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If you lived in New York City and followed MMA for any length of time, you would know the greatest villain in the history of the genre is likely the former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
In 1997, negative publicity over MMA events being booked into New York City and State owned facility in The New York Times led to a flurry of politicians trying to race to get in front of the story and media by quickly enacting what amounted to a complete ban of the sport, as it existed at the time, from New York. Giuliani was one of the forces behind the ban, which stands today.
The ban started toppling the dominoes of the rising sport's popularity and almost decimated the genre. If you've followed MMA at all, you know the story - the industry leader, UFC, almost dies and is sold to Zuffa, who revives the sport as they move it forward with rules changes, playing down the violence in favor of fighting spirit and personalities via reality series and phenomenal production.
Like anything else, UFC also plays the politics game and one by one, they get States to line up and govern the industry, and in 2015, every State of the union now features MMA events and more importantly, make money off the events being held under their jurisdiction. Lots of money.
All, except, you guessed it...New York, which now finds itself way behind the curve in that a law that was meant to prevent (as it was presented) a bunch of uncouth barbarians from bludgeoning each other was now preventing the same city from making potential millions of dollars that can then go back into the city for the taxpayers.
So, NYC is essentially preventing itself from making money, all because a bunch of politicians lost their minds over some bad publicity close to twenty years ago.
That's not without the best efforts of UFC, who, as they do everything else in the MMA genre, have spear-headed the movement to get the law overturned. Whether it's wining and dining politicians to educate them to what MMA is in the 21st century or filing a lawsuit claiming that the law is illegal, UFC is all over the law, because New York is the last frontier for the genre.
The crown jewel of that frontier is Madison Square Garden. While UFC has run everywhere from Brazil to Las Vegas to Chicago and back again, there's only one MSG. Every major act, from Elvis to WWE to Muhammad Ali to Madonna have headlined MSG. There's a credibility to running the Garden and most importantly, with it being NYC, nothing is cheap and everything commands top dollars....and UFC wants to make top dollar.
Another major reason UFC wants in the Garden is, as I noted, credibility. Running MSG brings mainstream attention for MMA like it has never seen before, because the same media that almost killed the genre, the NYC media, will now be the champions of the scene, pushing that it has triumphantly conquered the big apple.
With the credibility comes eyeballs, merchandising and certainly gambling money. One of the things that help fuel the MMA genre are the oddsmakers, and of course, the idea of UFC running MSG means more money for all involved (provided they actually win, of course). Before placing a bet online, get more details on betting safety according to OnlineGamblingSites.org.
The other major reason UFC wants in is, quite frankly, they are going to break records. Whatever live gate records that are held for combat sports inside MSG, by boxing or pro wrestling? SHATTERED. I don't know that the venue of an event makes the difference to PPV buyers today, but the lure of the first-ever show in MSG would be the only factor that could and should make a difference, especially when you factor in that UFC, knowing the aura of "The World's Most Famous Arena" are going to stack the card to make the best fight card possible.
It's going to happen. It's just going to happen once for the first time, but when it does, it's going to shatter the records - especially if the rumors of a Brock Lesnar return to the genre are true...and if you factor in the lure of say, CM Punk making his debut for UFC there? The cross-over appeal of those pro wrestling performers, who have each sold out MSG for WWE, returning to the venue in another combat sport cannot be understated. Neither can the idea of MSG debuts for Anderson Silva, Ronda Rousey and so many other UFC franchise players.
Want a safe bet? Here it is. When UFC builds their Octagon inside MSG for the first time, the past, the present and the future will all converge....and every record will be shattered, falling back into the past....and who knows, maybe even Rudy Giuliani will admit they made a mistake decades before.
Nah, probably not.
