Combat Sports Marketing
“What can I say? I’m a talker.”
Conor McGregor
In formulating a company image, pushing a product, or selling yourself as a brand, everything comes down to telling a story. People want to know why they need to pay attention to whatever it is being marketed, and how that thing is special compared to the countless other commodities appealing to similar market segments. Forming a storyline is an art, and fewer markets have seen as much success in telling tales as combat sports have. From boxing, to pro-wrestling, to mixed martial arts- regardless of whether or not the story is fact, people want to hear it.
The Gimmick
“I know I’m going to lose friends, and I’m going to go on the road less traveled with less people. But at the end of the day, I’m not trying to make friends; I’m trying to make the most money possible.”
Colby Covington
Regardless of how a fighter chooses to act behind closed doors, the guiding premise in making an event interesting is making the competitors interesting. People will pay to see an event whether they cheer or boo, as long as they have an opinion. Who the athlete portrays to the media and the fans might be something created to drum up headlines, but others just might naturally be controversial. As long as people are tweeting about a fighter, they’re watching their fight. The same can be said for any sort of product being sold. The concept of all press is good press has been perpetuated for so long for a reason. While its obviously not applicable to every situation, drumming up controversy is a great way to get a brand or idea into headlines. For this reason I believe that the Trump administration was just an elaborate marketing scheme to sell overstocked red hats.
Partnership
“The fight takes 15 minutes. The build-up takes 90 days. It takes that for a reason.”
Chael Sonnen
In combat sports marketing, you have to have a willing dance partner both in competition and in promotion. Now this can mean a variety of things and will vary in execution depending on the personalities portrayed by the fighters, but in most cases conflict is the most used tool. This conflict can be legitimate or created, but a fan is generally lying if they tell you that they’re watching a specific fight because of the X’s and O’s of the contest. If this were the case, they’d be watching a cheaper, more easily accessible event than the UFC or similar promotions. As said above, people are attracted by the storyline, and it is not possible to have a storyline if only one party is involved in the promos. When I say a “willing” participant, I mean in the two main senses of the business- marketing and competition. Its hard to sell a fight when one fighter is no match for the other. A prize fight is essentially a business transaction between the fighters and they work together to sell as many pay-per-views as possible. This relationship mirrors that of the marketer and a product. Even with the best marketing, a product will have trouble selling if it is faulty or ineffective. Inversely, the perfect product will never gain ground if none of its compelling features are imprinted in the mind of the consumer by marketers.
