Fastest Growing Sport in The World

The Ultimate fighting championship, better known as the UFC, is an extremely competitive sport involving martial arts of all disciplines, and is also one of the fastest growing sports in the world. The company’s business model is simple- give the fans what they want, when they want it. A simple yet effective strategy really, the 15 year old company successfully sold for 4 billion dollars in mid 2016. The UFC has been absolutely flourishing in recent years, due to a combination of factors- one mainly being the utilization of social media and social media marketing strategies, to promote its fighters and events.

Their core business model of giving the fans what they want, when they want it, is all captured through social media. For example, sometimes the company uses the power of polls on Twitter and Instagram (of potential bouts) to get an idea of what the fans think, and want to see happen. Or, they may post a photo of two fighters and ask its current social media following (12.

6 million on Instagram) if this bout would be interesting to see. Usually, the UFC will deliver bouts that the majority of fans want to witness- and that is just how they’ve gotten so successful in its short growth as a company.

All the while, its direct competitor, Boxing, is diminishing in terms of fanbase and audience. The UFC is aware of this, and captures fans from Boxing using social media to present the most exciting and electrifying moments the company has held.

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It is also a lot less formal than Boxing- simply for the reason to not bore the fans. The press conferences they have before large Pay-Per-View are an example of this, as many of the fighters (especially superstar Conor McGregor) uses the power of trash-talking to capture and gain the attention of fight fans globally. Not only does the UFC allow this type of behavior, but they seem to encourage it- because it creates significant social media buzz and hype prior to its events. They even post highlights of trash-talking from the press conferences on social media. UFC is not just mixed martial arts, its complete entertainment for the fans from pre-fight to post-fight, going by their business model. Another example to provide entertainment through social media is that they utilize YouTube to do vlogs of the fighters before every fight. Simple yet effective social media strategies like this have gone a long way for the company, which is how they recently got a 5-year television deal with the biggest sports network in the world- ESPN.

Based on information presented by McKinsey Global Institute, for over the past few years, the United States has retained some of its core strengths that make in one of the most attractive markets for multinational companies’ participation and investment. According to Gonzalez-Pernía, & Peña-Legazkue (2011), this statement means that the United States has indeed evolved in a new era of global competition characterized by multinational activities and advancements. Based on the basic principle of survival in business, only the most adaptive, competitive, and successful companies in the U.S are able survive the immense regional competition, and subsequently, expand their operations long-term. One of the most optimal strategies for remaining competitive is through the use of effective marketing strategies, that not only attract new and potential customers, but while also sustaining and retaining the existing ones. After all, it is much cheaper to retain clientele rather than selling to new ones. One of the organizations that has successfully utilized effective marketing strategies and managed to survive since its conception in 1993, is the Ultimate Fighting Championship (commonly known as the UFC).

This report explores some of the key marketing approaches that the UFC has been using in the last decade, and the total effectiveness of their overall marketing and social media marketing efforts. The report focuses on how the UFC uses popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and Snapchat, to promote their business, not only nationally- but globally. The Ultimate Fighting Championship, commonly referred to as the UFC, is an American based mixed martial arts promotion company headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. The firm was developed in 1993 by four co-founders, who include Art Davie, Bob Meyrowitz, David Isaacs, and Rorion Gracie. Since its initial launch, the company has focused on promoting exciting events with highly competitive mixed martial arts. Today, the company is regarded to as the largest and most popular mixed martial art promotion firm in the world, also evidenced by the fact that it incorporates most of the highest-level mixed martial arts fighters on the planet. As a result of its massive success utilizing social media in recent years, in combination with promoting rising superstars, the once called “barbarian sport” is among one of the fastest growing sports in the world today.

According to Zott, Amit, & Massa (2011), the business model connotes the manner in which a business organization creates, delivers and captures value whether in economic, cultural, or social context. The UFC’s business model is simple, give the fans what they want, when they want it(Palmquist 2014). This simple, yet effective strategy, has grown the company to a level never imagined in its development. The company mainly relies on the Pay-Per-View Model as their main source of revenue. The success of the events is created through building excitement and tension through its promotion leading up to the events, mainly through free social media channels and television programs like FOX and now, the largest sport network in the world- ESPN. The fans get very involved throughout every event, and the structuring of the PPV events are directly related to the amount of excitement and popularity a particular event is receiving.