Issue 110

January 2014

The publisher of the successful UFC Undisputed franchise of video games is suing UFC parent company Zuffa and EA Sports, claiming that EA Sports’ deal for the license to create UFC games was the result of fraudulent negotiations.

As a result, THQ, which declared bankruptcy in 2012, is arguing the $10 million it was paid by the UFC in summer 2012 for terminating their game license contract early should have been $20 million.

Court documents say that in December 2011 the struggling THQ entered talks to sell up to EA Sports, during which EA had access to detailed financial figures, including those relating to the UFC series.

THQ alleges that two weeks after EA said it had no interest in buying the troubled publisher Zuffa considered ending its deal with THQ based on the company’s difficulties.

THQ claims: “On information and belief, EA communicated THQ’s internal financial information and projections to Zuffa.”

This, it argues, left it “hamstrung” in termination negotiations with Zuffa. EA Sports, which is publishing EA Sports UFC in the spring, says the “claims are without merit.”

Industry jobs

Who: Rami Genauer

Role: Founder and director of FightMetric

Info: FightMetric is the world’s first comprehensive MMA stats provider and the official statistics provider to the UFC 

When did you start FightMetric?

“The first time anyone would have seen the name or anything attached to it would have been, I think, October 2007. And I started putting work into it about, I guess it was March or April 2007, so there’s about six months before that.”

Do you have a numbers background?

“A little bit. I’ve always had a head for numbers. In high school I was the scorer for the basketball team. That’s probably a pretty good indication right there – that I was the statistician for the basketball team. It’s not complicated; it’s just tracking who shoots and misses and that kind of stuff. I did that even before high school. I was doing that when I was 12 for my elementary school’s basketball team, and I used to score baseball games (laughs). So it’s not like this is foreign to me.”

Are there any plans to expand the product, or grow the business?

“Yeah, we’re always looking at more data. More is better. There is such a thing as too much data but I don’t believe we’re anywhere close to it. There are always things that we’re looking at tracking or doing which would require more people. That’s not something I can talk about quite yet, just because it’s a little bit too early for us to be able to talk about it publicly, but there are some things we’re working on or looking at for 2014 that would require us to expand the number of people who we have working for us on fight night.”

8m

The THQ-published UFC Undisputed series of video games has sold nearly eight million copies worldwide, according to vgchartz.com.

1st

In North America, UFC fans are ranked first among followers of all other sports as being the most likely to buy grooming products, according to meta research in the Sports Business Journal.

Stats provider FightMetric giving to charity

The UFC’s official statistics provider, FightMetric, has announced an initiative that will see it donate $5 to charity for every minute fought in the UFC this year. The money will go to the Fisher House Foundation, which provides free or low-cost accommodation to military personnel and their families being treated at military medical centers, and is FightMetric’s chosen charity for 2013. As of writing, the donation stood at $17,889.50.

Rallying/Crashed: The MMA business can be cruel and kind

Rallying: Glory

Not strictly an MMA brand, but the Glory kickboxing promotion is making such waves mixed martial arts fans are starting to take real notice of the international organization. And with cross-over star Tyrone Spong wrecking opponents in the Glory and World Series of Fighting rings, only more heads will be turned.

Crashed: Lojak

Australian MMA apparel company Lojak closed its doors at the end of 2012 after six years in business. It had made walkout T-shirts for UFC and Strikeforce fighters and cited “a mix of taxes and restrictions applied by Zuffa on apparel brands” and “a failing world economy” for it ceasing operations.