Here is an examination of fan base demographics based on website statistics for UFC, Strikeforce (SF), WWE, TNA, NBA, NFL, Golden Boy Promotions (GB), NHL and MLB:
Web site Male pct Age 3-12 13-17 18-34 35-49 50+
UFC 58 2 4 46 38 11
SF 74 2 25 42 21 9
WWE 57 8 22 37 27 7
TNA 53 4 17 44 25 18
NBA 58 3 17 41 25 14
NFL 60 3 10 34 36 17
GB 62 2 17 20 42 18
NHL 59 1 3 36 41 19
MLB 57 1 4 34 35 26
UFC has a substantial portion of its website traffic from 18-49 year olds (84%), whereas Strikeforce has more teenagers than WWE. Strikeforce live attendances, however, are dominated by 25-34 year olds rather than teenagers. Boxing is also stronger in teenagers than UFC. Hockey and baseball also appear to be struggling in targeting the teenage demographic, while only wrestling seems to be doing well with under 12s.
Here is breakdown of website traffic by ethnicity – Cacuasian (Cauc), African American (Afr Am) and Hispanic (Hisp):
Web site Cauc. Afr. Am Asian Hisp
UFC 81 3 3 11
SF 54 2 10 33
WWE 66 15 3 15
TNA 66 19 1 12
NBA 51 25 11 10
NFL 77 11 3 8
GB 24 8 5 61
NHL 91 2 2 3
MLB 86 3 2 8
UFC and Strikeforce have quite different audiences, perhaps due to Strikeforce being based in San Jose. UFC is based in Las Vegas, however, which also has a substantial Hispanic population. However, UFC is not doing anywhere near as well with Hispanics in comparison to boxing. There is a strong African American interest in MMA, baseball and hockey, although in terms of percentage TNA is doing well with that demographic.
Now a look at the annual income of the adult fanbase, which is important in terms of generating website advertising revenue:
Web site less than $30K 30-60K 60-100K 100K+
UFC 16 28 30 27
SF 45 28 20 7
WWE 34 41 15 10
TNA 32 31 21 16
NBA 20 27 28 25
NFL 15 29 31 25
GB 33 29 34 3
NHL 16 27 30 27
MLB 15 26 31 28
UFC has similar adult fan income levels to the NFL, NHL and MLB. WWE and Strikeforce perform poorly in this category, even behind TNA, which has significantly higher average incomes per fan.
Credit: Wrestling Observer
