Try before you buy.
Suffolk County Assemblyman Steven Englebright has introduced a bill to New York Legislators aimed at legalizing mixed martial arts in the "Empire State."
MMA is currently unregulated in New York, and appeared to be on the verge of being sanctioned in 2008, but some eleventh-hour concerns from uneducated members of the Assembly Committee on Tourism, Arts and Sports Development scuttled its passage. Another session on the matter began in the state capital on January 7 and could be voted on as early as next week.
The new bill up for consideration includes a three-year 'Sunset Clause,' which is basically a law with an expiration date. A sunset clause would give legislators an opportunity to study the sport of MMA and gauge its economic and social impact on the state of New York.
The bill would expire after three years unless legislative action is taken to extend it.
UFC Vice President for Government and Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner and president of the company Dana White are ratcheting up the economic rhetoric and financial success of its mixed martial events in hopes of using the economic benefits of live shows to influence voters who may be on the fence.
Money talks … and the UFC has the numbers to back it up. An independent economic impact study indicated that the promotion would generate about $11.5 million for the "Big Apple."
Still, it will have an uphill battle so long as detractors like Democratic Assemblyman Bob Reilly, who referred to the sport of MMA as a "Glorification of brutality and violence," have their say in the vote.
Keep your fingers crossed.
Thanks to MMAmaniac "Mahde" for the heads up.