Sam Caplan says she's worth $100,000:
How much is she worth? I’d say $100,000 per fight. That’s fight. If fighters such as Fabricio Werdum and Brandon Vera were compensated over $100,000 for past fights, why not Gina? No disrespect to Vera or Werdum, but Carano is every bit the star they are and in reality, probably much bigger.
If ProElite was willing to pay Antonio Silva $200,000 and Kimbo Slice at least $500,000 for his last fight, then Gina should be worth 100K. Carano hasn’t drawn a dime in PPV, but neither have many male fighters who have been compensated six-figures per fight. But if Carano has proven one thing, it’s that she’s a ratings draw on television.
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The $100,000 per fight figure is pure conjecture on my part and comes from no inside knowledge. But as long as she isn’t asking for anything above that, I think it’s a mistake not to give it to her and finally make Carano vs. Cyborg a reality.
Zach Arnold rebuts:
There’s a reason why Pro Elite lost $55M USD in under two years. This had something to do with it. Telling promoters to pay Gina $100k a fight because others did and are out of business is purely an emotional, not logical business argument at this point. Gina needs the exposure more than Strikeforce needs the exposure in terms of generating revenue as a fighter in-and-out of the ring. Showtime and CBS is a platform for her to do it on. If Strikeforce can give her that platform and she can make ancillary revenue from it, why should they pay her $100k per fight? Doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy watching her fight or that I don’t think she’s a star — but put yourself in the shoes of a promoter right now trying to compete in a UFC-dominated marketplace where everyone is basically losing their ass financially.
The reality of women’s MMA right now is that until Dana White is willing to make an investment in it, it’s going to be a very steep, uphill climb for the girls in the MMA industry to get paid on a big scale outside of Zuffa.
Personally, I don't really know what Gina is worth to Strikeforce. I think with an aggressive media push behind the fight, Carano vs Cyborg could draw some eyeballs on Showtime.
What I do know is that Gina was in two of the ten most seen MMA fights in U.S. history:
6. EliteXC on CBS (5/31/2008): Gina Carano vs. Kaitlin Young--- 5.508 million viewers (Aired from 10:09 PM to 10:17 PM)
7. UFC on Spike TV (9/8/2007): Michael Bisping vs. Matt Hamill--- 5.475 million viewers (Aired from 10:41 PM to 11:06 PM)
8. EliteXC on CBS (10/4/08): Jake Shields vs. Paul Daley--- 5.338 million viewers (Aired from 10:34 PM to 10:44 PM)
9. EliteXC on CBS (10/4/08): Gina Carano vs. Kelly Kobold--- 5.171 million viewers (Aired from 9:45 PM to 9:59 PM)
That's got to be worth a little somethin' somethin'.
