it was to run towards regula- tion instead of away from it," said Mersch, noting that today, the company can legally stage fights in 49 U.S. states and eight out of Canada's 10 provinces. According to Wright, a lot of his effort goes into "dispelling myths" about MMA that may have their roots in the UFC's "no- holds-barred" past. "There will be people who will never be fans of our sport and that's OK. What happens unfor- tunately when you're arguing with some people is they bring subjec- tivity into it. They look at me and they say, 'I don't like your sport be- cause it has no rules.' And I look at them and say, 'It's okay if you don't like our sport, but under- stand there are rules and there's a tremendous num- ber of them.' As long as you can argue on facts, I think that reduces the conversa- tion. It brings objectivity as opposed to trying to have a debate based on emotion and subjectivity." In 2010 Ontario, then- premier Dalton Mc- Guinty's cabinet was split on whether to lift a ban on professional MMA. Wright said some basic education on the sport eased the fears of some politicians, paving the way for an economic argument to break the deadlock. "The only thing you couldn't do was watch it live. . . . All this money was leaving," he said, ex- plaining that Ontario fans were simply travelling to Quebec where UFC events took place legally. The following April, Ontario's first UFC event attracted a sellout crowd to the Rogers Centre that's still a North American record for the company. Even after staging events in Quebec and Ontario, fears persisted in a number of Cana- dian provinces that professional MMA was illegal due to the Great Depression-era s. 83 of the Crimi- nal Code that criminalized "prize fights." Last June, after three years of lobbying from the UFC, Bill S-209 received royal assent, ex- plicitly excluding officially sanc- tioned MMA contests from the definition. "We would not be in a situation where there is now a provincial athletic commission in B.C. and the prospect of a provin- cial athletic commission in Saskatchewan were we not able to change the Criminal Code," said Wright. David Goldstein, a law- yer in the sports law group at Cassels Brock & Black- well LLP in Toronto who also spoke at the OBA event, said athlete safety was a big factor in the bill's passage. "What really struck a chord was the idea that if you don't regulate it, it's happening anyway and the safety risks are there tenfold because there is nobody checking up on it. There are no rules to comply with," he said. "With the bill successfully go- ing through and MMA being legalized, the concept is there should now be a framework in place." Goldstein also said the UFC's own heavy emphasis on the health and safety of its fighters, including its funding of brain- injury research, could help insu- late the company from the cur- rent vogue for head-injury class action lawsuits against major sports leagues. LT FOCUS LEONARD KUNKA | CRAIG BROWN | DARCY MERKUR YOUR ADVANTAGE, in and out of the courtroom. Since 1936 Thomson, Rogers has built a strong, trusting, and collegial relationship with hundreds of lawyers across the province. As a law firm specializing in civil litigation, we have a record of accomplishment second to none. With a group of 30 litigators and a support staff of over 100 people, we have the resources to achieve the best possible result for your client. Moreover, we are exceptionally fair when it comes to referral fees. We welcome the chance to speak or meet with you about any potential referral. We look forward to creating a solid relationship with you that will benefit the clients we serve. TF: 1.888.223.0448 T: 416.868.3100 W: www.thomsonrogers.com TRUST (YHU\WLPH\RXUHIHUDFOLHQWWRRXUßUP you're putting your reputation on the line. It's all about trust well placed. Untitled-1 1 14-02-04 7:47 AM L Mixed martial arts have been growing in Canada since the lifting of legal obstacles. Photo: photofriday/Shutterstock

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