What percentage of a purse does a fighter keep

ohwat049 · Mar 29, 2023

Terror said: ↑

Long conjecture post.

Varies greatly. That's like asking "what percentage of sales does a musical artist keep?"

Some have good deals and sell a lot, some have bad deals and sell nothing. Generally speaking, a purse is heavily taxed because it's a big chunk. 40% gone. The smaller the purse is, the smaller the tax payout, but once you get above a certain barrier (I have no idea bc I don't receive windfalls of cash in my life) it is fixed at a high rate. I think the tax payout is the biggest one usually.

I personally wouldn't sign a contract with a promoter where I have to pay them twice. They buy the bout/make it, so I wouldn't sign a contract with them where they write into the contract that they are taking a % of my purse as well. It doesn't make sense. I am already paying them by giving them a fight to promote and letting them keep what they make past my payout. So that should be 0%.

And a trainer takes a % from 5-15. For the trainer, I would prefer a lump sum agreement, but around 10 percent is normal from what I have heard. Manager takes 10-20 (10% is a standard "admin" fee, some take half lol). I believe percentages are taken from gross, but idk. If they hear you made $500,000, some might expect $50,000.

Sparring partners for a top pro cost at least a few hundred a day each plus housing and food for bigger camps. I think it's generally good form to house, feed and pay your sparring partners for as long as they are out, but not necessary. And usually their travel would be compensated in larger camps.

The pay-per-view points model got a lot of people paid, some fighters opt out and sell their points. Some fighters like Eddie Alvarez in MMA (in his fight vs. Conor McGregor) got no points for their PPV fights. Some fighters with enormous leverage probably kept a third of all PPV sales which can be held in suspended accounts as the "numbers get processed" so you can mess with the tax a lot more on these and probably keep more. Same thing with sponsors. Sponsor, PPV money are better than show money of the same value because you don't have to disclose them to the state commission. You can get paid from or to different states depending on who owns what where, and you can get paid at different times to make things work smoother. And get paid to an entity not a person. Some fighters get 5% of PPV. I don't think you pay out to your management or team from this if you wrote yourself a good deal. They can have fun with the base pay %s.

So idk, like half of base pay, most of their PPV points, all of their sponsorship.
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Appreciate the reply…
Thx

Barrf · Mar 29, 2023

TFP said: ↑

This is a bit of a 'how long is a piece of string' question. Depends on many factors including:

whether it's a big or small purse [some costs are more or less fixed and will account for a bigger share of a small purse than they do of a big one];

whether it's on TV [free to air; PPV; or subscription]

what the local tax rates are [e.g. different in Nevada/Saudi/Europe];

how favourable the splits between fighters, promoters, and managers etc are, which can depend on, amongst other things, how long the fighter and his team have been together and what the balance of power between them was at the time the contract was signed.

As a general rule of thumb I don't think it's ridiculous to assume something like a quarter ending up being 'spent' on each of: (1) the manager/trainer circle; (2) the promoter; (3) 'other' costs; and (4) the fighter himself. Tax will be payable on that quarter. so maybe we're talking about something in the region of 10-20% net after tax. I should think a really savvy fighter with a lot of negotiating power might end up with rather more than the above. e.g., say, what Floyd got from his fight with Manny. certainly costs like the cut men and whatnot [part of my third 'other' category] would be a speck next to a purse of that size and wouldn't amount to nearly a quarter. Also, no particular promoter or manager etc[my first two categories] had their claws too deep into Floyd at that point.
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Wasn't Floyd promoting himself by that point? No fighter has been as effective as self promotion as him. Hell, isn't he still getting big paydays to "fight" rich Saudis wanna-be boxer sons?

Gui Dosnera · Mar 30, 2023

Most of the fighters go home with 10-15% of the purse after taxes. Those who earn more are the exception.
That's why there's so much money is running under the table. Tough business with a medieval model.

alangjk · Mar 30, 2023

Enough to cover their Sausage and Egg McMuffin on the morning after.

Badbot · Mar 30, 2023

UniversalPart said: ↑

20-30% when all all expenses are taken out.
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I honestly doubt that.
This would mean that the fighter pays taxes on behalf of his team as well.
There are ways to getting around paying paying taxes. It´s why McGregor made his own promotional company ahead of the Mayweather fight. Same reason why all big boxers had their own promotional companies.

Starting a Business for Tax Purposes: Save Money with Tax Write-Offs

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https://www.zenbusiness.com/blog/starting-a-business-save-taxes/

serioussam · Mar 31, 2023

You pay 24% taxes in the USA for 100k $ salary as a single. If you manage and promote yourself, are your own trainer, have tomatoe cans as sparring partners like Christopher Lovejoy, you will have 70% of the purse left. Lovejoy is a smart guy lmao

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What percentage of a purse does a fighter keep

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What percentage of a purse does a fighter keep

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