Give Me Evidence that MMA/UFC are is dying in popularity?

[markg171]

nobody knows what the ppv buys are

dave meltzer pulls numbers out of his ass

True enough, but it still used to be a given that that number would be at least 700k.

Worldwide the UFC is definitely growing, but in North America people are definitely losing interest

 

[AP_RESURRECTION]

just the number of people who are talking about how its less interesting than before + the fact i know many people who feel that way, myself included - however, i think its growing internationally so whatever for them

not sure what kind of evidence you would want, ufc keeps a pretty good wrap on most things so its not like they give out information for us to parce

 

[jasonfahy]

For whatever it's worth, the UFC attendance numbers over the last 3-5 years have been flat, maybe down a tiny bit, and if you only look at the most-attended events of each year those numbers have slumped recently. (The all time record was St-Pierre vs Shields, which was insane - more than double the #2 attendance.)

I know live attendance isn't the most important chunk of their revenue, but if you want a way of measuring how much people know/care about UFC events, there it is - and it seems more meaningful than "I saw some non-fans who recognized Lesnar and today few non-fans recognize Velasquez".

 

[AP_RESURRECTION]

nobody knows what the ppv buys are

dave meltzer pulls numbers out of his ass

nice that few people get that, usually people just take numbers for granted bc they are presented with confidence - im talking about, even in professional industries

 

[markg171]

It is just a transitioning time of superstars.

Jon Jones and Cain Velasquez are right on the edge of superstardom. Anyone who doesn't know Jones will see the hype for the Jones/Gus II fight. Cain might be a few wins off still.

The sport lives on.

Cain will never ever be a superstar. He's not even close to superstardom. No idea how you pulled that idea out of your ass. He's got all the personality of a rock.

Everybody knows he's a badass in the octagon, but that doesn't mean he's a star

 

[HELVETE]

It is just a transitioning time of superstars.

Jon Jones and Cain Velasquez are right on the edge of superstardom. Anyone who doesn't know Jones will see the hype for the Jones/Gus II fight. Cain might be a few wins off still.

The sport lives on.

If you have any interest in MMA, you know who Jones is. Casuals tune in to watch guys like Machida, Rampage, Rashad and they've all seen Jones smash them. But for whatever reason, they don't feel like he's worth their time or money.

 

[mathor]

I don't think it's dying, but it's probably not growing very fast anymore. It's probably stagnant or slightly on the decline. One can tell from the dwindling event attendance, seemingly lower PPV numbers and fewer mainstream media mentions. Also, fighter pay would have gone up proportionately.

 

[markg171]

For whatever it's worth, the UFC attendance numbers over the last 3-5 years have been flat, maybe down a tiny bit, and if you only look at the most-attended events of each year those numbers have slumped recently. (The all time record was St-Pierre vs Shields, which was insane - more than double the #2 attendance.)

I know live attendance isn't the most important chunk of their revenue, but if you want a way of measuring how much people know/care about UFC events, there it is - and it seems more meaningful than "I saw some non-fans who recognized Lesnar and today few non-fans recognize Velasquez".

GSP vs Diaz wasn't sold out and that was one of, if not, the biggest cards of the year.

 

[Fbed]

It growing worldwide, but their superstars(St Pierre, Brock, Anderson) are gone.

 

[D.R.H.]

Slumping maybe, but dying no. Everyone loves to throw out the extremes. It's either on a rocket strapped to the moon or in imminent danger of disappearing forever. The truth is a little more grounded in the middle.

 

[ninjacake]

zero activity on the board here. shitty cards from the ufc. dana white, etc. i wouldnt go as far and say that mma is dyin, but the ufc is definitely not delivering

 

[tombombadil]

it has definitely lost its lustre in north america. do you not remember the amount of hype surrounding the sport in 09? even your random guy off the street knew household names and the biggest upcoming fights. obviously there's some newer fans just discovering it, but the casual fan has all but disappeared.

i agree with this. I have no stats for a nationwide answer to this poll, but the mill I work at is about as 'common' as it gets, and barely anyone talks about it anymore. There were three of us who did before Bonnar-Griffin, then there were hundreds after that fight for a few years, now there's maybe less than a dozen. Also, as a Canadian, the people I now don't talk about GSP anymore or less than other champion fighters. Maybe in Toronto or Montreal he gets people going in a rabid way, but out here he's basically another top fighter who I suppose we root for because he's Canadian, but over the last two years there were a lot of people saying they wouldn't mind seeing him get beat.

