South Dakota looking to reduce fees, host more UFC events
The UFC has only been to the state of South Dakota one time, back in July 2016 when the promotion headlined an event in Sioux Falls with a bantamweight between John Lineker and Michael McDonald. The occasion brought in $160,000 for the state’s commission.
The South Dakota state panel that oversees boxing, kickboxing and mixed-martial arts is now considering reducing their fee schedule as a possible way to attract larger events, such as the UFC, understanding the increased revenue they are missing out on.
The state Athletic Commission currently charges a minimum of $3,000. That would remain the same under the new proposal. The fee for contests that gross more than $60,000 of revenue could be reduced to 3% of the gross, from the current 5%, and could be capped at $300,000. There currently is no upper limit.
Jennifer Stalley, the commission’s executive director said that the 30 shows that the commission has overseen brought about $265,000 to the commission; for comparison, at 3% they would have generated about $180,800. She put current UFC events such as UFC 251 in “the millions” at the 5% rate.
“I don’t think we could lose any money by doing this,” Michael Kilmer, the commission’s chairman, said. He added, “It gives us some leeway to motivate some other events to take place.”
