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2008
An Analysis of Spectator Motives in an Individual
Combat Sport: A Study of Mixed Martial Arts Fans
Kim Seungmo
T. Christopher Greenwell
Damon P.S. Andrew
Troy University
Janghyuk Lee
Daniel F. Mahony
Kent State University - Kent Campus, [email protected]
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Recommended Citation
Seungmo, Kim; Greenwell, T. Christopher; Andrew, Damon P.S.; Lee, Janghyuk; and Mahony, Daniel F. (2008). An Analysis of
Spectator Motives in an Individual Combat Sport: A Study of Mixed Martial Arts Fans. Sport Marketing Quarterly 17(2), 109-119.
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Sport Marhetlng Quarterly, 2008,17, 109-119, © 2008 West Virginia University
An Analysis of Spectator Motives in
an Individual Combat Sport:
A Study of Mixed Martial Arts Fans
Seungmo Kim, T. Christopher Greenwell, Damon P. S. Andrew, Janghyuk Lee, and Daniel F. Mahony
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine customers of
an emerging spectator sport, Mixed Martial Arts
(MMA). Whereas conventional sport spectator motivation research has typically examined motivations of
spectators attending established team sports, this study
is distinctive in that it applies motivation research to an
individual sport rather than a team sport and to an
emerging sport rather than a more established sport.
The following ten motives were identified based on a
review of the current literature: drama/eustress, escape,
aesthetics, vicarious achievement, socializing, sport
interest, national pride, economic factor, adoration,
and violence. Participants attended a local amateur
event, held in June 2006, in a mid-sized Midwestern
city. Overall, sport interest and drama were the highest
rated motives. There were gender differences in
motives, with males indicating that sport interest, economic, and violence were significantly stronger
Seungmo Kim, MS, is a doctoral candidate in the
Department of Exercise, Sport, & Leisure Studies at the
University of Tennessee. His research interests include
human resource management and organizational behavior/theory in sport.
T. Christopher Greenwell, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Health and Sport Sciences at
the University of Louisville. His research interests are
customer service and customer satisfaction.
Damon P. S. Andrew, PhD, is an associate professor in
the Department of Exercise, Sport, & Leisure Studies at
the University of Tennessee. His research interests include
human resource management and organizational behavior/theory in sport.
Janghyuk Lee, MS, is a doctoral candidate in the
Department of Health and Sport Sciences at the
University of Louisville and an assistant professor in
sport management at Coppin State University. His primary research interest is sport consumer behavior.
Daniel F. Mahony, PhD, is a dean and professor in the
College of Education, Health, and Human Services at
Kent State University. His research interests include sport
consumer behavior and resource distributions in intercollegiate athletics.
"The surprising and dramatic increase in interest
for the sport of MMA in the last 10 years raises
several questions for sport managers and
researchers."
motives. Two backward deletion linear regression
analyses indicated that sport interest, vicarious achievement, and national pride were significant predictors of
media consumption for males, while sport interest and
drama were significant predictors of media consumption for females.
Introduction
In recent years, a new sport. Mixed Martial Arts
(MMA), has emerged, generating interest from television viewers, spectators, and participants around the
world. MMA is a combat sport which combines elements of various martial arts disciplines such as boxing, wrestling, jiu-jitsu, and kickboxing. Combatants
win by either knocking out the opponent, forcing the
opponent to submit, or by judges' decision. This new
sport has been experiencing exponential growth in
recent years. For example, the leading American MMA
promoter, the Ultimate Fighting Championship
(UFC), presented "UFC: Final Chapter" on October
10th, 2006, which achieved record ratings for Spike TV
and the UFC. This two-hour, live UFC event drew a
3.1 overall rating, while the previous record was a 2.0
overall rating from the live season finale of "The
Ultimate Fighter 3" reality series on June 24th, 2006.
The main event on the card, a fight between Shamrock
and Ortiz, drew 1.6 million viewers in the 18-to-34year-old male demographic, which is the primary target of UFC, while the MLB playoffs between the A's
and the Tigers on FOX drew only 1.1 million viewers
(UFC, 2006).
Further, UFC television events now draw better cable
ratings in key demographics than NBA, NHL, and
MLB games, and pay-per-view revenues have grown to
levels comparable to major boxing and wrestling
events (Hamilton, 2006; Scelfo, 2006). One can easily
see a dramatic increase in interest for the sport of
MMA by observing not only TV ratings but also attendance at live events throughout the world. Pride
Volume 17 • Number 2 • 2008 • Sport MarHeting Quarteriy 109
Fighting Championships, one of the more popular
MMA promoters in Southeast Asia drew 90,107 fans to
Tokyo National Stadium in Japan on August 28th,
2002. In March 2005, K-1, a standing fighting type of
MMA in Japan, was held in Korea, and all 15,000 tickets were sold.
Along with the recent success of the UFC in the
United States, a multitude of other professional promoters such as the International Fight League (IFL),
King ofthe Cage (KOTC) and Elite XC have emerged
on television and pay-per-view. On a smaller scale,
many regional promoters have appeared around the
world offering live professional and amateur fight
cards. This growth is significant considering the sport
was non-existent prior to 1993. The surprising and
dramatic increase in interest for the sport of MMA in
the last 10 years raises several questions for sport managers and researchers. For example, what is attracting
customers to watch or attend MMA events? Are the
motivations different from the motivations to watch or
attend mainstream sports? Even though interest in
MMA throughout the world is increasing and the sport
seems to be headed for long-term success, the sport
still faces many challenges to competing with existing
major sports and other emerging sports. In order for
the sport to survive in this highly competitive environment, a better understanding of the factors attracting
fans to the events is crucial not only for maintaining
this surprising success but also to foster growth in the
future. However, there have been no efforts in the
sport marketing literature to explain why people are
willing to attend the events and/or watch them on TV.
