"Back on track," implies something has gone off the rails. Am I missing something? Was the UFC mainstrean before but now isn't? No. The problem that most real fans have is the UFC now caters to the mainstream too much. It's a great business model but it screws over the real fans.
I was answering a question that had been posed. Does mainstreaming put diehard fans on the backburner at times? Yes. But it can also be used to shift a business in a direction that is more sustainable. Today's football or baseball fans are not the same as the ones from the 1930s or even 1960s. The fans didn't change. The leagues redefined themselves using clever product/athlete placement.
I don't know what kind of sports you watch but you don't get to the top in any other sport because you're popular. Tom Brady doesn't start because he's popular or he's cool with Kraft. Serena Williams didn't get to be #1 because she's popular. It's merit, so don't tell me all sports are popularity contests. They are not.
I never suggested that sports are a popularity contest. I suggested that you can squeeze every fucking dime out of the sport by introducing athletes to the general public. I'm way more inclined to watch tennis, in large part because of Serena Williams. In fact, 100% in part due to Serena and Venus Williams. There literally hasn't been a player that captured my attention since the 80s. That said, those players that I "liked" in the 80s were introduced to me through commercials, sitcoms, tv specials, magazine articles, etc. The more I saw them, the more I watched in the 80s. Cause and effect.
I'm not sure why the concept is so hard to understand - if you see an athlete singing Christmas carols on a Bob Hope special, you're more inclined to watch his football game or wear his jersey or buy his video game or whatever there is to be marketed and sold. Is it a guarantee? Nope. But is it worth the investment? Yep. Money hand over fist. Guaranteed.
I get that combat sports is an individual sport and the analogy doesn't fully apply but, by and large, in every other sport it is a meritocracy. Your ideas are applicable 15 years ago and they sound more geared towards growing guys' individual brands. We're already there as far as mainstream. You can watch events on network TV. You already see fighters on tv and in movies.
Baseball, soccer, football, basketball - mainstream. MMA? Not quite. Mainstream is when the majority of society agrees that a sport is here to stay. When that majority agrees that sport takes skill. Mainstream: When the majority signs up their kids for classes, camps and afterschool leagues. When everyone knows someone that played that sport in grade school or high school or did it themselves. MMA? Again, not quite.
When every kid is bought an MMA hat or shirt during their life, the sport will be mainstream. Just like every kid gets a baseball cap, or football or soccer ball or jersey growing up. Mainstream.
And again, you're acting as if I said, "Hey let's have a card with 4 submission wrestling matches." I said "every now and then have a match." They already air EBI on fight pass and they're growing their audience. Pick a decent match to begin with and re-air it; even better if it's a fighter fans know. There's a reason everybody starts booing the second a fight hits the mat even before a guy has a chance to establish position. Because fans don't understand the art. That and half of them are drunk off their asses. You talk in absolutes as if you speak for everyone. "No one wants grappling events." You don't speak for everyone and furthermore sometimes you have to do unpopular things to further the sport by educating fans.
I'm saying submission wrestling sucks. I don't speak for everyone. Just the majority. There is a reason most people never go to high school or college wrestling matches. There is a reason why people watch WWE, but skip Olympics wrestling. One is of them is very boring - - to most people.
There is no money to be made catering to the 10 people who like watching submission wrestling.
Of course, I'm being a little over-to-the-top, but you understand. You already know most people don't like submission wrestling. So, there's no way that any discussion about invigorating the UFC should include the addition of submission wrestling - - especially when the UFC has methodically avoided or dismissed every fighter who relied to heavily upon submission wrestling. They did that for one reason - people don't like to watch it. They don't want to pay for it. They don't want to watch it for free.
Also....you mad. Relax. It's a discussion. We're not debating the fate of the world.
