Will MMA continue to see increase in popularity?

JustOnce

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It looks like there's this bit of downward trend in MMA overall, whether it's PPV or whatever, outside Conor Mcgregor. Even Khabib, he might have become a star through the whole thing with Conor, perhaps.

I am little surprised to see, for example, Fedor vs Sonnen fight pulling sub 600k viewers, which I believe, is the biggest Bellator will be able to make, for me anyways, next 10 years. I could be wrong about this, but for me, Fedor is the greatest of all time, Sonnen the loud mouth.

There was a moment in time where it looked like MMA's popularity will continue to increase and MMA was called the fastest growing sports in the world or whatever.

However, in 2018, forget about soccer in general, to me it's not clear, if UFC is bigger than soccer in america, or will stay so, once again outside stars like Conor Mcgregor.

The question is, with the espn deal on its horizon, will MMA continue to see increase in popularity?

I'm going to guess no. I think that MMA oversaturated itself. And more content won't fix that. People compare it, I'm sure the UFC execs do too, to other leagues that putting out a lot of content, but there may exist an inherent difference in combat sports and sports in general.
 
nah UFC is dying bro haven't you heard?
 
I think its about where it'll stay
 
I dont think theres a consistent upwards trend. Its more peaks and valleys. It was hot in the late 00s/early 10s, then it was cold for a few years, then it was hot again in 2015/16, then it cooled off again, then Conor returned and it spiked up again quickly, for how long this time is yet to be decided.
 
*maybe it'll get a bing influx of Muslims watching now?
 
MMA fans are on average about a generation younger than boxing fans. Boxing fans still buy ppvs. MMA fans buy PPVs when it is a huge event but otherwise they catch the fights on youtube an hour later or go out to the bar see it.

Don't judge the sports popularity by ppv buys.

And I think MMA will continue to grow. Honestly, right now other than Conor's return MMA hasn't been nearly as talked about as it was back when Chuck vs Tito was happening. I think MMA and prize fighting fans in general show up for the big stars when they are established but unlike team sports fans come and go more frequently because a lot of times they will just follow one fighter.

Obviously many of us on these boards are exceptions to that but you won't have casual MMA fans like you have casual football or basketball fans unless the sport's format were to drastically change to give people some thing to root for even after their favorite fighter loses and doesn't fight again for 6 months.

Fans need something to tune in for next week.

That's where I think a tournament would be huge. It would keep more casual fan's interest. I also think it's a better way to decide a champion but this post is long enough without getting into that.
 
Yes, new fighters with charisma will emerge.

Just wait and see.
 
I think you need to have a look at bellators new platform DAZN and it's backer and the people involved in it.

This is just the beginning. DAZN have just signed canelo Alvarez to matchroom boxing USA. That's massive. Along with their addition of another load of mma organisations I think you'll find that this will be THE combat sports streaming platform for years to come.

I've been fucking impressed. Check them out.
 
MMA fans are on average about a generation younger than boxing fans. Boxing fans still buy ppvs. MMA fans buy PPVs when it is a huge event but otherwise they catch the fights on youtube an hour later or go out to the bar see it.

Don't judge the sports popularity by ppv buys.

And I think MMA will continue to grow. Honestly, right now other than Conor's return MMA hasn't been nearly as talked about as it was back when Chuck vs Tito was happening. I think MMA and prize fighting fans in general show up for the big stars when they are established but unlike team sports fans come and go more frequently because a lot of times they will just follow one fighter.

Obviously many of us on these boards are exceptions to that but you won't have casual MMA fans like you have casual football or basketball fans unless the sport's format were to drastically change to give people some thing to root for even after their favorite fighter loses and doesn't fight again for 6 months.

Fans need something to tune in for next week.

That's where I think a tournament would be huge. It would keep more casual fan's interest. I also think it's a better way to decide a champion but this post is long enough without getting into that.
This guy is totally right. Dont judge popularity by ppv buys becasue at this point that model is all but failing and we are entering a transitional period. Kinda like the high street shops closing down and online retailers taking up their market share.
 
I think once Conor has gone and all the football fans fuck off back to their lame ass sport it will calm for a while.

