Small, But Powerful

• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, November 30, 2009

According to sports fan research firm Scarborough Sports Marketing, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), a sport combining boxing and martial arts, is attracting young, well-established, high-tech consumers. The study reveals the shopping patterns, demographics and lifestyles of Mixed Martial Arts fans and found that these adults are 51% more likely than the average American to be ages 18-24, 25% more likely to have a household size of three or more people, and 67% more likely to be male.

Mixed Martial Arts fans are defined as those adults who watched MMA on broadcast or cable television during the past year. And, though indexing high in several popular branded categories, the market niche represents only 8% of all US Adults.

Howard Goldberg, senior vice president, Scarborough Sports Marketing "In recent years, MMA... has moved from being an emerging athletic genre to more of a mainstream, established and competitive sport... (and) developed a young male fan base... "

MMA fans have sound financials. They are 15% more likely than the average American adult to have a household income of $75k+ and 10% more likely to own a second home. They are selective investors and 6% more likely to have stocks or stock options in their household, and 33% more likely to invest online.

In addition to being young, male and well-established, these fans represent a high-tech audience. They are well above the national average for current ownership of high-tech household items such as HDTVs, VOD service, video game systems and broadband Internet connections.

Household Technology Profile of the Mixed Martial Arts Fan (Index of 100 = National Average)
	Index of MMA Fans Who
Technology	Currently Own	Plan to Buy
Computer	108	176
Digital Camera	118	152
DVR	108	229
DVD Player	114	155
Energy Saving Appliance	129	151
HDTV	115	168
PDA (Blackberry, etc.)	149	238
MP3 Player (i.e. iPod)	144	189
Satellite Radio Subscription	152	289
Satellite TV Subscription	112	174
Video Game System	156	258
VoIP	161	226
Broadband	113	NA
SOURCE: Scarborough Sports Marketing, November 2009

The MMA fans represent 15% of all adults planning to buy a new pickup truck for their household during the next year, and are 85% more likely than the average adult to plan such a purchase within the next year.

• MMA fans account for 18% of the market for potential new buyers of full-size cars, and are more than twice as likely as all adults to plan to purchase this car during the next year
• MMA fans account for 10% of the market for potential new buyers of SUVs, and are 19% more likely to plan this household vehicle purchase during the next year
• MMA fans account for 15% of the market for potential new buyers of luxury vehicles, and are 84% more likely to plan this household vehicle purchase during the next year

These fans are 15% more likely to live in a household that shopped at a furniture/mattress store during the past year, and 35% more likely to live in a household that shopped at a large appliance store during the past year. In the business-to-business category, MMA fans are 62% more likely than the average adult to be a corporate decision maker for overnight delivery services, and 37% more likely to make office equipment and supplies purchase decisions for their companies.

Mr. Goldberg concludes that  "From technology to automotive and household appliances to corporate delivery services, the MMA fan... represents a solid audience for a great diversity of marketers... those who begin leveraging this fan base now will have unique opportunities to begin establishing brand loyalty... "

For more information about this study and access to PDF file, please visit Scarborough here.