Another point of contention, in a seemingly endless list of misconceptions, is the financial cost of the USADA’s drug testing program. Last week’s public forum, held by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, shed some light on the state’s concern with the financial aspect of implementing a drug program like this.
I reached out to the USADA’s chief executive Travis Tygart, to really examine the costs associated with their drug testing program and how the NSAC can pay for it. To my surprise, the drug tests aren’t expensive at all, especially when considering the millions of dollars that’s made off of major boxing fights.
Will the NSAC’s ‘findings’ on blood tests finally silence Manny Pacquiao’s critics? Costs of Drug Tests According to Travis Tygart, the USADA’s drug tests cost about $200-$400 dollars per test. That includes both urine and blood tests. “It’s a couple hundred dollars per test. On average $200-$400. If you test blood work for drugs like EPO and HGH, then the costs will be on the higher end of that range.” In my opinion, $200-$400 dollars is nothing when considering the amount of money these PPV fights bring in. If one fighter can earn $40 million dollars, then there’s enough money for additional drug testing. USADA’s interest in Professional Boxing Perhaps, the biggest criticism the USADA faced, in the Mayweather-Mosley experience, was that they were only interested in making their money. So, I brought up this criticism to Mr. Tygart and he responded accordingly: Our only motivation is to protect clean athletes. We are a not-for profit corporation. We get 2/3rds of our money from federal grants. We offered the NSAC to do their drug education and drug policies at no cost.
Costs for Mayweather-Mosley Drug Tests Floyd Mayweather Jr and Shane Mosley each participated in 16 tests (urine and blood tests). That’s a total of 32 drug tests. So, the total costs for these drug tests fell into the range of $6,400-$12,800 dollars. Mr. Tygart supported my mathematical wizardry by confirming the total costs fell within this range but was unable to give me an exact number at the time of this interview. How can these tests be paid for? Mr. Tygart suggested several options of how the state could pay for these tests including PPV and casino revenues. Using the Mayweather-Mosley fight as an example, Tygart suggested that $1 dollar from every PPV could have generated enough income to pay for a drug testing program for the next few years. The money’s there. It’s just a matter of priorities. Adding a $1 dollar ‘integrity and sport contribution’ onto the PPV fee, could have generated 1.4 million dollars. That would effectively run an anti-doping program for 5 years. Conclusion Just one major fight could generate enough income to effectively run an anti-doping program. Nevada’s home to several big fights a year. There’s plenty of money to implement blood testing in this state. Ultimately, it comes down to the NSAC making it a priority. In my opinion, it’s time for these state commissions to start implementing additional testing to protect the athletes involved.
