What Does It All Mean?

The world of professional sports, especially in America, is subject to the whim of its fans. Like other forms of leisure, spectator sports are subject to fads. Baseball was considered "America's pastime" for many years, and living in the Metropolitan New York area this is apparent, the city itself having had four professional teams and birthing the sport of baseball itself from Madison Square Park. However, if one were to step outside of the New York area, it seems obvious that America's pastime is now professional football. We've seen the emergence of soccer, lacrosse, rugby, skateboarding, snowboarding, and even surfing gaining unprecedented popularity in the American mainstream. Mixed martial arts is no different in this respect. Where MMA is different, however, is in it's ability to successfully target and market a powerful demographic. We are a generation centered on excitement and experience. We have at our disposal more forms of entertainment than any generation previous and despite the myriad of choices available, we have been caught hook, line, and sinker by this previously despised sport of mixed martial arts. Perhaps it is because we as a generation are jaded and feel we've seen it all before and that we need something new, or perhaps its because we are starstruck by ideas of fame and fortune but current UFC fans identify with fighters on a level that current boxing fans do not. More than anything I think that the UFC has successfully marketed the sport not due to the fact that it is "extreme" but because the largest companies involved, such as TapouT, Zuffa Inc, and Xyience among others, are primarily run by fans and fighters of the sport. That kind of grassroots organization creates a powerful loyalty with and amongst fans because they feel like individuals included in family of mixed martial arts, and not merely ticket prices and box office numbers. The new fad in fortune 500 marketing is the loyalty program, and to make your customer feel involved and appreciated is worth much more than any voucher or coupon ever could be.