Fertittas whine and dine: two more multi-millionaires bitching about protecting intellectual property

UFC chairman and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta spoke before the House Judiciary Committee on piracy on Wednesday. The Fertitta brothers are 90-percent owners of the UFC and they are concerned with streaming video sites like justin.tv, which offers live albeit illegal streaming of UFC events, thus bypassing the lucrative pay-per-view structure.

Relatively speaking, things are tough for Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta. They own close to 25-percent of the Station Casinos. The casinos recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and were granted an extension by a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge until March 25, 2010 to come up with a restructuring plan.

But before you lose too much sleep over the brothers’ economic woes, UFC president and pal Dana White recently stated in an interview:

“Trust me, don’t worry about the Fertittas being in any soup lines any time soon, Okay? They’re doing just fine (and Station Casinos) has nothing to do with the UFC. And all of the people who think the UFC is going to get sold and I’m going to get fired – keep dreaming.”

The Fertittas are Vegas entrepreneurial royalty. And as with many multi-millionaire/billionaires, this is not their first run in with hard times. In 2004, the brothers were $34 million deep into the UFC and pulled that around. I’m optimistic they will continue to be fabulously wealthy beyond any of our wildest dreams.

I have little sympathy for the Fertitta brothers’ “money problems.” According to Forbes Magazine’s billionaire list, last year the Fertitta brothers where No. 897, each having a net worth of $1.3 billion. Hard times have hit the brothers and they are now just multi-millionaires instead of billionaires. The brothers bought the UFC in 2001 for $2 million, it is now estimated at more than $1 billion. The UFC is protected against the Station Casino economic woes because the UFC is incorporated separately as Zuffa LLC. It does not seem likely that the Fertitta brothers will sell off shares of the UFC to help subsidize the casinos.

Whether it is Metallica or Zuffa, I find it excruciating to listen to the ultra-rich whine about protecting intellectual property.

Furthermore, the intellectual property being sold, as of late, is some less-than-stellar product. Admittedly, no one is forcing me to buy UFC 108 but Dana could meet us half way and reduce the price. I know it is a cursed card but it is still called Zuffa Entertainment not “Zuffa Our Fighters Are All Fucked Up Right Now And This Is The Best We Could Come Up With.” It is their responsibly to bring me exciting cards.

So, back to justin.tv. When viewed full-screen justin.tv is pixilated, it is not the HDTV PPV Zuffa is offering at home or at the bar. Most fight fans would never watch a stacked card on justin.tv – the quality is just too poor. However, when the quality of the fight card is equal to the quality of justin.tv, I can see where problems could arise.

These are hard economic times. Even the once billionaires are complaining. After, stifling daycare costs, a crippling mortgage, and taxes, the UFC get a substantial amount of what is left of my paycheck. I’m not sure if the brothers have had to sell their matching 200-foot Dutch yachts but I’m not losing sleep about the piracy of their intellectual property.