Therefore, there is a need for research specifically related to MMA fans and their motives in order to allow
sport marketers to make educated decisions about promoting these events. Further, research in this area
should enhance the sport management literature by
adding to the understanding of emerging sports.
Mixed Martial Arts
In 649 B.C., the sport of pankration was introduced
into the Olympic Games. The name came from a combination of two Creek words, pan, meaning "all," and
kratos, meaning "powers." Pankration is described as a
mixture of Hellenic boxing and wrestling. Pankration
is considered to be the origin of MMA. In November
1993, the sport of MMA was born when the first UFC
event was held in Denver. Throughout the first four
events, the sport, which offered real fighting with limited rules and restrictions to live audiences and PPV
viewers, was a relative success with American viewers.
However, UFC was having a difficult time surviving
due to negative public perceptions about its violence
and brutality. Arizona Senator John McClain was suc-
cessful in getting MMA banned in all but three states
in America, and UFC was removed from 90% of the
country's pay-per-view providers (Wertheim, 2007).
After struggling from 1997 to 2001, the sport
reemerged in 2001 with the sale ofthe UFC franchise
to Zuffa, LLC. In an attempt to change of the perceptions ofthe sport, UFC repositioned the sport, which
played an important part in the return of the sport to
pay-per-view (W^ertheim, 2007). Compared to the earlier version of UFC, which allowed anything except eye
gouging and biting, the new rules included five weight
classes, rounds, time limits, a list of over 31 fouls, and
eight possible ways for the fight to end. These changes
helped to legitimize the sport. Since 2001, interest in
UFC in America has grown, resulting in growth in
both pay-per-view purchases and television ratings.
"... if MMA promoters are going to build on their
early success, it is critical for them to understand
fan's motives to attend MMA events and watch
them on TV."
UFC, Pride FC, and K-1 are considered the top promoters ofthe sport of MMA. Pride FC was established
on October llth, 1997, in the Tokyo Dome, when
Nobuhiko Takada, a Japanese wrestling hero, challenged
Rickson Cracie, an undefeated Cracie Jiu-jitsu legend
from the Gracie family. The one-time event was a big
success in Japan and later reemerged as a revenge match
on October llth, 1998. Wliile UFC in America was having difficulty surviving. Pride FC utilized this opportunity to extend its business by inviting UFC fighters to its
events. In fact. Pride FC has attempted to expand its
business globally. Pride FC was broadcast in America for
the first time on May Bth, 2000, and DSE became the
first foreign-based company to be granted a license by
the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which paved the
way to open the first event outside of Japan. In addition.
Toy Head-Quarter (THQ), a video game company,
released the Pride FC video game for the PlayStation 2
platform in February 2002, which helped increase the
popularity of Pride FC (Pride FC, 2006).
K-1 was introduced in 1993 by Master Kaztiyoshi
Ishii at the Yoyogi Dai-Ichi stadium in Tokyo. The first
K-1 Grand Prix was held in a standard boxing ring. All
10,000 seats were sold out for the first tournament.
While UFC and Pride FC allow grabbing and ground
techniques, K-1 is a competition to determine the single best stand-up fighter in the world utilizing karate,
kung-fu, tae-kwon-do, and kick-boxing. In order to be
a champion at the highest level, fighters from all over
the world compete in a year-long series of regional,
qualifying, and elimination tournaments culminating
in the prestigious Tokyo Dome Final at the end of each
110 Volume 17 • Number 2 • 2008 • Sport MarHeting Quarteriy
year. Pride FC and K-1 have been widely accepted by
MMA fans in Japan and recent matches between the
two leagues have further increased fan interest.
Recently, the World K-1 GP was held in Korea in order
to help increase its business throughout the world (K1, 2006).
As stated above, the sport of MMA has gotten more
attention and has been recognized as a legitimate sport.
However, if MMA promoters are going to build on
their early success, it is critical for them to understand
fans' motives to attend MMA events and watch them
on TV. An understanding of fan motives will allow
sport marketers to both attract new fans and to build
on the initial interest of current fans. In an increasingly
competitive sport market place, increasing the size of
the fan base and maintaining the interest of these fans
are both very important in ensuring long term financial viability.
Consumption suggested sport fans attend sporting
events due to one or a combination of these motives.
Funk, Mahony, Nakazawa, and Hirokawa (2001)
reviewed previous literature concerning fan motivations
to develop the Sport Interest Inventory (SII), which
included ten factors and 30 items to explain various levels of consumer support for a specific sport, women's
soccer in the United States. Later, Funk et al. (2002)
enhanced the original SII with four additional factors
that were identified using qualitative analysis of openended questions in the 2001 study. Compared to the
previous two scales, the SII attempted to include additional factors to capture the unique aspects of the particular sport event. In all, the 14 factors of SII include role
models, excitement, drama, wholesome environment,
aesthetics, entertainment value, interest in the sport,
interest in team, support women's opportunity in sport,
bonding with family, national pride, vicarious achievement, socialization, and interest in player.
"The majority of research into the different
motives that drive sport spectators has dealt with
traditional team sports. In addition, the context of
combative sports has yet to be explored."
These three scales have some similarities because the
scales were developed based on prior sport sociology
theories and other scales (Hansen & Gauthier, 1989;
Kahle et al., 1996; Madrigal & Howard, 1995; Sloan,
1989, Zillmann & Paulus, 1993). In terms of similarities, aesthetics, family, socializing, vicarious achievement, and drama were identified as motives of sport
consumers by all three scales, even though some of
them were labeled differently. The socializing factor
was identified as a group affiliation by the SFMS, social
interaction by the MSSC, and social opportunities by
the SII. "Eustress" and "self-esteem" in the SFMS were
respectively termed "drama" and "vicarious achievement" in both the MSSC and SII. Some factors were
not recognized in all ofthe scales. For example, entertainment was only acknowledged in the SFMS and the
SII, and escape was only recognized in the SFMS and
the MSSC. Further, unique motivation factors, such as
the economic (gambling) factor within the SFMS,
acquisition of knowledge, physical attractiveness of the
participants, and physical skills of the participants
within the MSSC, and national pride, players as role
models, wholesome environment, interest in team,
interest in sport, interest in player, and support for
women opportunities within the SII, differentiate the
scales from each other.
