The Demographics of MMA - Know the Combat Sports Industry

“The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.” - Peter F. Drucker

It's an interesting time to be involved in the combat sports industry.  For those of us old enough to remember the days of the karate-vs-tae kwon do-vs-kung fu-vs-boxing debate our world has certainly changed.  As MMA has led the combat sports industry's metamorphosis into the fastest growing sport in the world and has forever changed the style-vs-style debate our market has certainly grown, and changed, and it's up to we martial arts industry entrepreneurs to adapt to these changes or die...  retired to that great dojo in the sky.

So here's a quick overview of MMA demographics that should help we martial arts dinosaurs and entrepreneurs alike get up to speed on exactly who we're marketing to nowadays:

The Combat Sports Industry is comprised of traditional martial arts, mixed martial arts, boxing, and wrestling.

In North America we find the following data...

Approximate Size: 31-40 million active participants.

Approximate Value: $50 billion (and growing).

Gender Ratio: 3:1 male: female (75% male / 25% female)

Typical Age range: 18-34 years old

Average Income: $46k/year

Average Marital Status: In a relationship (married or committed)

Typical Education Level: Bachelors Degree

Weekly Training Habits: 3-5 days/week

Follows: At least 1 mainstream sports team (football, baseball, basketball)

Americans who call themselves "fans" of MMA: 35% of Population


At the risk of going too deep into obscure factoids I'll end the overview here.  If you have specific questions please feel free to reach out to me.  What I hope you'll take away from the above overview is the market potential for a new, valuable product/service in the combat sports industry.  Unfortunately, we're still fighting stigma left over from 17 years ago when the UFC first came onto the scene and, surprisingly, a lot of mainstream marketers and companies are still hesitant to engage the combat sports market.  Dust off your antiquated notions of what you think this market is, do your homework, and come join us.  We're waiting here with $50 billion to spend on you.