PED's and Sponsorships

The UFC has made headlines lately with several fighters testing positive for PED’s. This does not look good for the UFC or any sport. On January 6^th three days after he defeated Daniel Cormier at UFC 182 news that Jon Jones had a positive test for cocaine metabolites broke. After Anderson Silva defeated Nick Diaz on January 31^st at UFC 183 it was announced that he failed a test for anabolic steroids. January was a big month for the UFC; it had four major events that were very successful. Unfortunately it will be remembered as a month when two of the UFC's biggest stars and best pound-for-pound fighters of all time, both failed drug tests. Jones, the UFC light heavyweight champion was allowed to fight because his test was considered out of competition and cocaine is only prohibited in competition by the World Anti-Doping Agency code. The Nevada Athletic Commission could not discipline Jones, but he was fined $25,000 by the UFC for violating the organization's code of conduct.

This not only puts a black eye on the sport, but it has a monetary affect as well in terms of sponsorships and endorsements. Major corporations will start to pull away and terminate sponsor deals if they feel the sports organization doesn’t have control over their athletes, and if they feel the athletes they are sponsoring are violating moral clauses. Nike dropped Jon Jones after they found out about his positive test. Fortunate for him the UFC had just signed a partnership deal with Reebok to dress all UFC fighters in Reebok fighting gear, which will also include their coaches and corner people. Reebok has starting signing individual fighters to endorsement deals, and Jon Jones was their first followed by women’s bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey.

The UFC will implement a new drug testing policy that will take affect on July 1, 2015. In conjunction with local athletic commissions will subject all main events and championship-bout fighters to enhanced, out-of-competition drug testing. The UFC also announced that it would conduct random, out-of-competition tests for all the fighters on the roster, which currently totals 96 fighters regardless of whether those athletes have scheduled fights. UFC President Dana White said, "If you are using PED’s, you're going to get caught”.

Beast Mode

What is Marshawn Lynch going to do, retire or come back and play in 2015? That is the question the Seattle Seahawks and Seahawk fans want to know. Seahawks general manager John Schneider said that retirement is a possibility for Lynch. If he decides he wants to play in 2015, the Seahawks are willing to renegotiate his contract. Schneider said Lynch needs to find out where he’s at so the team can go forward with negotiations on a new contract. Schneider also said that Lynch knows he won’t be playing at the same numbers if he comes back. Marshawn Lynch is scheduled to make $5 million in base salary for 2015, plus a $2 million roster bonus. It has been rumored that the contract extension the Seahawks would be offering would be more than $10 million for the 2015 season. 

 One of the reasons some say Marshawn Lynch would be considering retirement would be is “Beast Mode” clothing line. BeastModeOnline has been a big success for Marshawn Lynch. His line of hats recently sold out. It is the same hat he was wearing during Super Bowl Media Day when he said, “I’m just here so I won’t get fined,” 29 times. Lynch is not a big fan of speaking to the media, and his eight-word statement during Super Bowl Media Day came from a move last November by the NFL to fine him $100,000 for repeatedly ignoring NFL rules requiring players to talk to the media. He was also fined for wearing his hat, which is not an NFL license product. If the Seahawks would have won their 2 consecutive Super Bowl, some say Marshawn Lynch would have retired for sure because that would have made his brand more valuable and powerful.

Lynch was denied the chance to score game-winning touchdown, and lost an extraordinary opportunity to cash in on that achievement. By calling for a pass instead of a run from the 1-yard line, and not handing the ball to his Beast, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll not only cost the team a second straight Super Bowl championship; he also set Lynch up to tackle two pressing financial matters this offseason, continue to play or retire. NFL experts say that was one of the most boneheaded decisions in NFL history.