Combat Sports Pipeline Hit Hard by Covid Pandemic

[Best Coast]

Good article from ESPN about how young prospects are the hardest hit in the combat sports by the lack of club shows during the pandemic. Includes quote from BoxRec founder John Sheppard:
https://www.espn.com/mma/story/_/id/300 ... broke-2020

"The lifeblood of our industry -- both MMA and boxing -- are the club promoters," said Fight Club OC owner Roy Englebrecht, who promotes both sports. "That's the minor leagues. Boxers don't turn 18 and just sign with Golden Boy or Top Rank.

"COVID-19 has put a lot of club promoters maybe out of business forever. At our level, without any TV money or livestreaming money coming in, when you have to make it off of ticket sales and fighter ticket sales and sponsorships ... it's tough to cover your show expenses."

From March 1, 2019, to Sept. 1, 2019, there were 19,371 mixed martial arts fights in the world, according to record-keeper Tapology. Between March 1, 2020, and Sept. 1, 2020, there were only 3,764 -- an 80.6% drop. In the United States, the number of MMA fights went from 5,377 between March 1 and Sept. 1 of last year to 861 during that same time span this year.

According to Tapology, from March 1, 2019, to Sept. 1, 2019, UFC parent company Zuffa accounted for 4.4% of MMA fights in the United States. This year, during that same time span, that number has jumped to 21.3% -- a figure made even more startling by the fact that Zuffa ran only one event, UFC 248, in the United States in March, April or July. From March 1 to Sept. 1 of this year, more than one in every five MMA fights in the United States has been in either the UFC or Dana White's Contender Series.

In boxing, the numbers are just as stark. Last year, there were 15,856 boxing matches worldwide between March 1 and Sept. 1, per BoxRec. This year? Just 5,150, which is a 67.5% drop. In the United States, there were 3,443 boxing matches from March 1, 2019, to Sept. 1, 2019. During that same period this year, there were just 1,508.

"I don't think there has ever been a time like this," BoxRec founder John Sheppard said. "Even during [World War II] on D-Day in 1944, there were three [boxing] events in California."

Though the UFC has a built-in feeder system in Dana White's Contender Series -- which has had a record 26 fighters signed to the UFC this season -- not many other promotions have that luxury. Things have gotten so difficult as far as developing prospects, Coker said, that Bellator is considering financially supporting a smaller MMA promotion to help get the ball rolling on events.

"Where are you going to find your next big MMA stars?" Coker said. "You look to the smaller shows. And it's not just the smaller shows. You can't even go into the [amateur] wrestling community now or other combat sports communities because everything is shut down. And I don't mean just domestically. I'm talking worldwide. It's a huge problem."

The full article has more on boxing and MMA besides the above text.

[Enlightened-One]

I was aggressively ridiculed when I previously claimed that boxing events wouldn’t be staged in geographical locations struggling to deal with the coronavirus.

I was also mocked when I claimed the lack of gate receipt revenue for behind closed-door bouts would seriously affect the quality of fight cards being staged.

I don’t really need to say any more.

On a side note, I do feel sorry for the vast majority of fighters that have had to seek another occupation, because the majority of them earn very little and live from fight to fight... one payday at a time.

And if they’re unable to compete, they can’t pay the bills or put food on the table.

Boxing wouldn't exist without those that compete at grass roots. So the current COVID-19 situation could seriously affect all combat sports in the long-term.

[Best Coast]

I do feel sorry for the vast majority of fighters that have had to seek another occupation, because the majority of them earn very little and live from fight to fight... one payday at a time.

And if they’re unable to compete, they can’t pay the bills or put food on the table.

Boxing wouldn't exist without those that compete at grass roots. So the current COVID-19 situation could seriously affect all combat sports in the long-term.

Your point is valid, but fortunately for boxing, the sweet science is being impacted less at the grass-roots level by the pandemic than MMA has been since the lockdown in March of this year, especially in the US.

Total number of MMA fights worldwide from March-September 2020 > 3,764
Total number of boxing matches worldwide from March-September 2020 > 5,150

https://www.espn.com/mma/story/_/id/300 ... broke-2020

From March 1, 2019, to Sept. 1, 2019, there were 19,371 mixed martial arts fights in the world, according to record-keeper Tapology. Between March 1, 2020, and Sept. 1, 2020, there were only 3,764 -- an 80.6% drop. In the United States, the number of MMA fights went from 5,377 between March 1 and Sept. 1 of last year to 861 during that same time span this year.

In boxing, the numbers are just as stark. Last year, there were 15,856 boxing matches worldwide between March 1 and Sept. 1, per BoxRec. This year? Just 5,150, which is a 67.5% drop. In the United States, there were 3,443 boxing matches from March 1, 2019, to Sept. 1, 2019. During that same period this year, there were just 1,508.

In the US there was only a 56.2% drop in the number of boxing matches from 2019 to 2020 compared to 67.5% worldwide. For MMA matches in the US there was a phenomenal 84.0% drop (of course a good chunk of that 84% is due to moving numerous UFC cards to FIght Island in Abu Dhabi that would have been held in the US if it wasnt for the pandemic).

[Onetimeonly]

The drop is the smaller promotions. Hell, even bellator was out.