Given the plethora of sport spectator motives that
have been uncovered in prior research, it is perhaps
not surprising that researchers have recently embarked
on a quest to bring parsimony to the study of these
motives (James, Trail, Wann, Zhang, & Funk, 2006).
These researchers have attempted to ascertain which
motives may be more relevant to a wide range of sports
versus those that may be more germane to a specific
setting. The findings of their study indicate self-esteem
Sport Motives
Sport fans and spectators watch or attend sporting
events for different reasons, and identifying their motivations is critical to understanding and satisfying these
consumers. Researchers have identified key motivation
factors in past research and have developed scales to
measure the motives of sport consumers (Funk,
Mahony, & Ridinger, 2002; Kahle, Kambara, & Rose,
1996; Milne & McDonald, 1999; Sloan, 1989; Trail &
James, 2001; Wann, 1995). One ofthe earliest scales
was Wann's (1995) Sport Fan Motivation Scale
(SFMS). This scale identified eight factors, represented
by 23 items, to measure the following motives:
eustress, self-esteem, escape from daily life, entertainment, economic factors, aesthetics, group affiliation,
and family needs. Although the scale's properties were
considered sufficient in the original study by Wann,
several validity problems were later identified within
the SFMS (Trail & James, 2001).
Trail and James (2001) evaluated previous scales
(Wann, 1995; Milne & McDonald, 1999) and proposed
the Motivation Scale for Sport Consumption (MSSC),
featuring nine different factors to explain the motives
of the fans watching or attending sport events. These
motives were vicarious achievement, acquisition of
knowledge, aesthetics, social interaction, drama, physical attractiveness of the participants, escape, family,
and physical skill of the participants. Trail, Fink, and
Anderson's (2003) Model of Sport Spectator
Volume 17 • Number 2 • 2008 • Sport MarHeting Quarteriy 111
(i.e., vicarious achievement), aesthetics, drama, escape,
and social interaction demonstrate applicability across
a wide range of sport settings. While the results of
James et al. (2006) have potential theoretical (e.g.,
development of a generalizeable motivation theory for
spectator sport) and applied (e.g., marketers with a
limited budget to market a wide range of sport may
focus on five motivational factors) applications, the
majority of research indicates individual motives
should be rationalized for each sport (Bilyeau & Wann,
2002; Funk, Mahony, & Ridinger, 2002; James 8c
Ridinger, 2002; Mahony, Nakazawa, Funk, James, &
Gladden, 2002).
Even though previous researchers have provided a
general idea about the motives of sport consumers,
James and Ross (2004) noted the effort to identify and
measure these motivations in specific sports is still
lacking. The research of Bilyeau and Wann (2002),
James and Ridinger (2002), and Funk, Mahony, and
Ridinger (2002) illustrate motives of sport consumers
may differ regarding the type of sports such as artistic
sports (e.g., gymnastics and synchronized swimming)
or combative sports (e.g., wrestling, mixed martial arts,
and boxing). The scientific study of sport fan motives
has emerged only within the past decade, so it is not
surprising that fan motivations in a limited number of
sports have been explored. The majority of research
into the different motives that drive sport spectators
has dealt with traditional team sports. In addition, the
context of combative sports has yet to be explored.
Given the limited number of studies addressing the
motives of individual sport spectators and the lack of
spectator motive research concerning combative
sports, an analysis of spectator motivations of mixed
martial arts fans would fiU a significant gap in the literature. Further, the sport of MMA is especially important to study due to its uniqueness as one of rapidly
growing emerging sports in not only the United States,
but also in other parts of the world.
Purpose of Study
The purpose of this study is to examine customers of
an emerging spectator sport. Mixed Martial Arts
(MMA) by exploring the experiences and motivations
of consumers attending a MMA event. This study also
investigates differences in motives between male and
female fans and utilizes the motives to understand
media consumption. In order to accomplish this purpose, a new instrument was developed incorporating
previously identified motives as well as additional
motives unique to MMA customers. Further, this study
sought to expand sport spectator motivation research
by applying motivation research to an individual sport
rather than a team sport and to an emerging sport
rather than a more established sport. Ultimately, the
results of this study can be utilized by sport marketers
to develop appropriate strategies in order to attract
and retain MMA fans.
Method
Instrument Development
Developing the instrument for the current study
involved six steps: (1) ten motives were identified
based on previous research, (2) a panel of experts analyzed the possible items to measure the ten factors, (3)
data from a representative sample were collected from
a local amateur event, held in February 2006, (4)
Cronbach's alpha values were checked to increase reliabilities of the factors and reduce the number of items,
(5) based on the results ofthe pilot study, the ten factors, each represented by three items, were developed
with seven point Likert scales anchored by Strongly
Disagree (1) and Strongly Agree (7), and (6) 24 other
items were added to collect general information,
including fans' demographic data, MMA experiences,
and media usage.
Ean Motives. In order to identify the fan motives for
the current study, the authors examined motives used
in previous scales, particularly those that were commonly supported across several sports. Drama, escape,
aesthetics, vicarious achievement (i.e., self-esteem), and
social interaction were selected for this study because
prior studies supported the inclusion of these factors
(Funk et al., 2002; Trail & James, 2001; Wann, 1995),
and James et al. (2006) asserted that these motives were
applicable across a wide range of sport settings.
