The event was organized by the Coalition to Legalize Mixed Martial Arts in New York and included a number of reporters and local gym owners (from Queens, Manhattan, and Westchester) along with Assemblyman Dean Murray, his Chief of Staff, and a staffer for Senator Zeldin, one of the co-sponsors of the bill in the Senate to legalize MMA in New York.
Unfortunately, there was no representation from any of the major promotions, which were tentatively scheduled to be there, but the roundtable was still very productive.
Jim Genia has a good summary of the discussion, in particular the comments from Assemblyman Murray at his MMA Journalist Blog. In part his post provides:
Murray was the voice of optimism. 'This is the year,' he said. 'If we're going to do it, it's going to be this year.' He went on to talk about how attitudes toward the sport have shifted among other Assembly members (shifted positively), and he played down the impact of Governor Cuomo's budget proposal (and its lack of MMA legislation), stating that what the governor submitted was merely a proposal and a wealth of budget hearings and discussions awaited it.All-in-all, the meeting was productive and the group discussed different -- perhaps more effective -- ways of presenting the arguments in favor of legalization.
In addition, the group discussed important ways that local gyms (and their students) could help push the debate in a positive direction. I look forward to more meetings like this because I think it is a good way to get the grassroots people, e.g. gym owners and constituents, in contact with the politicians to gain a better understanding about what is going on up in Albany and how they can help elected representatives like Assemblyman Murray advance the cause.
This evening I also participated in another Sports Law Committee of the New York City Bar Association meeting with a discussion about MMA. Some interesting ideas were presented and the Committee is still "grappling" with the issue and taking a position.
Heading to Albany on Monday with Frank Shamrock to meet with some of the elected representatives to discuss education about the sport and the path towards legalization.
That's it for now.
Fight Lawyer
