Study: Fans attached to UFC more than to fighters

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                                Study: Fans attached to UFC more than to fighters

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                    <p><span style="line-height: 1.6em;">University of Arkansas researchers </span><span style="line-height: 20.8px;">Terry Eddy and Colin Cork</span><span style="line-height: 1.6em;">&nbsp;have published an article i</span><span style="line-height: 20.8px;">n the journal <a href="http://epay.wvsto.com/WVU/WVFITSportBooks/Points-of-Attachment-and-Sponsorship-Outcomes-in-an-Individual-Sport-pp-159-169-P11163.aspx" target="_blank">Sport Marketing Quarterly </a></span><span style="line-height: 1.6em;">examining fan attachment and its relationship to corporate sponsorships in sports.&nbsp;</span><span style="line-height: 1.6em;">Eddy is an assistant professor of recreation and sport management, and Cork is a doctoral student in the program.</span></p>

The pair studied fans of the UFC.

"A lot of people study how attached fans are to a particular team or athlete, myself included," said Terry. "A new approach that's gaining traction is to look at fan attachment from a multidimensional perspective. A person with an emotional connection to the Razorbacks may not have a connection just to football but to other U of A sports, to the university itself, the city of Fayetteville, the state of Arkansas and to individual players.

"The overall question about sponsorship is does it work? Are sponsors satisfying their business objectives through these partnerships? Are Razorback fans more likely to buy Pepsi over Coke or sign an AT&T contract over Verizon because those companies sponsor Razorback athletics? Depending on the nature of the sponsor's objectives, sometimes we have a good idea of whether the sponsorship is working, and other times it is more unclear and complex."

"That's interesting to me because it's all about fan response to sponsorship material and understanding consumer behavior. How do fans respond? What about them causes them to behave the way they do?"

"In our study, fans in general are more attached to the league and the sport of mixed martial arts overall than to a specific fighter. Fans enjoy following the sport more so than the individual fighter."

Their results indicated that attachment to the league is most effective at predicting sponsorship effectiveness.

These findings should not be immediately generalized to other sports, both men said, because the UFC represents a somewhat unique league structure. Sponsors who invest in individual players who play in sports with bigger stars, such as the NBA and NFL, benefit from promoting those individual players.

"You have to look for what works best for each sport, because fan response to sponsorships will vary from sport to sport," Cork said.

Eddy said, historically, corporations have spent money on sponsorships with a little degree of blind faith. In the mid-20th century, some companies became involved in sponsorship as sort of an ego booster for high-level executives who wanted to be affiliated with a popular sports team or athlete.

People realized they had tapped into something and that sports fans represent desirable segments of consumers for many types of products, he said. Consequently, companies are now engaging research to determine their return on investment from sport sponsorships.

"There's still a lot we don't know," Terry said.

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ThereIsAllahOfStickBundlesHere - Bullshit, someone there in that study must have gotten a ton of free Reebok Giblirt shirts. Phone Post 3.0
How is it bullshit, most hardcore fans are attached to the sport rather than an individual fighter, and most casual fans are attracted to big fights put on.

Sure you have the Irish with Conor, the Canadians with Gsp.

But if you look at the American market it is mostly about the UFC and which fights seem big and create buzz Phone Post 3.0

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shaqitup -
ThereIsAllahOfStickBundlesHere - Bullshit, someone there in that study must have gotten a ton of free Reebok Giblirt shirts. Phone Post 3.0
How is it bullshit, most hardcore fans are attached to the sport rather than an individual fighter, and most casual fans are attracted to big fights put on.

Sure you have the Irish with Conor, the Canadians with Gsp.

But if you look at the American market it is mostly about the UFC and which fights seem big and create buzz Phone Post 3.0
You just accidentally answered your own question. Hardcore fans love the sport. The UFC, contrary to what they want you to believe, is not the entirety of MMA.

Its a flawed question, making the responses invalid. Phone Post 3.0

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MountainMedic -
shaqitup -
ThereIsAllahOfStickBundlesHere - Bullshit, someone there in that study must have gotten a ton of free Reebok Giblirt shirts. Phone Post 3.0
How is it bullshit, most hardcore fans are attached to the sport rather than an individual fighter, and most casual fans are attracted to big fights put on.

Sure you have the Irish with Conor, the Canadians with Gsp.

But if you look at the American market it is mostly about the UFC and which fights seem big and create buzz Phone Post 3.0
You just accidentally answered your own question. Hardcore fans love the sport. The UFC, contrary to what they want you to believe, is not the entirety of MMA.

Its a flawed question, making the responses invalid. Phone Post 3.0
This Phone Post 3.0

5

Mindless MMA fans. The UFC tells them who's popular and who they should like.

UFC: Ronda can beat a man and is the best athlete ever in the history of the world.

Fans: OK

UFC: ok never mind Ronda its Conor now

Fans: OK

6

The title of the post is wrong.  The "league" and the "sport " are not synonymous.  "'There's still alot we don't know' said Terry".   Say that again.    

A study by some low level academics sponsored by Reebok?   Not really but it brings to mind drug trials sponsored by big pharma companies.  

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I do think UFC has some special things other leagues cannot reproduce.

Bruce Buffer. Joe Rogan. Dana.

And then, a guy like Conor wouldn't be as interesting in Bellator because he would have no opposition. What makes conor matches so crazy is he keeps on fightning tougher people. Mendes, Aldo, now RDA, etc.

