Hands up if you wish you didn’t have to put your phone away every time the boss walked by. Keep them raised if you also wish you not only didn’t have to keep your addiction to social media clandestine but actually got paid for it. For the record, both of my hands are raised and I’m typing this with my nose. If you are a Zuffa contracted fighter then you can put your hands down and keep them glued to your smart-phone, because this is now your reality.
After previously announcing a fighters insurance plan, Zuffa have told their fighters that they will be rewarded monetarily with quarterly bonuses for Twitter activity, based on a number of criteria, including most creative tweet of the quarter, judged by none other than Dana White. Zuffa are really pushing to unlock the ‘brand potential’ in each of their fighters, going as far as to suggest that they should have a separate cell phones for speaking exclusively with fans.
The Twitter bonus system will work like this:
- There will be four categories, based on number of followers the fighters have
- A $5,000 bonus will be awarded to three fighters in each category
- The three bonuses will be awarded for fighters with: the highest number of followers, highest percentage of new followers and most creative tweet since the start of the quarter.
- This is open to all UFC and Strikeforce fighters
The potential here is huge. How long before “most creative tweet” is awarded for pre fight smack talk? Could “creative tweet” be opened up so that Youtube videos like Joe Lauzon’s Godzilla promo for his fight with Gabe Ruediger are also included? Let’s hope so, on both counts. If you still have your hands raised, you can put them down now. [Source]
