Back in November, I wrote a big story – or actually several stories on MMA – that were printed in the York Daily Record. Looks like HDNet, Mark Cuban’s dish network-only channel, and its off-shoot, HDNet Fights, regularly carries MMA events like Sengoku and DREAM from Japan, along with the Bas Rutten-Kenny Rice show, Inside MMA picked up on it and summarized it on their FaceBook page.
Thanks to Jerod Phillips of Tap or Sleep fightwear for pointing it out to me. Here it is:
November 10, 2008 There is an interesting article in the York Daily Record that details the push for legalization of MMA in the state of Pennsylvania and the effect it has on small business entrepreneurs who see legalization as a boon for their fledgling companies.
Jerod Phillips and his Tap or Sleep MMA Apparel label are presented as a case study. Phillips sees legalization as a natural path to increased revenue: Using MySpace, he contacted fighters and persuaded them to wear his clothing. He estimates he’s invested about $60,000 and countless hours in the past year. It would help Phillips if MMA was legal in Pennsylvania. That way, he could sell his clothing at shows around the state and string his banners up at those shows, steering more traffic to his Web site, he said.
The piece also looks at how the MMA training market will see an increase. Some of these things may seem self-evident, but it is always interesting to see them on a micro level, with the various local iterations on the theme. Prospects for legalization are bright. A bill legalizing the sport is working its’ way through the statehouse and legislators as a whole seem open to the sport. A visit from Mr. Ratner will probably be made at some point: Earlier this year, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission drafted rules and regulations for MMA, which are now making their way through the legislature. Greg Sirb, the commission’s executive director, speculated the sport might be approved by year’s end.
State Rep. Eugene DePasquale, D-West Manchester Township, said he would be open to legalizing the sport. DePasquale said that over the years, he has seen the sport institute safety guidelines, which include things like weight classes, gloves and rounds. “I think the sport has come a long way to clean it up and make it legitimate … (it’s) more focused on the safety of the fighter,” DePasquale said. “At the end of the day, they are working to be a legitimate sport.”
