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Smacked Down
by Kit R. Roane
Feb 18 2008
Feb 18 2008
In the brawl for the hearts and wallets of young male fans, ultimate fighting has boxing and wrestling on the ropes.
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Sometimes success hinges on the little things. Outlawing the eye-gouge, for instance, or banning the crotch kick.
Such rule changes have helped to turn mixed martial arts from a virtual outlaw operation into one of the fastest growing sports in the country, muting critics, enticing advertisers, and taking on its rivals—boxing and professional wrestling—for both fans and market share.
The sport Senator John McCain once famously branded as “human cockfighting” rakes in more than $200 million in pay-per-view loot, has broadcast deals with Spike TV, Fox Sports Net and MyNetwork, and has spawned a reality series, The Ultimate Fighter, which along with the fights grabbed more 18- to 34-year-old male eyeballs than either Nascar or the N.B.A. playoff games.
Robert Jacobson, president and C.E.O. of In Demand Networks, which provides about 90 percent of the cable industry’s pay-per-view content, notes that mixed martial arts accounted for virtually no revenue on his network in 2004. “Now it’s neck and neck with boxing, and is a little ahead of wrestling,” he says.
The current leader in the M.M.A. business, Ultimate Fighting Championship, went from $45 million in pay-per-view revenues in 2005 to $222 million in 2006 and appears to have held that number for 2007, according to Deana Myers, a senior analyst at SNL Kagan. U.F.C.’s revenue numbers are close to, and at points have exceeded, those reported by HBO, the main boxing pay-per-view provider, and those of
World Wrestling Entertainment, the dominant force in professional wrestling.
Mixed martial arts (M.M.A.) has grown in popularity despite having had less financial backing and nowhere near the distribution network of boxing or wrestling to publicize its matches. Newspapers ignore M.M.A. events M.M.A. and the major networks eschew them. Both New York And Massachusetts, two of the most important states from a marketing and distribution standpoint, ban the matches altogether.
Marc Ratner, the Ultimate Fighting Championship vice president of government and regulatory affairs, says the problem is the long shadow cast by the bad-old days of the sport—“when it was advertised as no-holds barred,” and often left a pool of blood on the mat to prove it.
But momentum is building in M.M.A.’s favor. Thirty-two states have sanctioned the sport, with 10 of them coming on board over the last 14 months alone.
Ratner’s own conversion is telling. Back in 1995, he called the sport “barbaric,” and, as the respected head of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, he helped Senator McCain lead a largely successful charge to outlaw ultimate fighting across the country.
Then, in 2000, members of the sport and the athletic commissions in Nevada and New Jersey hammered out medical and judging standards, weight limits, and restrictions on fighting techniques for M.M.A. Nevada hosted its first M.M.A. fight the next year. “It became something you could regulate,” says Ratner, who joined U.F.C. in 2007.
In contrast to those still troubled by the free-form combat (which often takes place in a cage), Ratner now sees restraint and tactical skill. In M.M.A., he notes that an opponent can win through a variety of different pins and holds, while, in boxing, the objective “is strictly trying to knock that ugly guy unconscious.”
Such rule changes have helped to turn mixed martial arts from a virtual outlaw operation into one of the fastest growing sports in the country, muting critics, enticing advertisers, and taking on its rivals—boxing and professional wrestling—for both fans and market share.
The sport Senator John McCain once famously branded as “human cockfighting” rakes in more than $200 million in pay-per-view loot, has broadcast deals with Spike TV, Fox Sports Net and MyNetwork, and has spawned a reality series, The Ultimate Fighter, which along with the fights grabbed more 18- to 34-year-old male eyeballs than either Nascar or the N.B.A. playoff games.
Robert Jacobson, president and C.E.O. of In Demand Networks, which provides about 90 percent of the cable industry’s pay-per-view content, notes that mixed martial arts accounted for virtually no revenue on his network in 2004. “Now it’s neck and neck with boxing, and is a little ahead of wrestling,” he says.
The current leader in the M.M.A. business, Ultimate Fighting Championship, went from $45 million in pay-per-view revenues in 2005 to $222 million in 2006 and appears to have held that number for 2007, according to Deana Myers, a senior analyst at SNL Kagan. U.F.C.’s revenue numbers are close to, and at points have exceeded, those reported by HBO, the main boxing pay-per-view provider, and those of
World Wrestling Entertainment, the dominant force in professional wrestling. Mixed martial arts (M.M.A.) has grown in popularity despite having had less financial backing and nowhere near the distribution network of boxing or wrestling to publicize its matches. Newspapers ignore M.M.A. events M.M.A. and the major networks eschew them. Both New York And Massachusetts, two of the most important states from a marketing and distribution standpoint, ban the matches altogether.
Marc Ratner, the Ultimate Fighting Championship vice president of government and regulatory affairs, says the problem is the long shadow cast by the bad-old days of the sport—“when it was advertised as no-holds barred,” and often left a pool of blood on the mat to prove it.