Furthermore, sport interest (i.e., the extent to which
support for the event develops from an interest in the
sport) and national pride (i.e., the extent to which the
sport may be seen as a way to demonstrate national
superiority) were added from the SII (Funk et al.,
2002), and the economic (i.e., the extent to which fans
are motivated by potential monetary gains through
wagering on sports) factor was added from the SFMS
(Wann, 1995) to address some ofthe unique aspects of
MMA. Therefore, three items for the following eight
motives were adapted from the literature: drama (Funk
et al., 2002; Trail & James, 2001), escape (Wann, 1995),
aesthetics (Trail & James, 2001; Wann, 1995), vicarious
achievement (Funk et al., 2002; Trail & James, 2001),
social interaction (Trail & James, 2001; Wann, 1995),
sport interest (Funk et al., 2002), national pride (Funk
et al., 2002), and economic (Wann, 1995). Finally, two
novel factors were proposed that would relate to the
uniqueness of the sport of MMA. After careful consideration, the motives of adoration/hero worship and violence/cruelty were added.
112 Volume 17 • Number 2 • 2008 • Sport MarHeting Quarteriy
The motive of adoration/hero worship describes the
extent to which fans are attracted to athletes who are
heroic and appear unbeatable (Funk et al., 2002).
According to Stevens, Lathrop, and Bradish (2003), a
sport hero can be recognized for their athletic abilities
and achievement in high level competitions. An athlete
as a role model can influence other people's attitudes
and behaviors related to a product or a company (see
French & Raven, 1959, for a classic discussion of this
relationship). When a fan's favorite fighter seems
unbeatable, the fighter can become a role model.
Because it is an individual sport, MMA fans may more
likely attach to their favorite fighters than to athletes in
some other sports. The items used to measure adoration/hero worship were, "When a fighter appears to be
unbeatable he becomes a hero," "MMA fighters are my
role models because of their highly advanced skill,"
and "I watch MMA to witness greatness."
"What may be surprising to some is that two-thirds
ofthe audience had some education beyond highschool and half of the audience reported incomes
over $50,000, which contradicts critics' claims that
the sport only attracts lower-class spectators."
the Internet," "I watch MMA events on television,"
and "I watch MMA reality shows on television."
Demographics. Demographic information including
gender, age, marital/household status, educational
level, annual household income, and ethnicity were
collected from participants in the present study.
MMA Experience and Preferences. In terms of the
MMA experience, two items, including "How did you
find out about Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) for the first
time?" and "How many MMA events have you attended?," were asked. To measure preferences of MMA
fans, the following two items were included, "Which of
the following is your favorite MMA event?" and
"Which of the following is your favorite weight class?"
Participants
Given that the purpose of this study was to identify the
reasons why fans attend MMA events, the participants
ofthe survey were limited to existing or current fans of
MMA. Data were collected from spectators of a local
amateur event, held in June 2006, in a mid-sized
Midwestern city. Spectators at this event provided an
ideal sample as it was a relatively new event in an area
where MMA competitions had not previously existed,
implying the majority of customers were new to the
sport and refiected the recent growth of the sport.
With the event organizer's permission, questionnaires were distributed to spectators sitting in randomly selected seats prior to the beginning ofthe opening
ceremony. Among 270 distributed questionnaires, 235
questionnaires were returned (87% response rate), and
208 were usable for the study. In order to participate in
this survey, respondents were limited to adults who
were older than 18 years old. The crowd at the event
was mostly male as the ratio of males (n = 160 for
76.9%) and females (« = 48 for 23.1%) was approximately three to one. The youngest age-group (18-24)
was most represented with 66 participants (31.7%),
followed by the 25-29 years age-group with 59 participants (28.4%). The level of education among study
participants was varied as 30.8% had a high school
diploma, 35.1% had some college and 31.8% had
either an undergraduate or graduate degree. The
majority ofthe crowd was white (87.9%) and reported
household incomes over $50,000.
The motive of violence or cruelty refers to the extent
to which fans may enjoy the level of violence that exists
in heavy contact sports like boxing, football, ice hockey, and rugby. In those sports, certain forms of intimidation and violence have been widely accepted as
strategies for success. Further, intimidation and violence serve as factors responsible for enhancing the
dramatic elements of these sports for spectators
(Goldstein & Arms, 1972; Coakley, 2006). Bryant,
Comisky, and Zillman (1981) and DeNeui and Sachau
(1996) found fans' level of enjoyment increased as the
level of violence increased in football and hockey. In
fact, some fans become more interested when the
action is more brutal and violent. Since MMA is considered to be more realistic than other combat sports,
the associated violence with one-on-one combat may
be particularly attractive to fans of the sport. The items
used to measure to violence were, "I like the matches
more when they get bloody," "I enjoy the violence of
MMA," and "I like MMA because it has more violence
than other sports."
Data Analysis
Media Consumption Behavior. Based on the results of A confirmatory factor analysis and a Cronbach internal
the pilot study, three media consumption items
consistency analysis were conducted to evaluate con(adapted from Fink, Trail, & Anderson, 2002) were
struct validity and inter-item reliability. Descriptive
incorporated in the present study. The items for media statistics were calculated to assess overall demographconsumption were measured with seven point Likert
ics, MMA experiences, MMA preferences, and motives
scales anchored by Strongly Disagree (1) and Strongly
to attend and watch MMA events. A correlation analyAgree (7) and included "I read about MMA news over
sis of the sport motivation factors was conducted to
Volume 17 • Number 2 • 2008 • Sport MarHeting Quarteriy 113
Table I
Correlations among Factors and Cronbach Alphas
Factors
Sport
Spor't.
1 )rar'na
\'ic.
l';sc.
.4441"
.438(**
.343('*
( ( X - - . 7 49)
.34O(' ")
.(49( )
((X-.833)
. 3 0 6 0 ) (a=.823 )
.(/((*)
.3()9(**
.433(**
.3(8("
.293(' *
.369('*
-.0(0
.469 ( ')
.243( *)
.2I3(*' )
.476(" )
.372(** )
.258O )
.376O )
.3(8('* )
l'.CO.
