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Conor McGregor counting heavy cost of High Court branding

Several companies have cut links with the mixed martial arts fighter since a High Court jury decided he should pay Nikita Hand damages for assault

Conor McGregor leaving the High Court last Friday after the verdict. Photograph: Collins Courts
Conor McGregor leaving the High Court last Friday after the verdict. Photograph: Collins Courts
Arthur Beesley's picture
Arthur Beesley
Tue Nov 26 2024 - 19:24

Three years have passed since Conor McGregor sold his whiskey brand to Mexican group Proximo. But he still featured prominently in Proximo marketing. No longer. As Irish and UK retailers drop McGregor-linked products, Proximo has cut ties with the mixed martial arts fighter.

“Since 2021, Proximo Spirits has been the 100 per cent owner of Proper No. Twelve Irish Whiskey,” the company said in reply to questions. “Going forward, we do not plan to use Mr McGregor’s name and likeness in the marketing of the brand.”

This from a company whose properwhiskey.com website features pictures of a smiling McGregor and described how “our founder” chose the oldest distillery “on the Isle of Ireland” to make his whiskey.

To say the least, this folksy image was far removed from Nikita Hand’s disturbing account in the High Court of being raped by him. McGregor denied any wrongdoing but a jury awarded Ms Hand almost €250,000 in damages for assault.

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Now comes the reckoning. From McGregor’s perspective, the outcome of the civil case is bad for business. Commercial partners found McGregor’s mix of bravado and chaos compelling because the “notorious” image he cultivated was cast to be attractive to young men. However, the response to the High Court ruling shows he now has a serious problem.

When the good times rolled, McGregor seemed to make extraordinary amounts of money with ease. His reported pay cheques are counted in the hundreds of millions of dollars – and his own lavish expenditure was part of his personal branding.

He is said to have received some $100 million (€95.4 million) in 2017 from his boxing defeat in Las Vegas to Floyd Mayweather. The bout itself generated more than $600 million from pay-per-view TV sales, ticket sales, sponsorship and merchandise, a vast sum.

But McGregor’s earning power transcended sport. After an initial Proximo investment in 2018, the 2021 sale of the whiskey brand is said to have yielded him $130 million. Proximo went on to introduce a new brand last year, Proper No. Twelve Irish Apple, and cited McGregor’s imprimatur for a drink he expected to “crush the competition”. Proper No. Twelve was still listed among “McGregor brands” on his personal website on Tuesday.

Proximo is not the only international group to turn away from the fighter. Danish video game company IO Interactive has signalled it will no longer work with him. In addition, British supermarket chain Tesco has dropped Proper No. Twelve from Irish and UK stores. SuperValu, Centra, Costcutter and Carry Out – and the main Spar wholesaler – also say they won’t supply McGregor-linked products.

Brand McGregor was always very lucrative. Now he has been branded in a different way by a High Court jury. This will come at a cost.