Where will MMA rank in ten years??

[iFUNK]

Compared to the other major worldwide sports i.e. (soccer, football,baseball, boxing,hockey,racing) lets be realistic, i know we are all ufc fans here!!

[sir_rebral]

Thats depends a lot on how the powers that be control it.

 

If it turns out like boxing or borderline WWE I wont be wasting my time with it.

[Me_Against_The_World]

I think Mixed Martial Arts will still be going very strong, the UFC could definitely become a joke though.

[rodrodMMA92]

I don't think MMA will ever surpass Soccer globally and regionally every nation has their dominant sport.

 

I do think that world wide MMA and most likely the UFC will be a big deal but there just isn't enough talent world wide to make it a realistic world wide power.

[King_Can]

espn/tsn will most likely stunt it's growth due to the fact that as of now, they are not allowed showing how ppv fights were finished.

[classicboxer]

It will stay where it is now, ahead of boxing, but no where near the major sports.

[Junglebird]

depends on a lot of factors.

 

it does have a ton of potential due to its multi-national interest with fans, who knows it could approach European football someday worldwide

[carnages]

Its rules and scoring is holding back, if they don't change i could see it failing in ten years

[team_spahr]

somewhere around rugby.

 

in North America, I can see is passing Hockey and being #4 behind football, baseball and basketball.

[the_bear413]

The UFC really needs to take it out of the PPV phase, or at least stop restricting people from showing the end result of fights.

 

Hopefully FOX sports wlll get more rights to footage than ESPN.

[classicboxer]

The UFC really needs to take it out of the PPV phase' date=' or at least stop restricting people from showing the end result of fights.

 

Hopefully FOX sports wlll get more rights to footage than ESPN.[/quote']

 

They will never allow the end results to be aired; they are still selling pay per view replays after the fights are over.

[Jason_Fears4life]

Where do you think it will rank? You idiot look MMA will be bigger then any other sport on the planet .. It only means something because we say like .. Dunks, Touchdowns.. But it always means something when a guy punches some one in the face.. So the facts are in ! MMA will swallow:mad: the sports industry's .. Conversation Over!

[King_Can]

Where do you think it will rank? You idiot look MMA will be bigger then any other sport on the planet .. It only means something because we say like .. Dunks' date=' Touchdowns.. But it always means something when a guy punches some one in the face.. So the facts are in ! MMA will swallow:mad: the sports industry's .. Conversation Over![/quote']

 

zuffa did a good job on this one-

 

zuffa hype train ftw

[classicboxer]

zuffa did a good job on this one-

 

zuffa hype train ftw

 

It's still just fighting, and it will never be mainstream.

[sir_rebral]

Where do you think it will rank? You idiot look MMA will be bigger then any other sport on the planet .. It only means something because we say like .. Dunks' date=' Touchdowns.. But it always means something when a guy punches some one in the face.. So the facts are in ! MMA will swallow:mad: the sports industry's .. Conversation Over![/quote']

 

You lost me at "you idiot"

 

See kids this is why you should stay at school

[Leiting]

Globally, nothing is going to come close to touching football (soccer) in the foreseeable future. In terms of America - football, basketball & baseball are all cemented in their place. I could see hockey either making a large resurgence, or being overtaken by soccer in the next decade - but that's a tough hypothetical. In terms of MMA, I could see it growing to be comparable in size to NASCAR (man I loath being forced to refer to that as a sport). And frankly, I could see a lot of cross over appeal in that specific demographic.

 

Though, and it brings me no joy to admit this, I don't see MMA becoming much larger than it is right now. All combat sports enjoy ups and downs in popularity, but there is little to no sustaining power. MMA as a result of the UFC is enjoying an incredible growth in mainstream acceptance - but at the end of the day it's still a violent sport, and it lacks one of (if not THE) most important aspects of maintaining a long shelf life - it's not a team sport. Teams are gifted an indefinite life span - you grandparents, parents, your generation, your kids, your grandkids can all root and be lifelong fans of the same team. It's a unifying experience, one that you simply can't achieve with MMA, boxing, golf, swimming, gymnastics, diving, running, etc. So do I think there is room to grow? Sure, but by virtue of it's violent nature and the fact that each fighter has a limited shelf life, it's quite contained in terms of expansion possibilities.