Aesth.
/\clore
Vio.
Nat.
Soc.
((X--=.92(
Drama
Vic.
Esc.
Eco.
Aesth.
Hero
Vio.
Nat.
Soc.
)
)
.(47( )
.267( *)
. ( 3 1 (•
. 313 ( )
.396(**)
.376O)
.379('*)
.387('")
.365(")
((X=.9O
.1260
.377(-'' )
.3010 )
.432('* )
.187(*' )
)
((X-.823)
.342O) ((X . 8 6 ( ))
.233O) .32(0 ) ((X' .917
. 2 9 1 0 ) .3030' ) . 3 9 0 0 ) ((X 883)
.376O) .M\{-' )
.112(") .443 •"*)
((r'.83()
Note: Spor t Sport Interest, Vic. = Vicarioirs Achievement, •,sc '"- I'Escape,I'CO. - I'conoruic "actor , Aesth.
Aesthetics, Vio. ^ V io(ence. Nat. - 'M<rtional Pride, & Soc. - Socializing. ' P-:.O3. " p< .01.
examine .issociations among the (actors. One-way
ANOVA (.Analysis ol Variar'rce) was used to exar'r'Tine
gender diderences ir'r MMA fan motiv.ition.
Subsequent to the ANOVA, backward deletion r-egrx'ssion anah'ses were perlormed separately for n'rale and
(emale groirps to examine the relatio.iship between
MMA (an motivatior-rs and fans' r'r'redia consumption
behavior. Backward deletion regression analyses
sequentiallv' deleted weaker, non-contributing variables
and identified the rei'naining contributing variables of
value to each regression equation.
Results
Scale Validity/ReliabiUty
A conflrriKrtor'y factor anahsis indicated a good fit of
the model to the data (RMSHA = .063). Cronhach
Alphas for each motivational factor and a correlation
matrix among ten r'r'rotives are reported in Table 1.
(j'onhach Ali')has ((/,) for' each ofthe ter'r motivations
were com[iuted to verify ir'rternal cor'rsistency. The
range of ("ronhach coefficients of the 'aetors was fron'r
a - 0.749 (dran'ra) to it 0.926 (spori inter'est); there(ore, all coeffleients exceeded the recoTrmencled
her'rchmark of\70 (Nunnally & Bernstein, 1994). All
factors showed the higliest (j'onhach Alphas with three
items except violence, which had higher reliability (rx 0.917) with two items; therxfore, as ai'r added caution,
the weakest item from the violence motive ("1 like
MMA hecause it has more violence thar'r other sports")
was exclutletl (rom (uture analv'sis. Although most o(
the motivations wer'e significantly correlated, the relationsliip between the economic factor and drania was
not sinnidcant.
14
\'oliriiu
Preferences and Motives
Descriptive statistics were calculated for spectators'
M M A experiences, MMA preferences, and motives to
attend anti watch MMA events. W'oixl of i n o u t h was
i m p o r t a n t , as 33.3"() of attendees were exposed to the
sport of M M A (or the (Irst time hy their frientis or col
leagues. 34 participants ((7.8"o) indicated that Spike's
tele\isi()n series "1 he Ultimate Fighter" had proxidetl
their introciuction to the sport, (oliowed In \satching
matches t h r o u g h pa\ per-view (n
32 (or (6.8"()). (Of
participants (48.6"(i) indicated that thev were a t t e n d i n g
a M M A event (or the first time, while 107 participants
(3(.4',-{i) had previously attended other M M A events.
A m o n g MMA events, participants (81"ii) cnerwiielm
ingly indicated Ul'c: as their favorite MMA event.
Surveyed participants weie also asketi to indii^ate their
favorite weight class, ('references were div itiecl a m o n g
welterweight (ti 30 for 26.3"()), mitklleweight (/; 43
for 23.8'}'(i), light heavyweight (/; 3( for 27.(Co), and
heavyweight (;; - 33 for 17.3"()) weight classes.
Table 2 shows the m e a n s antl starularxl dev iations for
motivations hy gender. The means for' e<rch motive
ranged from a low for econorTi)- {M
2.68) t{) a high
for sport inter-est (A/ 3.33). Drama (A/ 3.32) was
the second most i m p o r t a n t factor' for' the spectators at
the event to attend or' watcli M M , \ events (oliowed In
aesthetics (A/ -- 3.1 (), soci.rl r'easons i M
(.()3), violence (A/ - 4.39), vicarious achievement ( A/ 4.32),
arul .icloration (A7 4.32). ((owever, escape (rom normal lile, natior-ral pride, arul economrc motives were
below the scale mid|ioirit (A/
(.00).
Gender Difjet ernes
\'o examine the pr'eserue of anv geruler didererKes ni
MMA fan rTrotivation, a onewv.rv .\XO\'A was calcu
Numher 1 • 2008 • Sport MarHeting Quarterly
Table 2.