But someone else will come along and all the soulless wonders will jump on them just as they did Brock/Conor/Ronda

There will always be a good fan base, and we're still just getting started
 
I think once Conor has gone and all the football fans fuck off back to their lame ass sport it will calm for a while.

But someone else will come along and all the soulless wonders will jump on them just as they did Brock/Conor/Ronda

There will always be a good fan base, and we're still just getting started
I think you're stuck on the UFC and their old model. UFC is defin8tely not mma in its entirety anymore. Personally I've seen WME doing a terrible job.

Please check out DAZN

Edit: soz thought you were OP
 
I think you're stuck on the UFC and their old model. UFC is defin8tely not mma in its entirety anymore. Personally I've seen WME doing a terrible job.

Please check out DAZN
No way man, I'm really not a UFC cronie, but that is where most of the popularity in the sport lies.

I support MMA and fighters, not promotions and not the platforms that show them

If I can get good MMA I don't care if it is DAZN, BT Sports, Fightpass, fucking MTV or where ever

I don't have time to watch much live so DAZN isn't a great option to me, I still have to DL shit after the fact
 
No way man, I'm really not a UFC cronie, but that is where most of the popularity in the sport lies.

I support MMA and fighters, not promotions and not the platforms that show them

If I can get good MMA I don't care if it is DAZN, BT Sports, Fightpass, fucking MTV or where ever

I don't have time to watch much live so DAZN isn't a great option to me, I still have to DL shit after the fact
I thought you were OP. My bad. The thing is that at the rate PPV's cost at the moment I think consolidating a whole bunch of orgs into one streaming platform that hopefully after a while will take hold will cut costs to the consumer massively.

Now I don't live in America but I do know the extent to which how much they cost. Network providers, PPV etc. It costs a fortune to be a combat sports fan. Especially if you like all combat sports. Boxing also costs a shit ton.

If one streaming provider can streamline all of that to a single platform and just charge a monthly subscription fee.. It's better for the consumer.

Hell it's probably way better for the fighters too. They get to be in a big platform without having the contract restraints that the UFC brings. The UFC is not an employee friendly org. They're scalpers.
 
I thought you were OP. My bad. The thing is that at the rate PPV's cost at the moment I think consolidating a whole bunch of orgs into one streaming platform that hopefully after a while will take hold will cut costs to the consumer massively.

Now I don't live in America but I do know the extent to which how much they cost. Network providers, PPV etc. It costs a fortune to be a combat sports fan. Especially if you like all combat sports. Boxing also costs a shit ton.

If one streaming provider can streamline all of that to a single platform and just charge a monthly subscription fee.. It's better for the consumer.

Hell it's probably way better for the fighters too. They get to be in a big platform without having the contract restraints that the UFC brings. The UFC is not an employee friendly org. They're scalpers.
Yeah I'm a UK head as well, plus I'm old and streaming just doesn't do it for me, I still like to download what I can and watch as and when

But it's getting to the point where I can't ignore streaming anymore, ACB and Rizin I don't really get to watch without streaming, PFL I can access later along with Bellator and other PPV's. I'm personally not ready to part with even more money for a streaming service, but that's more to do with my viewing set up and how little time I get to watch MMA these days.

Out of interest does DAZN have an app that can be accessed on a PS4 or smart TV?
 
Yeah I'm a UK head as well, plus I'm old and streaming just doesn't do it for me, I still like to download what I can and watch as and when

But it's getting to the point where I can't ignore streaming anymore, ACB and Rizin I don't really get to watch without streaming, PFL I can access later along with Bellator and other PPV's. I'm personally not ready to part with even more money for a streaming service, but that's more to do with my viewing set up and how little time I get to watch MMA these days.

Out of interest does DAZN have an app that can be accessed on a PS4 or smart TV?
It's most definitely the future mate. If they floated I would buy shares in them.

They already have a ps4 app.

https://store.playstation.com/en-ca/product/UP8835-CUSA09505_00-PERFORMGROUP2016

I'm pretty sure you can get a free trial first too.
 
Actually, it's like the stock market.

But seriously, it's hard to predict these things. Popularity of niche sports is an ebb and flow thing. It really depends on the characters within MMA to pull attention from the casual viewer. I think MMA has a secure future because it's pretty global and people will always want to watch people fight.
 
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