[classicboxer]

Globally' date=' nothing is going to come close to touching football (soccer) in the foreseeable future. In terms of America - football, basketball & baseball are all cemented in their place. I could see hockey either making a large resurgence, or being overtaken by soccer in the next decade - but that's a tough hypothetical. In terms of MMA, I could see it growing to be comparable in size to NASCAR (man I loath being forced to refer to that as a sport). And frankly, I could see a lot of cross over appeal in that specific demographic.

 

Though, and it brings me no joy to admit this, I don't see MMA becoming much larger than it is right now. All combat sports enjoy ups and downs in popularity, but there is little to no sustaining power. MMA as a result of the UFC is enjoying an incredible growth in mainstream acceptance - but at the end of the day it's still a violent sport, and it lacks one of (if not [i']THE[/i]) most important aspects of maintaining a long shelf life - it's not a team sport. Teams are gifted an indefinite life span - you grandparents, parents, your generation, your kids, your grandkids can all root and be lifelong fans of the same team. It's a unifying experience, one that you simply can't achieve with MMA, boxing, golf, swimming, gymnastics, diving, running, etc. So do I think there is room to grow? Sure, but by virtue of it's violent nature and the fact that each fighter has a limited shelf life, it's quite contained in terms of expansion possibilities.

 

I agree, very good post. Race car drivers may of may not be athletes, but NASCAR is a lot of fun to see live, you should try it.

[spacey]

Compared to the other major worldwide sports i.e. (soccer' date=' football,baseball, boxing,hockey,racing) lets be realistic, i know we are all ufc fans here!![/quote']

 

WARNING !! :

OPINIONS AHEAD MAY HURT FEELINGS AND DAMAGE EGOS.... IRREPARABLY !

 

In 10 years it will rank #2 in the world behind soccer. Racing will probably be 3rd.

 

The key to all of this is really India, China/orient, and most of South America.... What will those people tend to gravitate towards. My guess is soccer and MMA

 

I would guess that more football, basketball, baseball, and hockey fans will die than will be born, or at best it will remain even.

 

Only people from the United States like football, and as hard as it is for U.S. people to accept, we just aren't that large of a percentage of the worlds sports viewing populace, and this will get even more pronounced as time goes on, since our population doesn't increase much.

 

The soccer fans from the rest of the world will continue to gain access to sports at an accelerated rate as their standard of living continues to increase and millions upon millions join the TV viewing demographic.

 

Only Northern countries/peoples enjoy hockey, and they are already developed so there wont be much growth there.

 

Racing is only a U.S. and European thing really, and those markets aren't growing too much, but i can see that possibly increasing or spreading cause everybody that has a TV has, or eventually will have, a car.... i can see the Chinese and Indians getting into racing more as time goes on.

 

MMA trumps boxing, boxing will continue to dwindle until no-one pays much attention to it anymore. i don't see boxing getting new fans, anyone interested in seeing people battle will watch MMA instead. An MMA guy will always beat the crap out of any specialist.

 

Although not mentioned, Golf will continue to grow as well.

 

Baseball is killing people by boring them to death. basketball lost it's way years ago, and football is so slow and over produced its sickening, It is absolutely absurd how much money they add to all our school taxes just so a few dozen privileged kids cans play them.

 

rooting for a professional American team is retarded because what you are really rooting for is some rich guys business to make him more money. the players and locations are transient. MMA is basically fighting with honor and rules, and soccer can be played by anyone with a field and a ball, no equipment needed. Also, the teams are generally the countries team, not some rich dudes team. Everyone the world over can relate to those 2 sports.

