Why Boxing Is Bigger Than UFC

[Reloaded]

MMA had the luxury of being organized from the jump. WEC and Pride were very good promotions before they were bought by UFC. StrikeForce was solid as well. That is one major aspect of it.

The second problem with boxing is even when they finally get the organization part right (PBC) they still don't make the fights we want to see. If PBC was like UFC Garcia, Thurman, Porter would have fought eachother a while ago. Stevenson would be fighting Beterbiev at the very least.

Thats because they have one boss , boxing has many bosses .

UFC has a fantastic business plan , they take it on the road which guarantees packed arenas where ever they go and they get all the local media attention because its the big new show in town , and they get the same PPV as if it was in Vegas , all the while recruiting more fans from every country they visit .

They should put it on the stock market lol .

[Scipio2009]

I think all sports leagues should be about the sport or the overall league more than any one particular fighter or athlete. Thats what all sports leagues ultimately should aspire to. I think boxing should & will eventually go that way to cuz its the most successful model in all sports & much more consistent then boxing's model which follows the top guys & then can plummet while they search for the next top guy.

I'd disagree with the idea that the sport should be beyond the athlete; the NFL has done great with establishing the league, but even the NFL is driven by regional stars gone national on the NFL platform (having 32 teams establishing themselves in 32 markets and having ages of individual team histories to build on has helped the NFL, in my opinion, become the NFL).

Which is why I think boxing should like at the NFL as thr blueprint and not the UFC.

The ebs and flows are what's helped sports become the most dynamic.

[Eff Pandas]

I'd disagree with the idea that the sport should be beyond the athlete; the NFL has done great with establishing the league, but even the NFL is driven by regional stars gone national on the NFL platform (having 32 teams establishing themselves in 32 markets and having ages of individual team histories to build on has helped the NFL, in my opinion, become the NFL).

Which is why I think boxing should like at the NFL as thr blueprint and not the UFC.

The ebs and flows are what's helped sports become the most dynamic.

You're always gonna have ebs & flows I just mean that focusing on the sport & the competition over the faces & names is gonna make those ebs & flows lesser which is what a company should strive for.

And I'm not saying there aren't or shouldn't be personalities & fanbases for specific regions or athletes I'm just saying most of the focus should be put on the sport & the competition over all else. I think thats something boxing fails at more than it succeeds at. Boxing isn't even satisfied with making the big fights with the name guys if they can make them a lil bigger 6mos to a year from now. Thats counterproductive to the sport to prolong things for the dollar while sacrificing the integrity of the sport. If the NFL was ran like boxing the Super Bowl would only take place every 2 to 3 years or at best it'd be pushed out til June or July for "one more marinating game" or some such nonsense.

[KillaCamNZ]

UFC isn't a sport its an organization..

Nailed it. This is what people haven't quite grasped yet - the UFC is an organization within a sport. There's still Bellator, WSOF, Rizin etc.

It's more lineal to compare UFC to say, the WBC, or Bellator to the IBF etc.

[GrandpaBernard]

I think all sports leagues should be about the sport or the overall league more than any one particular fighter or athlete. Thats what all sports leagues ultimately should aspire to. I think boxing should & will eventually go that way to cuz its the most successful model in all sports & much more consistent then boxing's model which follows the top guys & then can plummet while they search for the next top guy.

I'd disagree with the idea that the sport should be beyond the athlete; the NFL has done great with establishing the league, but even the NFL is driven by regional stars gone national on the NFL platform (having 32 teams establishing themselves in 32 markets and having ages of individual team histories to build on has helped the NFL, in my opinion, become the NFL).

Which is why I think boxing should like at the NFL as thr blueprint and not the UFC.

The ebs and flows are what's helped sports become the most dynamic.

If a boxer has the talent and charisma to make his brand bigger than the sport, then he should do so by all means.

In that instance it would be the sport that ****ed up and not the fighter. That isn't a good reason to cap the fighter

[juggernaut666]

Nailed it. This is what people haven't quite grasped yet - the UFC is an organization within a sport. There's still Bellator, WSOF, Rizin etc.

It's more lineal to compare UFC to say, the WBC, or Bellator to the IBF etc.

Yes i have a habit doing that ,ands its usually met with resistance because ppl hate the truth ,this thread as you mentioned though ....you need to grasp what the sports model is and the UFC isnt itself a sport !

[MrRolltide91]

I snatched this from a Sherdog thread

Link to that thread?

[BoliviaChiLEsp]

Boxing, a sport with more than 100 years of history.

"When the best fight the best there's no sport like ours" ~ Freddie Roach

-

By the way, UFC is the company that runs the biggest part of MMA, not the sport.

It is monopolized by an organization. And boxing not.

I prefer boxing organization because there is not an owner of the sport.

[Scipio2009]

You're always gonna have ebs & flows I just mean that focusing on the sport & the competition over the faces & names is gonna make those ebs & flows lesser which is what a company should strive for.

And I'm not saying there aren't or shouldn't be personalities & fanbases for specific regions or athletes I'm just saying most of the focus should be put on the sport & the competition over all else. I think thats something boxing fails at more than it succeeds at. Boxing isn't even satisfied with making the big fights with the name guys if they can make them a lil bigger 6mos to a year from now. Thats counterproductive to the sport to prolong things for the dollar while sacrificing the integrity of the sport. If the NFL was ran like boxing the Super Bowl would only take place every 2 to 3 years or at best it'd be pushed out til June or July for "one more marinating game" or some such nonsense.

That's an unfair comparison, imo; the Super Bowl didn't even start looking like 'The Super Bowl' until 1990, a game that'd been played since the 1960's, for an organization that traces it's origins back to the 1920s.

It took a while, but eventually the NFL got everything settled down, so that now folks can point to the scaling of the Super Bowl being a "no duh" presentation. "marinating" certain fights sucks, but that's part of boxing.

[krazyn8tive]

Not really. People just like to look at the biggest selling cards, but when you go by actual sales the UFC is kicking boxing's ass in PPV buys (although revenue may or may not be another story cuz I think there have been some highly priced boxing events).

Couple stats on PPV buys:

PPV's Sold (2006-2015) UFC, 62M, Boxing 42M

UFC has sold more PPV's than Boxing in 8 of the last 10 years (2007 & 2014)

32M of the 42M PPV's (76%) Boxing has sold in the last decade have been Floyd &/or Manny PPV's

I think boxing people are wayyyyy insecure about this **** doe. Boxing fans seem threatened by MMA in that MMA has taken over Boxing former place as the combat sport of choice which it may have already done or is just in contention to do soon depending on who you talk about it to. But who gives a ****, just watching boxing or both if you are like me & enjoy both sports.

Very good post and thanks for the research.