But momentum is building in M.M.A.’s favor. Thirty-two states have sanctioned the sport, with 10 of them coming on board over the last 14 months alone.
Ratner’s own conversion is telling. Back in 1995, he called the sport “barbaric,” and, as the respected head of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, he helped Senator McCain lead a largely successful charge to outlaw ultimate fighting across the country.
Then, in 2000, members of the sport and the athletic commissions in Nevada and New Jersey hammered out medical and judging standards, weight limits, and restrictions on fighting techniques for M.M.A. Nevada hosted its first M.M.A. fight the next year. “It became something you could regulate,” says Ratner, who joined U.F.C. in 2007.
In contrast to those still troubled by the free-form combat (which often takes place in a cage), Ratner now sees restraint and tactical skill. In M.M.A., he notes that an opponent can win through a variety of different pins and holds, while, in boxing, the objective “is strictly trying to knock that ugly guy unconscious.”
Whether brand-name advertisers will see the nuance is another question. Both boxing and professional wrestling have harnessed wide distribution networks and attracted a bountiful stream of well-known sponsors, such Procter & Gamble. But it’s been a harder road for M.M.A., despite having an audience that skews toward the young male, a demographic presumed to be both free-spending and susceptible to advertisers’ wiles.
“They all love the demographic,” says Jay Larkin, head of the International Fight League, a pink-sheets-traded M.M.A. company now jockeying with the U.F.C. and several other recent entrants for distribution and advertising dollars. But “no sponsor in his right mind is going to want to see blood smeared over their logo,” something Larkin says remains a distinct possibility in many M.M.A. events.
In order to avoid this potential messiness, his league has gone even further to placate the sensibilities of potential advertisers. Certain hits, like the elbow strike, are not permitted in I.F.L. bouts, and the league doesn’t put its contestants in a pen. “We don’t have the negative association of putting men in cages and having them fight,” says Larkin, the former head of boxing events for Showtime.
I.F.L. has inked deals with Fox Sports Net and MyNetwork to broadcast fight,s and the World Combat League, a new entrant backed by martial-arts master Chuck Norris, is following similarly restrictive rules.
Such precautions could turn off some hardcore fans. They may also prove unnecessary, as M.M.A. grows in popularity. The U.F.C. recently signed on Harley Davidson, and is hinting that an even more recognizable brand will come on board, possibly as early as next month.
Meanwhile, Spike TV has drawn advertisers like Burger King and DirectTV to its U.F.C.-based shows. These include matches and a popular reality series, The Ultimate Fighter, which tracks the rise and fall of hopeful combatants. Last year, both the fights and the reality show brought in more viewers from the 18- to 34-year-old male demographic than either Nascar or the N.B.A. playoff games shown on ESPN and TNT.
The show has also made one fighter, Chuck Liddell, into a minor celebrity, catapulting him into guest spots on HBO’s hip series Entourage and propelling his new book, Iceman: My Fighting Life, into a bestselling memoir, according to Amazon’s sales rankings.
“Our 18 to 34 numbers are great, rates are consistently up, and we’ve also drawn marquee advertisers,” says Brian Diamond, the senior vice president of sports and specials for Spike TV. “I’m 49 and I grew up with boxing—and I love it. But most of the younger guys are part of the MTV generation. They want things quick. They don’t want to watch something go for 12 rounds.”
Still, it’s unclear if M.M.A. has either of its rivals in a guillotine choke. After a difficult 2006, boxing had one of its best years ever in 2007, propelled by a few lucrative fan-pleasing matches like the May middleweight title fight between Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather.
Meanwhile, publicly-traded World Wrestling Entertainment, continues to be a massive brand and licensing franchise, with a strong Web presence. Last week [February 14] W.W.E. reported $485 million in revenues for 2007, a record by the company despite grappling with the murder-suicide committed by one of its stars, Chris Benoit, and an expensive federal steroids investigation that ultimately led to the suspension of several wrestlers.
“They all love the demographic,” says Jay Larkin, head of the International Fight League, a pink-sheets-traded M.M.A. company now jockeying with the U.F.C. and several other recent entrants for distribution and advertising dollars. But “no sponsor in his right mind is going to want to see blood smeared over their logo,” something Larkin says remains a distinct possibility in many M.M.A. events.
In order to avoid this potential messiness, his league has gone even further to placate the sensibilities of potential advertisers. Certain hits, like the elbow strike, are not permitted in I.F.L. bouts, and the league doesn’t put its contestants in a pen. “We don’t have the negative association of putting men in cages and having them fight,” says Larkin, the former head of boxing events for Showtime.
I.F.L. has inked deals with Fox Sports Net and MyNetwork to broadcast fight,s and the World Combat League, a new entrant backed by martial-arts master Chuck Norris, is following similarly restrictive rules.
Such precautions could turn off some hardcore fans. They may also prove unnecessary, as M.M.A. grows in popularity. The U.F.C. recently signed on Harley Davidson, and is hinting that an even more recognizable brand will come on board, possibly as early as next month.