Means and Standard Deviations Motivations by Gender
Sport Interest
1 )rama
Aesthetic
Sociali/ir'rg
Violence
\ icarioLrs AchreverTrent
Adoration
1'Escape
N.rtior'ral T'ride
Tconomrc Tactor
Total
SE
M
Male
M
SE
3.33
3.32
3.1 1
4.63
4.30
4.32
4.32
3.67
3.48
3.06
4.62
4.66
4.24
4.3 (
3.96
3.83
2.84
3.9
3.82
2.68
1.36
(.36
1.33
(.64
(.86
(.78
(.67
(.73
(.83
1.83
latetl, anti sigr'ridcant gentler diderences wer'e (ound in
s(iort intei'est, | /' ( ( , 206)
3.862, p < .03], the ect)noriiic factor, [ /' ( (, 206)
4.93, /> < .03], aru' the violence (actor, i /'( (, 206) - 3.94, /) < .03]. Because
signidc<mt motive tliffereru'es were found on ihe basis
of geruler', separ'ate eqUiitit)r'rs r'egressing spect.itor
motives on metlia c o n s u m p t i o n were calcirlat^d (t)r'
each gentler to p r o \ itie r'ruire specilic in(ormatiori to
sport marketers regartling the relevant motives (or
each gentler. The overall model ft)r' the male grt)up was
signidcant, I / ' ( ( ( ) , 149) ^ (7.943, /> <: .001, Atliustetl
/\.312]. Through backward regression to remt)ve
rion-coritr'ilurtrrig varrables, spor't rnterest, vicarious
achievement, arul national pride remained as signidc.rnt pretlictors of metlia c t m s u m p t i o n . The nu)del
redectirig the rem.iining variables was signidcc rit | /' (3,
(36)
6 0 . 3 7 9 , / ) - .()()(, Atliusted R-^ ^ .329], indicating that 33"'(> o( the variance in media ct)nsumption
was ex(')l,riru'd bv sport interest, vicarious achievenuM'rt,
arul national pritle. The Stantlardi/etl ( A)efdcien( (\\)
intlieatetl (h<it spor't ir'rterest (|5
.668) explainetl the
most variance, (ollowetl bv vicai'ioirs achievenuMit (^
.198) arul national pride (|5
-.123).
The ovei'all mt)tlel tor' the (emale gi'oup was .list) sig
nidcant | /'' ( 10, 37)
3.330, /' <; .()(, Adjusted R^ =
.330]. Thr'ough backwar'd regression to r'enun'e n o n contrilurting var'iahles, sjiort interest <mti dr.mia
remainetl as significant pretiictors of metlia corisuu'rption. The motlel reflecting the remaining variables was
signifkant, [ /' (2, 37) ^ (6.983, /> - .001, Adjusted R.403], confirming a positive relationship between
sfiort iriterest arul nu'tlia ct)nsumption arul hetweer'r
d r a m a arul nu'tlia consirn'rption. The St.mtlartlizetl
(Coeldcient (]i) rndicated that d r a m a ((3 .407)
expliunetl the most vari.rnce, (t^llowetl hy spt)rt interest
{\\
.372). The result o l t h e (emale motlel irulicated
1.49
(.34
(.34
1.61
(.77
(.78
(.62
1.68
(.78
(.83
Female
SF
M
3.03
3.66
3.29
4.09
3.97
4.39
4.34
3.76
3.73
2.17
(.71
1.42
(.39
(.73
2.06
(.79
(.84
(.92
2.0(
(.76
that 40.3'M) ofthe variance in media consumption was
explained hy sport interest and tiram.i.
Discussion
'The c u r r e n t studv' e x p a n t i s existirig rt'search o n sptirt
fan r'notivation t o prt)v itie insight i n t o t h e .MMA p h e
n o n i e n o n . W i t h t h e t h ' a m a t i c g r o w t h of M M A , it is
ir'npt)rtant t o u n t i e r s t . m d t h e ch.iracter'istics anti
mt)tives t)( c i r s t t i m e r s a t t e n t l i n g e v e n t s in ortler' lo
d e v e l o p a p p r t ) p r i a t e m a r k e t i n g s t r a t e g i e s . T u r t h e r , it
e x t e n d s existir'rg r e s e a r c h h\' examrnir'rg s p o r t c o n suniptit)r'r n'rotives in ar'r intliv itlu.rl s p o r t rather' t h a n .r
t e a m s p o r t anti in a n erTrerging s p o r t r.rtlier' t h a n a
r'nt)re e s t a b l i s h e d s p o r t .
( C o n s i d e r i n g t h e n e w n e s s ol (he sjiort, it is i m p o r t a n t
t o gair'r a n u n d e r s t a n d i r ' r g o( w h o t o m p r i s e s t h e .rutlie n c e (or a M M A e v e n t . S p e c t a t o r s in this stutiv' w e r e
r'nostly y o i r n g m a l e s , w h r c h is n o t sur'prrsrng c o n s i t l e r
ir'rg htnv t h e s p o r t h a s h e e n p r o m o t e t l . W hat mav h e
s t r r p r i s i n g t o sor'ne is that t w o - t h i r t l s o( t h e .lutlience
hacl s o m e e t l u c a t i o n hev'ond h i g h - s c h o o l anti half of
t h e audier'rce rept)r'tetl i n c o m e s over S30,00(), w h i c h
c o n t r a d i c t s c r i t i c s ' c l a i m s that t h e s|''ior't o n l v attr'acts
l o w e r - c l a s s s p e c t a t o r s . Taken l o g e t h e r , t h e s e results
sirggest p o t e n t i a l for' financial gr'owth ,is M M A .ittracts
a n a u d i e n e e t h a t is a t t r a c t i v e t o a t l v e r t i s e r s .
A n o t h e r key poir'rt c o n c e r n s t h e m e t h o d s in wirich
spectattirs were introducetl to the sport, consitlering
n e a r l y o n e - h . r l f v v e r e a t t e n t l i n g lor' t h e first t i m e . (irveri
t h a t t h e r e is little historv' of m a i n s t r e . r m metlra c o v e r a g e of t h e s p o r t , it is nt)t s u r p r i s u i g that o n e thrrtl of
t h e s p e c t a t t ) r s in t h e s a m p l e w e r e a t t r a c t c t i hv (rieiuls
a n d (ariiily, irTrplying wortl t ) ( - m o u t h m a v h e t h e m o s t
e d e c t i v e wav' for reachir'rg n e w custori'rers. Actrv rties
d e s i g n e t l t o g e n e r a t e w o r t l o f n'rtiuth s u c h as u n r t j u e
e x p e r i e n e e s , special e v e n t s , arul viral m a r k e t i n g a r e
Vt)liinu'
Number 2 • 2()()(S • Sport Marheting Quarteriy
1 I
Tabie 3.
