Development of MMA, motorsports and boxing in the United States
The USA is a sporting country and there is a lot of sporting activity going on. In this article we will not talk about the top 4 sports in the USA, as you can find a lot of information about them. Instead, we will tell you about the development of MMA, boxing and motorsports.
MMA
MMA mixed martial arts is a young sport, which became widespread just a few decades ago in the early 1990s. Despite this, mixed martial arts is already one of the ten most popular sports in the United States with excellent prospects for further development. In America, the popularity of mixed martial arts is mainly due to the UFC, which is the biggest MMA promotion in the world. Typically, the most significant UFC fights are held in Las Vegas or New York.
In addition to sponsorship contracts and revenue from ticket sales, the UFC’s main earnings come from the sale of paid subscriptions to broadcasts of major fights. For example, the UFC sold approximately 2.4 million pay-per-view episodes (the cost per broadcast is more than $60) for the fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor. You can follow MMA and other sports news at https://espn-news.com/.
Autosport
The two most popular racing series in the USA are NASCAR and IndyCar. Curiously enough, Americans prefer their American series to international Formula 1 and MotoGP. Nascar has over 70 years of history and is an iconic American motorsport series. The most famous and prestigious race in the oval series that attracts the most public attention is the Daytona 500.
The popularity of motorsport in America has declined markedly in recent years, primarily due to racing on tracks in non-track states (such as Nevada or California) in an attempt to expand the audience of viewers. For example, television ratings for the Nascar series in 2017-2018 have fallen by about a third since the early 2000s.
Boxing
This is another sport that is losing viewers not only within the US, but around the world. MMA is coming on the heels of boxing and is gradually catching back up. The history of professional boxing in the United States is very rich and goes back more than 100 years. In the 60`s and 70`s Mohammad Ali raised boxing popularity to unprecedented heights – in those years, boxing was considered one of the most popular sports. Hollywood used to make movies about Rocky the boxer, starring Sylvester Stallone.
Other notable American boxers include Mike Tyson, Floyd Mayweather, Oscar de la Hoya and Evander Holyfield. Currently, the main reason of the boxing popularity decline among American public is lower spectacularity of the fights in comparison with MMA, and lack of a champion (or at least a championship contender) in the most prestigious heavyweight division.
If you want the latest information and boxing news, you should use https://espn-news.com/category/boxing/. There are many interesting facts and articles to help you research boxing and keep up to date with the latest sporting events.