This report provides comprehensive and current information and analysis of the US Fighting Sports market including US Fighting Sports market size, anticipated market forecast, relevant market segmentation, and industry trends for the Fighting Sports market in the US.
Fighting sports excel at appealing to sought-after demographics. Gen Zs, Millennials, Blacks, non-Hispanics, and Hispanics all overindex for fandom of boxing or MMA. This demographic makeup of fans of fighting sports creates a fairly unique audience, especially in comparison to the overall sports fan.
Consumers are feeling the impact of rising costs due to record inflation; as a result, discretionary spending will be more closely monitored. Whereas fan investment into many other sports are monthly bills baked into budgets, combat sports PPV events are one-off purchases that could easily be seen as an easy cut to make to save money. In addition, as fighting sports fans skew younger and lower income, inflationary concerns could impact combat sports fans even more than consumers as a whole.
The nature of PPV inherently limits the audience of fans for fighting sports events. Consumers must not only actively decide to watch a boxing or MMA fight but also pay on the spot to do so – a challenge other sports do not face.
Across sports, women’s sports are attracting more focus and investment, with combat sports no exception. In 2022, two of the most decorated female boxers of all time and are set to go head-to-head at Madison Square Garden in what is being labeled the “biggest fight in women’s boxing history.” A fight of this magnitude could bring about a new era of prominence and attention for the female boxing market in the US and influencer boxing fights.
Read on to discover more about the US Fighting Sports consumer market, read our US Marketing to Sports Fans Market Report 2021, or take a look at our other Leisure Time research reports.
Brands include: MMA, Burger King, Bud Light, Modelo, UFC, Jones Soda, Monster Energy, Venum, Timex, Project Rock, The Lawnmower, Madden, FIFA, NBA 2K, MLB the Show, Fight Night, DraftKings.
Fighters include: ConorMcGregor, Usman, Covington, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Manny Pacquaio, Muhammad Ali, Julianna Peña, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
This report, written by Colin O’Brien, a leading analyst in the Sports sector, delivers in-depth commentary and analysis on fighting sports fandom in the US to highlight current trends and add expert context to the numbers.
Fighting sports have several reasons for optimism. Its fandom appeals strongly to certain demographics often sought out by brands – namely Gen Z and multicultural consumers. Boxing and MMA are growing and create destination events for fans. Combat sports are open to new types of partnerships and sponsorships across a variety of industries as well as new methods to capture consumer attention such as influencer fight events. Look for combat sports to continue to grow and innovate moving forward.
Colin O’Brien
Sports Analyst
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