Ask five different MMA fans what the sport needs to do to become more “mainstream” and you’ll likely receive five different answers. Ask five different sports business experts the same question and you’ll likely receive just one.
New Study Shows 18-34 Demographic Is Where Sponsors Make Their Money
↵You see, people like to be told what to do. What products they should buy. What brands are the best. What types of entertainment they should consume. Same goes with sports. If ESPN all of a sudden increased their coverage of MMA, viewership of the sport would skyrocket. So how do we get ESPN to pay more attention to us? Well, apparently they, like the rest of the general public, need to be told it’s okay to do so.
↵No matter how loudly we scream at them from the top of our lungs that more people care about MMA than professional bowling, they won’t listen to us. However, they will listen to industry influencers. More specifically, big-time companies with big-time pockets. And lucky for us, a new study done by Turnkey Sports in conjunction with the Sports Business Journal indicates that companies who want to see some serious ROI better be pushing their product on us.
↵From SBJ:
↵↵The most visible trend we discovered was that brands can expect a better return on their sports marketing objectives if they target fans age 18-34.
↵For example, 59 percent of MLB fans in the 18-34 bracket were more likely to consider trying a product or service from an official sponsor, compared with only 36 percent of fans age 35 and older.
↵↵What sport regularly kills it when it comes to TV ratings in the 18-34 demographic. That’s right, MMA.
↵Here’s MMA Payout’s perspective:
↵↵The appeal of the 18-34 demographic is a growing focus for many companies - especially in the current economy where much of the disposable income in family budgets has been squeezed out entirely. Not only does the 18-34 demo possess a great amount of disposable cash, but its also seemingly one of the most impressionable demographics. The growing potential for significant return on a sponsorship investment that targets these individuals is helping to off-set the perceived risk that a brand takes in associating itself with the sport.
↵↵So, back to the question of ‘When is MMA gonna turn mainstream?’ The answer - when a company like Nike joins Anheuser-Busch in telling the world it’s time. And as this study proves, if they’re smart, it’ll be happening soon.
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