Impact of Motivations on Media Consumption
B
SEB
.756
.188
-.118
.068
.060
.057
.416
.550
.139
.168
CQ.
Variable
R2
Adj. R^
F
.668***
.198***
-.125*
.538
.529
60.579***
.372**
.407**
.430
.405
16.983**
Male
Sport Interest
Vicarious Achievement
National Pride
Female
Sport Interest
Drama
Note. *p<.05. **p<.01.**.p<.001.
often effective in communicating with hard to reach
market segments (Greenwell & Andrew, 2007).
Television has also played a key role in introducing
customers to the sport. Although pay-per-view has
heen the primary source of distribution throughout the
sport's history, the "Ultimate Fighter" reality series,
which debuted on Spike TV in January of 2005, was
just as important in reaching new customers. Through
its reality series format, the show was able to deliver
information about fighters, training techniques, fight
strategies, and rules ofthe sport that had in the past
only been accessible to the most hard-core supporters.
Further, most episodes of the series featured a fight
between series participants, allowing customers to sample a product that had almost exclusively been on payper-view prior to the series. This finding illustrates the
power of using mass distribution and non-traditional
formats to introduce new customers to the sport.
Motivations to watch mixed martial arts
The strongest motive for spectators in this study was
sport interest. As an emerging sport, MMA appears to
have been successful in inspiring sport fans' interest in
the sport, and MMA fans are attracted to attend events
and watch matches because they like the sport itself.
This finding is notable considering the newness of the
sport. Whereas it may have been a novelty just a few
years ago, this finding indicates consumers are beginning to consider themselves MMA fans and follow
MMA as a legitimate sport rather than the spectacle it
was promoted as during its early history. Much of this
finding may be attributed to the success of the
"Ultimate Fighter" reality television series. Products in
the introductory stage of the product life cycle
(Gorchels, 2000; Levitt, 1965) need to generate awareness and encourage product trial. "The Ultimate
Fighter" series not only generated awareness for MMA
but educated potential consumers about the rules, ath-
letes, and culture associated with the sport. These
results suggest MMA marketers should continue their
efforts to educate fans and potential fans about the different fight styles, techniques, and unique aspects of
the sport in order to expand their fan base by building
interest among new consumers.
Drama and aesthetics were the next two highest
rated motives illustrating that MMA fans appreciate
close fights and appreciate the beauty and strategy of
the sport. This result suggests that MMA fans may prefer fights based on well-prepared strategies and trained
fighters rather than simple bloody fights without any
definite fight strategy. The finding that MMA fans preferred heavyweight class the least in this study could be
explained by the fact that the style of this class relies
more on fighters' physical strength rather than fighters'
skills and techniques. These results suggest MMA marketers should continue to focus their marketing efforts
on the excitement and unpredictability provided by
good, close fights. In addition, they should continue to
provide various contrasts of fighting styles because
MMA fans appreciate the beauty of fights according to
individual fighters' styles.
Contrary to the beliefs of MMA critics, violence was
only the fifth highest rated motive. While combat
sports are, at their core, violent, the results of this
study illustrate that consumers may appreciate other
aspects like aesthetics and drama more. In addition, it
is important to note that violence was much lower
rated than sport interest. During the sport's introduction, marketers focused on the violence and the "no
rules" aspects, which led critics to characterize it as
barbaric or gladiatorial violence (Wertheim, 2007).
However, MMA marketers, UFG in particular, later
changed the rules and tried to educate the public about
rule changes to protect fighters and introduce new
strategies. Some believe this has had a positive infiuence on changing the perceptions of the sport and
116 Volume 17 • Number 2 • 2008 • Sport MarHeting Quarteriy
helped lead to the rapid growth of its popularity
(Graham, 2007). While there is no data on the interest
in the sport during its infancy, the fact that sport interest was the strongest motivation in the current study
would appear to indicate that the decrease in violence
has not decreased the appeal of the sport. In fact, this
change may have been responsible for changing the
appeal from violent spectacle to legitimate sport.
Gontrary to how the sport is typically marketed
internationally, respondents reported relatively low
levels of national pride as a motive to watch MMA.
While Funk et al. (2002) originally used this motive in
a study of national team sports, it was of interest in
this study considering the role of international fighters
in the growth of the sport. Although the event in the
study was a local event featuring only American fighters, many of the spectators were initially exposed to the
sport by watching larger organizations such as UFG
and Pride FG that feature fighters from around the
world. Although it is unlikely that national pride
would be a spectator's primary motive for attending a
local event, it is plausible that it could be a strong
motive to watch MMA in general due to the way the
sport has been marketed. National pride was emphasized in event marketing during the growth of MMA in
Asia as promoters such as Pride FG have often focused
on fighters' nationalities to promote fights. UFG, on
the other hand, has seldom used national pride as a
promotional tool, opting instead to focus other characteristics of individual fighters. This finding suggests
national pride may not have played much of a role in
creating a fan base in the United States. Further, results
indicate a focus on nationalities would not be an
appropriate marketing strategy for a local event.
However, more research is needed to determine
whether national pride is truly as important as marketers believe for international events.
Similarly, the economic motive was also of interest
in this study due to the large growth in wagering on
UFG events. In July of 2007, Bodog.com reported
wagering on MMA events would surpass wagering on
boxing. Despite the fact wagering was illegal in the
state in which the event was held and betting lines were
not posted on the fights, it was of interest to see if
spectators had been attracted to the sport based on
their interest in gambling on fights. Results indicated
that wagering was not a strong motive for spectators of
local events, but this examination should not be
extended to larger events taking place in states where
betting is legal and where lines are posted.