 

Female MMA will overshadow Football in 50 years. yes. more people around the world will tune in to watch female mma in 50 years than will tune in to watch american football games in 50 years. :eek:

[classicboxer]

WARNING !! :

OPINIONS AHEAD MAY HURT FEELINGS AND DAMAGE EGOS.... IRREPARABLY !

 

In 10 years it will rank #2 in the world behind soccer. Racing will probably be 3rd.

 

The key to all of this is really India' date=' China/orient, and most of South America.... What will those people tend to gravitate towards. My guess is soccer and MMA

 

I would guess that more football, basketball, baseball, and hockey fans will die than will be born, or at best it will remain even.

 

Only people from the United States like football, and as hard as it is for U.S. people to accept, we just aren't that large of a percentage of the worlds sports viewing populace, and this will get even more pronounced as time goes on, since our population doesn't increase much.

 

The soccer fans from the rest of the world will continue to gain access to sports at an accelerated rate as their standard of living continues to increase and millions upon millions join the TV viewing demographic.

 

Only Northern countries/peoples enjoy hockey, and they are already developed so there wont be much growth there.

 

Racing is only a U.S. and European thing really, and those markets aren't growing too much, but i can see that possibly increasing or spreading cause everybody that has a TV has, or eventually will have, a car.... i can see the Chinese and Indians getting into racing more as time goes on.

 

MMA trumps boxing, boxing will continue to dwindle until no-one pays much attention to it anymore. i don't see boxing getting new fans, anyone interested in seeing people battle will watch MMA instead. An MMA guy will always beat the crap out of any specialist.

 

Although not mentioned, Golf will continue to grow as well.

 

Baseball is killing people by boring them to death. basketball lost it's way years ago, and football is so slow and over produced its sickening, It is absolutely absurd how much money they add to all our school taxes just so a few dozen privileged kids cans play them.

 

rooting for a professional American team is retarded because what you are really rooting for is some rich guys business to make him more money. the players and locations are transient. MMA is basically fighting with honor and rules, and soccer can be played by anyone with a field and a ball, no equipment needed. Also, the teams are generally the countries team, not some rich dudes team. Everyone the world over can relate to those 2 sports.

 

Female MMA will overshadow Football in 50 years. yes. more people around the world will tune in to watch female mma in 50 years than will tune in to watch american football games in 50 years. :eek:[/quote']

 

Females in any type of sport will never be big, they are only doing the same thing as men do, but at a very low level. The truth is that in all sports, they are trying as hard as they can to make them less and less violent. I can see wrestling dominating, and eventually taking over, MMA, and everyone knows that wrestling can't attract enough fans to have real professional wrestling.

[Leiting]

@spacey - I'm not "butt hurt" by your analysis. But I could not, in any form or fashion, even begin to fathom how MMA will become the #2 global sport in one single decade.

 

Ten years ago, (UFC 33 - September 2001) the UFC drew a live audience of 9,500 fans and had a buyrate of 75,000. Now let's assume generously that for each single buyrate, there were three people watching. That means that slightly under a quarter of a million people saw the event live. Now currently (UFC 134 - August 2011) we have live gates of 14,000 and buyrates of 300,000. So again let's assume generously that each buy is viewed by 3 people - that's 914,000 plus, let's be absurd here and suggest that another million people watched it illegal, or via some other means...and for the sake of simplifying the math let's tack on another 500,000 people. So that's 314,000 confirmed views, and I'm crediting it with 2,500,000 people worldwide watch the #1 P4P fighter defend his title.

 

In the last ten years, which has seen unsustainable growth levels, the industry had seen it's audience increase ten fold (using my VERY generous standard of measurement). That means IF MMA continues it's upward swing at the same rate (which it won't) in another ten years we'll see 25,000,000 watch the best P4P fighter in the world. The last Superbowl was attended by over 100,000 people - yes that's just counting live gate attendance...and watched by 111 million Americans alone. That means, if MMA's popularity increases to be ten times as popular as it is right now, it's global audience will still be less than 1/4 the size of the NFL's fanbase in America alone.

 

Sorry buddy, but your estimation is simply not probable.