Your client at mixed
martial arts events
It attracts the most brutal fighters around, with few holds barred
By Diego Vasquez
Jan 30, 2012
Over the past two decades mixed martial arts has moved out of back allies and into the mainstream, as evidenced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship matches that aired on Fox over the weekend.
Two broadcast networks have now aired MMA matches, and it's an indication of just how far the sport, which Sen. John McCain once referred to as "human cockfighting," has come.
UFC is the largest organization within the sport of MMA, which offers an attractive audience to advertisers. Nearly all of its fans are male, and two thirds of them are under age 44.
Advertisers can target audiences on a local level through sponsorships of matches and events. They reach an even larger national audience when those events are televised.
To find out how to get your client at MMA events, read on.
This is one in a Media Life series on buying out-of-home venues. They appear weekly.
Fast Facts
What
Advertising and sponsorship at MMA events.
Who
Event promoters handle event sponsorships, while representation agencies handle sponsorship of fighters.
How it works
Most MMA events consist of between eight and 12 matches. Matches go three rounds for non-title fights and five rounds for championships. Each round is five minutes.
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There are two main avenues of advertising in MMA: event sponsorship and fighter sponsorship, both similar to boxing.
The most visible piece of inventory for event sponsors is in the center of the octagonal ring. The large logo of one main sponsor fills the middle, with a handful of smaller logos from other brands around the sides.
Other event options include those found at other sporting events, such as ads on scoreboards and in programs, and announcements over the PA system.
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The other main way for brands to have a presence at MMA events is sponsoring fighters, which usually consists of putting logos on the fighter's trunks and other gear. Sometimes a sponsor's banner is waved behind the fighter during pre-fight introductions.
Some fighters sign one-match deals, while others are sponsored for a certain amount of time or a predetermined number of fights. It's a bonus for sponsors if a fighter's bout is televised. The better the fighter is the more likely he is to be on TV and the more exposure the brand will receive.
For example, for UFC's recent events, only the five matches that make up the main card air on the main telecast (pay-per-view or Fox). Another batch of preliminary fights air on cable, and even earlier fights have been streamed live on Facebook.
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Social media adds another layer of advertiser exposure to MMA's young-skewing audience. Many fighters have Facebook pages and/or Twitter accounts where they may mention their sponsor, and a sponsor's logo can grab extra online exposure in any videos or photos of matches posted online.
Markets
MMA events take place in all major markets.
Numbers
There are MMA events of some sort every weekend in the United States.
UFC averages three or four televised events each month on Fox, FX, Fuel TV or pay-per-view.
Large pay-per-view or broadcast MMA events typically attract crowds between 12,000-15,000. UFC 141 in Las Vegas on Dec. 30 drew 13,793.
Smaller events that air on basic cable typically get half of that audience. A UFC event that aired on FX on Jan. 20 had an attendance of 7,728.
Non-televised local MMA events can attract anywhere from 2,000 to 5,000 fans.
How it is measured
Event attendance is tracked and TV ratings can be used for sponsorships at televised events.
What product categories work well
Recent or current MMA advertisers include energy drinks, beer, auto, consumer packaged goods, insurance, video games, movies, web sites and athletic gear/apparel.
Demographics
Adult MMA fans are 72 percent male and 28 percent female, according to Scarborough Research.
Thirty-one percent are ages 18-29, 37 percent are 30-44, 26 percent are 46-65 and 6 percent are 65-plus.
Also, 72 percent have an average annual household income of $35,000 or more, with 53 percent at $50,000 or more, 34 percent at $75,000 or more and 19 percent at $100,000 or more.
Making the buy
Some sponsorship and ad deals are worked out just a few weeks before an event, while most larger deals are secured months in advance.
Pricing varies. Advertisers can get a logo on the trunks of a fighter for as little as $1,000, while high-profile event sponsorships cost six figures or even millions for multi-fight deals.
Who’s already been at MMA events
Recent brands that have sponsored and advertised at MMA events include Harley-Davidson, Xyience energy drink, Tapout, Mickey's, Bud Light, Rockstar energy drink and GoDaddy.com.
What they’re saying
"The first UFC [event] on Fox had an average viewership around 6 million people and peaked around 8 million. Other UFC events, which happen just about every other week on FX or Fuel TV, average about 1 to 2 million viewers. And additional reach is gained for the sponsor via online media coverage, event replays and social media activation." –
Oren Hodak, president at Knock Out Representation
Web site info
UFC
http://www.ufc.com
Pride Fighting Championship
http://www.pridefc.com
Strikeforce
http://www.strikeforce.com
Knock Out Representation
http://www.koreps.com
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