Differences between team and individual sports
As noted earlier, the lack of research on sport consumption motives in individual sports is an obvious
omission in the spectator motive literature; therefore,
this study sought to understand consumption motives
of fans of individual sports. The high rating of sport
interest suggests one difference. In a team sports setting such as college football, a spectator may have little
interest in the sport of football, but instead attend to
support the team or to identify with the university.
With individual events such as golf, tennis, or boxing
there is no team to support; therefore, these spectators
may be more motivated by their interest in the sport
itself. This suggests event marketers may want to put
more of a focus on the opportunity to see or experience the sport when marketing individual sports.
"While combat sports are, at their core, violent,
the results of this study illustrate that consumers
may appreciate other aspects like aesthetics and
drama more."
The high rating for drama also suggests differences
between event types. Prior research into the drama
motive has mostly dealt with team sports, where only
one outcome is contested. With only one outcome,
spectators' chances of seeing a dramatic outcome are
limited. MMA events, on the other hand, involve multiple fights over the course of a fight card, generating
more outcomes and greater potential for dramatic
endings. This is comparable to a swim meet or track
meet, where over the course ofthe event, spectators are
almost guaranteed to see one or more close finishes.
Similarly, this difference between event types may
explain the relatively low ranking of vicarious achievement in this study. Much of the spectators' experience
at team sports events may be built around basking in
their team's performance and the eventual outcome of
the event. Most MMA events, on the other hand feature four or more fights. Even though a spectator may
identify with a particular fighter, that fighter's win or
loss may be only a fraction ofthe total experience
watching or attending the event. Instead of focusing on
one team, spectators at individual events may focus
more on the sport or event as a whole, lessening the
likelihood of achievement seeking behaviors.
Demographic differences
In terms of demographic segments, the majority ofthe
crowd was male, and MMA marketers have traditionally focused their efforts on reaching young males. For
example, UFG broadcasts many of their events on
SPIKE TV, which caters to a predominantly male audience, and they employ scantly clad models as ring girls
to appeal to male fans. However, nearly a quarter of
the participants in this study were female, indicating
the sport of MMA may also be expanding to the female
Volume 17 • Number 2 • 2008 • Sport MarHeting Quarteriy 117
audience. Although many women may have been initially attracted to the event to spend time with their
male friends, they cannot be discounted as future spectators; therefore, MMA marketers may want to consider incorporating the results of the present study in
order to expand interest among this segment. Given
drama and aesthetics were reported as the most important motivations by female respondents, MMA promoters should promote high quality, evenly matched
fights in order to increase their female fan base.
Media consumption
Because MMA is an emerging sport, the various
motives that predict media consumption are of utmost
importance to sport marketers in order to rapidly grow
the sport. While attendance at live events may present
geographic and financial limitations to some MMA
fans, consumption of the sport through media outlets
reduces some of these constraints while still enhancing
the revenue of MMA promoters through pay-per-view
events. Further, MMA events are contested much less
often than many other sports, generating a need to
encourage spectators to engage in media consumption
between live events. The analysis of spectators' motives
gives some insight into why current MMA fans are
watching events while not attending. Sport interest was
the most important predictor of media consumption
for males, indicating spectators who considered themselves fans of the sport were more likely to consume
MMA events through various media. Women were
also motivated by sport interest, but that motive was
second to drama, indicating women are more likely to
watch because they enjoy the drama associated with
close fights, than because they are fans of the sport.
Another difference between men and women concerned the relationship between vicarious achievement
and media consumption. Vicarious achievement was
the second most important motive for media consumption for males but did not predict media consumption for females. Because MMA fighters are
exclusively males at this point in time, men may find it
easier to feel a sense of accomplishment when their
favorite fighter wins.
Future Research
Whereas this study provides a profile of people attending a local amateur event, future research should
expand to examine the sport at different levels because
motivation factors may infiuence consumers differently at these various levels (Mahony et al., 2002). For
example, studies could examine the differences
between events that draw local, national, or international audiences. It is expected that national pride and
economic motivations would play more important
roles to attract MMA fans to watch or attend major
MMA events. In addition, this study examined spectators in an event held in the United States, while the
MMA phenomenon is being experienced in several
parts of the world. Specifically, comparisons between
North American and Asian fans would be of use considering North American customers appreciate different aspects of the sport as compared to Asian
customers (Genauer, 2006). Further, differences may
exist due to variations in importance of martial arts
among different cultures and in the way the sport has
been marketed in different areas of the world.
This study's findings also suggest motivations may
be different for spectators attending team sports than
for spectators attending individual sports. Further
research should examine these differences in order to
better market to different event types. Also, more
research could investigate hybrid event types where
individual sports are contested using a team concept,
such as the Ryder Gup in golf and the Davis Gup in
tennis. This idea is especially relevant in MMA as a relatively new company, the International Fight League,
utilizes the team concept to differentiate itself from its
more established rival promoters.
Future research should be conducted to understand
various segments of MMA fans. For example, contrary
to the beliefs regarding combat sports, the reason why
violence was not the main factor to attract fans to
attend or watch MMA events at the current study
could be due to the percentage of spectators at the
event who could be classified as highly identified MMA
fans. It is possible that fans with low levels of fan identity could have higher motives for violence. By understanding differences and demands of each sector of
MMA fans, MMA marketers could differentiate strategies to meet various customers' satisfaction.
Finally, MMA and other novel sports serve as ideal
settings to explore factors that contribute to one's initial attraction to a sport. While Funk and James' (2001,
2006) Psychological Gontinuum Model serves as an
excellent theoretical explanation of how one might
progress from a casual fan to a loyal fan, research
involving factors that initially attract one to a sport is
sparse and far from conclusive. Further, longitudinal
studies that explore how factors that initially attract
one to a sport change over time are lacking. Novel
sports, such as MMA, provide an ideal context for such
studies because they attract larger numbers of firsttime attendees, which can be subsequently compared
to those who have attended regularly in the past.
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