The UFC’s attempt to get into New York, a battle that exemplifies almost comedic levels of political contradiction, got a surprise help this past week when Sheldon Silver, the speaker of the New York state assembly since 1993, was arrested and at the very least, is expected to step down from his position.
Silver was the key person blocking the legalization of professional MMA in the state. Lobbying by UFC has led to laws being introduced in both the state senate and assembly annually. Every year it passes the senate, usually by a substantial margin. In recent years, New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo has made it clear that he would sign the bill if it reached its desk. But it’s been held up because every year, due to Silver blocking it, the bill has never even been up for a vote in the assembly.
Those in UFC have believed for a couple of years that they have the necessary support to pass the assembly. Silver’s blocking is believed to be because of the work of the Culinary Union in Las Vegas, which has caused the strong unions of New York to pressure Silver to keep UFC out. It’s been a political game, stemming from Station Casinos, which are run by Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, who together own 81 percent of UFC, not being unionized. The Democratic party made it clear to Silver that he had to step down as speaker.
Silver had attempted to put together a proposal where he would give up his power temporarily to a five person team but his fellow Democrats rejected the idea. Silver, 70, surrendered to FBI agents on 1/22 after being accused by prosecutors of obtaining nearly $4 million in bribes and kickbacks dating back to 2000. Silver was, with the exception of Cuomo, the second most powerful Democrat in New York state government. Silver was the subject of a secret grand jury probe that dated back to June 2013. UFC has had a number of dates booked in Madison Square Garden for a debut show, including the 20th anniversary show in 2013. But because they had been unable to get the law passed where professional MMA would be legal, they weren’t able to run the shows.
Most recently, UFC had a March 21, 2015 date in MSG that they had to cancel, which was for a PPV show that was later moved a week up and scheduled for Montreal, and after deciding to instead go to Montreal in April, they moved that show to Dallas. Meanwhile, there are amateur MMA shows in New York state nearly every weekend, which aren’t regulated by the athletic commission and matches aren’t recorded. Fighters who fight amateur can get knocked out, and without regulation, fight again a week, or a few weeks later, and there are all kinds of medical issues with those unregulated shows.
MMA events are broadcast regularly on television, and fighters that come from some of the best known camps in the country, most notably from Serra-Longo and Renzo Gracie, have to go across state lines to fight professionally. UFC even has two champions who live in New York and the company can’t schedule shows in their home state, with Chris Weidman living on Long Island and Jon Jones living upstate in the Rochester area. Lorenzo Fertitta had promised multiple shows per year in the state, including a major PPV in Madison Square Garden and televised shows upstate.
It is not a lock that UFC will be able to get the bill through the assembly because Silver’s replacement will be a pro-union Democrat and the same political battle lines are still in place. But it is belief the odds have increased greatly for what has been the company’s long-awaited goal, as Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta both grew up at a time when Madison Square Garden was still the Mecca for the biggest fights, and thus there is both that romantic goal from childhood as well as the economic goal, since with the exception of high ticket shows in Las Vegas, a debut MSG show would likely do the largest gross gate of anyplace they would run, and the Barclays Center would also want dates.
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