UFC/MMA the fastest declining sport in the World.

[TR vs. GB]

With PPV buys expected to be 60% lower for 2011 than 2010 and ticket sales bringing in less than half the revenue of 2010 and web hits showing a decline since 2008 UFC/MMA is not the fastest growing sport in the world but the fastest sport detracting in the world.

[Ring Leader]

I people are mislead when saying MMA is the fastest growing sport in the world and infer it with UFC being the fastest growing PPV and sport model out there. MMA is the fastest growing sport in terms of % growth because the envolvment in MMA was so small before and when UFC got big lots of people joined but still a small amount compared to other sports. But in terms of % growth, the recruitment in MMA before was sooo small and they balooned and technically were/are the fastest growing sport because they were so small before.


Example (Hypothetical)

1,000,000 People involved in boxing in 2010
20,000 more people involved in boxing in 2011
2% of growth

300,000 people involved in MMA in 2010
20,000 more people involved in MMA in 2011
7% of growth

Then with these stats you can say MMA = Faster growing sport even though there are the same amount of recruitment in a calender year in boxing and MMA.


This just shows how people can skew messages and statistics to fit their agenda.

[$Full Clip$]

Wrong. UFC is only getting bigger now that its on Fox. The only reason ppv numbers are down is because the number of PPV events went up dramatically and people just cant afford all these ppvs in this crappy economy. They still do more then average boxing ppvs. The only people who can touch mma are floyd and manny. UFC on Fox will still see huge numbers and only get bigger.

[UglyPug]

Wrong. UFC is only getting bigger now that its on Fox. The only reason ppv numbers are down is because the number of PPV events went up dramatically and people just cant afford all these ppvs in this crappy economy. They still do more then average boxing ppvs. The only people who can touch mma are floyd and manny. UFC on Fox will still see huge numbers and only get bigger.

cotto/margarito broke 500k. . . average UFC PPV is doing what? 300k, 350k?

UFC can only do pac/floyd numbers when they have a stacked card with GSP or Lesnar. . .

but when you figure in international buys, klitschkos in germany and europe are where it's at. . . other guys like sturm, khan, haye (unfortunately), kessler all draw decent numbers in their countries. . . on the international scene i'd say boxing still has the edge. . . i forget how many people watched the haye/klitschko fight, but it was ridiculous.

[Gojira]

It doesnt do too bad compared to a sport which has been around since about 700bc.

[Ring Leader]

cotto/margarito broke 500k. . . average UFC PPV is doing what? 300k, 350k?

UFC can only do pac/floyd numbers when they have a stacked card with GSP or Lesnar. . .

but when you figure in international buys, klitschkos in germany and europe are where it's at. . . other guys like sturm, khan, haye (unfortunately), kessler all draw decent numbers in their countries. . . on the international scene i'd say boxing still has the edge. . . i forget how many people watched the haye/klitschko fight, but it was ridiculous.

Argument for the UFC PPV platform is that they consistently sell PPV's while boxing has a few here and there that baloon to significant numbers. Boxing has a few stars that do huge numbers while the UFC PPV model is more consistent.

[ƒallenloki]

There is definitely a problem in MMA right now.

The PPV market is dying and the product isn't getting any better. I consider myself a hardcore MMA fan but the Overeem-Lesnar fight is the only PPV I'll be buying for all of 2011. I just haven't been very excited for most cards this year. The time change really ****ed **** up too because there is no way I'm going to get people over for the PPV at my house at 6PM.

The 60% drop is a real number no matter how you want to look at it. While they got the Fox deal done, it isn't really enough to plug the PPV hole. Also, people act like every fight is going to be on Fox... News flash: it is only going to be 3 or 4 fights a year (fights, not events). The rest of the cards will be on channels that many people don't even have.

[Ring Leader]

There is definitely a problem in MMA right now.

The PPV market is dying and the product isn't getting any better. I consider myself a hardcore MMA fan but the Overeem-Lesnar fight is the only PPV I'll be buying for all of 2011. I just haven't been very excited for most cards this year. The time change really ****ed **** up too because there is no way I'm going to get people over for the PPV at my house at 6PM.

The 60% drop is a real number no matter how you want to look at it. While they got the Fox deal done, it isn't really enough to plug the PPV hole. Also, people act like every fight is going to be on Fox... News flash: it is only going to be 3 or 4 fights a year (fights, not events). The rest of the cards will be on channels that many people don't even have.

Those fights are also shown on other sport channels too, i.e Sportsnet.

BTW, there is 2 UFC on Fox events in January and 1 scheduled in March. Later UFC on Fox events are not confirmed but your hypothesis of 3 or 4 fights a year on Fox is already matched in a matter of 3 months

[ƒallenloki]

I'm not just throwing those numbers out there, fool. Those are contractual obligations.

[ƒallenloki]

All in all there will be 36 UFC fights a year on FOX-owned networks, which includes the 26 live TUF fights, 6 FX "Fight Night" events and 4 major events on FOX. White said that the promotion still considers itself a pay-per-view company, but there is no question that there will be many more expectations and much more scrutiny as a result of the major deal.

http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/08/1...-7-year-broad/