My guess is, for the culture around me, the PPV prices drove everyone off, and possibly it was this exciting new thing shoved down (all of) our throats, a new kind of fighting, white guys are pretty good at it, and then it got expensive and no one, upon multiple viewings, is all that excited about it, really, it was just new to them. Hockey trumps it in lunchroom talk by about 1000x's, and actually NFL trumps it by a longshot, too.

People were really excited about Texas Hold'em for a few years, too.....

edit*** - as i think about it, that Griffin fight got everyone into it, and when I think of the fighters that people DO talk about, its the sluggers, the KO'ers, the fancy strikers, etc. The present scoring system which makes it insane for a wrestler NOT to wrestle might actually be killing the sport in my area and peer group.

 

[Spiderbite]

Good poll to see who the idiots on these forums are.

Survey says:

All of us.


To answer the question though, it will never die for the same reason you'll probably never pass up the chance to watch two strangers scrap in public.

I may not catch every PPV anymore, but i'll rarely pass up the chance to watch free fights on T.V.

 

[1neomonkey]

GSP vs Diaz wasn't sold out and that was one of, if not, the biggest cards of the year.

That card hit one million buys, and it was largely due to GSP fighting Nick Diaz. That ended up being GSP's highest buy rate as a main eventer ever. Obviously GSP and Nick Diaz needed each other for that to happen, but its also curious to note that the very next fight with GSP and Hendricks ended up being GSP's lowest buyrate in 5 years, and that was a card that included Chael Sonnen.

I definitely don't think the popularity of the sport is dying, especially since the sport is still in its infancy, but having big draws and people with star power definitely help.

 

[Po]

Partly I think it is the economy causing ppv buys to be down.

Who really wants to spend 50+ dollars on a ppv that might not even be good?

A lot of people still go to watch at the Buffalo wild wings by me. People are starting to get smarter with their money.

 

[jiujitsuforever]

Imma is declining In the united States clearly but is still growing out of America

 

[markg171]

That card hit one million buys, and it was largely due to GSP fighting Nick Diaz. That ended up being GSP's highest buy rate as a main eventer ever. Obviously GSP and Nick Diaz needed each other for that to happen, but its also curious to note that the very next fight with GSP and Hendricks ended up being GSP's lowest buyrate in 5 years, and that was a card that included Chael Sonnen.

I definitely don't think the popularity of the sport is dying, especially since the sport is still in its infancy, but having big draws and people with star power definitely help.

Was just pointing out that the gate of an event doesn't necessarily translate into how well the event does. Obviously selling 20,000 tickets is still really good, but you'd think that that card would have sold out. Obviously though the PPV numbers show that the card was still a massive success, even if the event wasn't a sell out

 

[ridered74]

I can't give tangible evidence, but I can say that absolutely no one talks about it at work or anywhere I go to hang out outside of work. Nobody seems to care about any of the fights.

 

[BSquared]

I have heard a lot of talk on here recently that MMA/UFC dying in popularity. Maybe that's true, I don't know. But what evidence (it doesn't even need to be great evidence) do you have supporting or against that contention. I'll try to update the thread as we continue with evidence for and against that contention.

For the contention that the popularity of MMA is dying:

-GSP and Hendriks didn't hit 700K PPV buys
-The collapse of MMA in Japan
-UFC attendance has been flat for past several years, if not down.


Against the contention that the popularity of MMA is dying:

-It appears be becoming more popular internationally

PPV buys and attendance rates for individual events is an unfair thing to look at when the number of events has risen significantly. Perhaps a better thing to look at would be total number of PPV buys and total ticket sales over the course of the entire year. If those numbers were up, would that not mean that the popularity was up?

 

[Elmonstro1]

Poor choice of words i wouldnt say dying, but it certainly isnt flourishing as it was in the start of 2010, maybe the world stale or at a plateau would be appropriate.