Ari Emanuel, the Hollywood mega-agent and deal maker behind Endeavor, sat down with Rachel Maddow at the 92nd Street Y to discuss his new memoir, Roll the Calls, and didn’t shy away from defending one of the more polarizing moments of his career: bringing UFC to the White House grounds.
Rachel Maddow pressed him directly, asking:
“Did UFC pay to repair the grounds of the White House after that ridiculous cage match wrecked the grass in front of the White House?”
Ari Emanuel pushed back on the framing of the event itself:
“I don’t think it was ridiculous, but here’s what I would say. Three years ago this November, the president at Madison Square Garden went up to Dana and said, ‘I would like you to do this for 250.’ And of course, Dana said, ‘Yes.'”
He was emphatic that the decision wasn’t about allegiance to Trump specifically:
“And if Obama asked, we would have said yes. If Biden asked, we would have said yes. If Roosevelt asked, which had boxing matches on occasion, yes happened.”
He framed the event as something bigger than politics:
“And for us, I think again, sports is a thing that kind of bridges. You can root for somebody and I don’t want to say I’m a Republican, I’m a Democrat, I’m a this, I’m a that. You don’t have to say that. You can just root for somebody. And you can have a great conversation.”
He also described the production value of the event itself:
“And I hope you watched a little bit. I can send it to you. There were incredible videos about American history.”
From a business standpoint, he called it a win despite the cost:
“And for us, it was one of the greatest marketing plays of all time. We lost $30 million, which was in our plan. And yes, we paid for everything we had to pay for.”
Rachel Maddow then noted how personally invested Trump seemed in that particular event:
“It struck me, while all that was happening, how much Trump wanted that cage match. Like Trump really, he wanted that more than he wanted anything else in the 250th. I think if you asked him right now, he would not remember that there was a car race. All he remembers is that cage match.”
Ari Emanuel tied that enthusiasm back to Dana White‘s history with the president and UFC’s own origin story:
“I will say he is, and this is what I love about Dana, this one, I love a lot about him, but he’s a ride or die guy. And when UFC started 33 years ago, the only person that would have them at his place in Atlantic City was Donald Trump, and he sat through every match.”
He added that the relationship has remained consistent over decades:
“And he is a major fan”
“And because of that moment, Dana’s loyal to him. And Dana is a, he’s right in the middle. He’s a centrist. I know that might be ( ), but he’s a guy right in the middle.”