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I follow all mma but care most about the ufc because it's where the best fighters are. That's what I care about. The moment the ufc allows another org to sign a top fighter or they let one go is the day the pendulum swings.

Eddie Alvarez is a great example. Lots of people thought he would come over to the ufc from bellator and do exceptionally well. That didn't happen. That kind of proves the point that for the most part, you are not the best until you fight in the UFC.

Aoki is another. Look what happened when he fought Gilbert.

Ben Askren is yet another example. Right now people think he'd win the belt if he came to the ufc. I personally doubt he can handle the top 3 let alone gsp should he return.

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Truth. I tell myself I am going to watch bellator to watch folk like Kongo fight. I did once or twice... Daley the same. I want to watch the fights but I don't see them anymore. I forget. It seems unimportant. But I don't miss a UFC event. Phone Post 3.0

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Cool article. A few years ago I read a study that claimed the exact opposite. I'll casually look for it but I don't care that much.

The study used MMA, Boxing and Pro Wrestling as the focus. It claims the largest number of mainstream fans were drawn by a mild interest to the sport and hooked by one particular athlete of whom they became a huge fan. It cited a high interest in the respective sport while the favorite athlete was on top of the sport and a significant reduction (not total reduction) in interest when that athlete retired or became less relevant.

The point was that stars drive success more so than the actual sport itself. Phone Post 3.0

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No shit, the ufc has worked for damn near 15 years, to have it that way. Phone Post 3.0

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Not surprising after hearing people in here always shitting on fighters and arguing about the UFC's business practices as if they are part of their boardroom.

Most fans don't really care about the athletes, they just want to see them concuss each other.

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I'm guilty as Charged. I hardly watch any other org, unless the card is amazing. Phone Post 3.0

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I imagine these researchers like the commissioners, referring to the "fighters" as "boxers". Phone Post 3.0

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shaqitup -
ThereIsAllahOfStickBundlesHere - Bullshit, someone there in that study must have gotten a ton of free Reebok Giblirt shirts. Phone Post 3.0
How is it bullshit, most hardcore fans are attached to the sport rather than an individual fighter, and most casual fans are attracted to big fights put on.

Sure you have the Irish with Conor, the Canadians with Gsp.

But if you look at the American market it is mostly about the UFC and which fights seem big and create buzz Phone Post 3.0
That's because not everyone can catch watch even medium level shows. Smaller shows are near impossible. So the article is right. Phone Post 3.0

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The UFC has the most talent and mma fans want to watch the best fighters to keep track of the rankings

But if the UFCs fighters would be snatched up by a new league, fans would switch on over to that. Phone Post 3.0

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ender852 -
JimmersonzGlove -
bjws - I follow all mma but care most about the ufc because it's where the best fighters are. That's what I care about. The moment the ufc allows another org to sign a top fighter or they let one go is the day the pendulum swings.

Eddie Alvarez is a great example. Lots of people thought he would come over to the ufc from bellator and do exceptionally well. That didn't happen. That kind of proves the point that for the most part, you are not the best until you fight in the UFC.

Aoki is another. Look what happened when he fought Gilbert.

Ben Askren is yet another example. Right now people think he'd win the belt if he came to the ufc. I personally doubt he can handle the top 3 let alone gsp should he return.
Isnt eddie 2-1 with wins over a former champ and former title challenger, and his only loss a decision to the last title challenger? He came in, fought a murderers row and has done well. You could argue hes had equal success in the ufc as he did on the tail end of his bellator run. Phone Post 3.0
Lol yeah, Eddie is probably next in line for a title shot Phone Post 3.0
Ok so maybe Eddie wasn't the best example. He has done well for himself.But you get the point I was trying to make. Phone Post 3.0

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JimmersonzGlove - 
bjws - I follow all mma but care most about the ufc because it's where the best fighters are. That's what I care about. The moment the ufc allows another org to sign a top fighter or they let one go is the day the pendulum swings.

Eddie Alvarez is a great example. Lots of people thought he would come over to the ufc from bellator and do exceptionally well. That didn't happen. That kind of proves the point that for the most part, you are not the best until you fight in the UFC.

Aoki is another. Look what happened when he fought Gilbert.

Ben Askren is yet another example. Right now people think he'd win the belt if he came to the ufc. I personally doubt he can handle the top 3 let alone gsp should he return.
Isnt eddie 2-1 with wins over a former champ and former title challenger, and his only loss a decision to the last title challenger? He came in, fought a murderers row and has done well. You could argue hes had equal success in the ufc as he did on the tail end of his bellator run. Phone Post 3.0

Eddie is a stud, but could realistically be 0-3 in the UFC right now. He lost handedly to cowboy and his 2 split decision wins were close. Id hope that doesn't put him next in line for a title shot.

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I'm much more likely to watch a sub par UFC card than a sub par Bellator/WSOF card of equal quality because it's the UFC. Phone Post 3.0

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Let's be honest. No big-time marquee fighter has jumped ship to a rival promotion, so the study IS kind of skewed. The UFC still has 90% of the top fighters in the sport.

And it's not just about a fighter here or there jumping ship. McGregor could jump ship tomorrow and as interesting as it would be, there would probably be much less interest in the fight simply b/c the caliber of his opponent wouldn't be as high.