Meanwhile, Spike TV has drawn advertisers like Burger King and DirectTV to its U.F.C.-based shows. These include matches and a popular reality series, The Ultimate Fighter, which tracks the rise and fall of hopeful combatants. Last year, both the fights and the reality show brought in more viewers from the 18- to 34-year-old male demographic than either Nascar or the N.B.A. playoff games shown on ESPN and TNT.
The show has also made one fighter, Chuck Liddell, into a minor celebrity, catapulting him into guest spots on HBO’s hip series Entourage and propelling his new book, Iceman: My Fighting Life, into a bestselling memoir, according to Amazon’s sales rankings.
“Our 18 to 34 numbers are great, rates are consistently up, and we’ve also drawn marquee advertisers,” says Brian Diamond, the senior vice president of sports and specials for Spike TV. “I’m 49 and I grew up with boxing—and I love it. But most of the younger guys are part of the MTV generation. They want things quick. They don’t want to watch something go for 12 rounds.”
Still, it’s unclear if M.M.A. has either of its rivals in a guillotine choke. After a difficult 2006, boxing had one of its best years ever in 2007, propelled by a few lucrative fan-pleasing matches like the May middleweight title fight between Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather.
Meanwhile, publicly-traded World Wrestling Entertainment, continues to be a massive brand and licensing franchise, with a strong Web presence. Last week [February 14] W.W.E. reported $485 million in revenues for 2007, a record by the company despite grappling with the murder-suicide committed by one of its stars, Chris Benoit, and an expensive federal steroids investigation that ultimately led to the suspension of several wrestlers.
But there are signs of trouble. Except for top-tier fights such as the De La Hoya-Mayweather bout, few boxing matches ever sell out— that’s in marked contrast to recent M.M.A. events. And while M.M.A. has been zooming ahead in the important pay-per-view battle, professional wrestling has been losing ground. This month, its free distribution also took a hit, with the CW network choosing not to renew W.W.E.’s long-running Friday-night SmackDown. W.W.E. did not return requests for comment.
Desertions to the mixed martial arts ring by well-known practitioners of boxing and professional wrestling may be the most worrisome sign.
Known to professional wrestling fans as “The Next Big Thing,” Brock Lesnar made his U.F.C. debut earlier this month. As other pro wrestlers like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and the Undertaker looked on from the sidelines, Lesnar was taken down one minute and 30 seconds into the first round, but he has vowed to fight in the cage again another day.
A more explosive move may be in the offing. Mayweather, whose 2007 pay-per-view brawl with De la Hoya brought in $134 million, has gone from talking trash about the sport—calling it “nothing but a fad” and comparing it to “a street fight”—to recently discussing entering the M.M.A. ring with Mark Cuban’s HDNet.
Royce Feour, who spent 37 years writing about boxing for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, doubts Mayweather would ever leave his very successful and lucrative boxing career to take a chance in mixed martial arts, although a well-funded promotional bout wouldn’t be beyond the realm of reason.
That would further cement M.M.A.’s place in the world of combat sports. But even if it doesn’t happen, Feour says fans of all stripes should probably be thankful M.M.A. has lit a fire under promoters and made them pay closer attention to their audiences.
“It has been a good year for boxing because they are letting their best fighters fight each other,” says Feour. That wasn’t happening before M.M.A. burst onto the scene, “so it is definitely having a beneficial effect, whether or not anyone wants to admit it.”
Also on Portfolio:
Boxing's Great Magazine Hope
In Charity, a Heavyweight
Sideline: Patrick Ledford
Desertions to the mixed martial arts ring by well-known practitioners of boxing and professional wrestling may be the most worrisome sign.
Known to professional wrestling fans as “The Next Big Thing,” Brock Lesnar made his U.F.C. debut earlier this month. As other pro wrestlers like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and the Undertaker looked on from the sidelines, Lesnar was taken down one minute and 30 seconds into the first round, but he has vowed to fight in the cage again another day.
A more explosive move may be in the offing. Mayweather, whose 2007 pay-per-view brawl with De la Hoya brought in $134 million, has gone from talking trash about the sport—calling it “nothing but a fad” and comparing it to “a street fight”—to recently discussing entering the M.M.A. ring with Mark Cuban’s HDNet.
Royce Feour, who spent 37 years writing about boxing for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, doubts Mayweather would ever leave his very successful and lucrative boxing career to take a chance in mixed martial arts, although a well-funded promotional bout wouldn’t be beyond the realm of reason.
That would further cement M.M.A.’s place in the world of combat sports. But even if it doesn’t happen, Feour says fans of all stripes should probably be thankful M.M.A. has lit a fire under promoters and made them pay closer attention to their audiences.
“It has been a good year for boxing because they are letting their best fighters fight each other,” says Feour. That wasn’t happening before M.M.A. burst onto the scene, “so it is definitely having a beneficial effect, whether or not anyone wants to admit it.”
Also on Portfolio:
Boxing's Great Magazine Hope
In Charity, a Heavyweight
Sideline: Patrick Ledford
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