SportsEvents is edited for those who plan tournaments or other sports events.
Issue link: https://sportsevents.epubxp.com/i/80957
Home SPORTReport MMA, Kickboxing Find Their 'Legs' As the name implies, mixed martial arts, or MMA, combines a diverse set of combative-sport skills, including those of boxing, kickboxing, karate, judo, taekwondo and wrestling. Mixed Martial Arts had approximately 910,000 total competitive participants in 2010, according to the 2011 Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA) Participation Topline Report. The number for what SGMA calls "core" participants (engaging in competitive MMA more than a dozen times a year), however, was considerably lower at 382,000. "Between 2006 and 2009 there was a massive influx of participants into MMA," explained International Fight Sports (IFS) President/CEO Steve Fossum. "After 2009, it started to taper off because a lot of the competition promoters went belly-up. The number of events since then has dropped dramatically." IFS is an umbrella organization that includes United States Amateur Mixed Martial Arts (USAMMA), International Kickboxing Federation (IKF) and International Amateur Boxing (IAB), among other sports organizations, includ- ing some devoted to professional competitions. Fossum estimates there are about 3,500 amateur competitors within USAMMA and said 5 to 10 percent are female. The organizationʼs major competitions often have about 100 competitors and sometimes require as lit- tle as 15,000 square feet of competition space. Though MMA competitions can bring visitors to cities around the country, kickboxing events typically bring three or four times the number of competi- tors and require more space for the competitions, according to Fossum. "MMA is so inundated with smaller promotions that fighters donʼt feel like they have to go to a big tournament," said Fossum. "There arenʼt as many kick- boxing competitions being held so each one brings in far more competitors." Fossum also claims that kickboxers tend to bring along more family and friends and that they spend more money at event sites and host cities than do their MMA counterparts. "MMA is always growing and is still the fastest growing sport worldwide," said Fossum. "I think youʼll see a lot more events but the downside is that many of them will be arranged by promoters with their own agenda. A lot of state commissions are allowing these "pop-up" organizations to be accepted as a sanctioning body. Itʼs going to ruin the sport in the long run." ■ example, partly because there are more than three dozen restaurants and public gathering spots in very close proximity to the competition venue. Myers mentioned Fort Lauderdale as a good locale in no small part because of the beaches, prox- imity to Miami and its relative closeness to Walt Disney World. As for venue-specific requirements, sufficient space to accommodate the huge competition mats and large numbers of competitors seems to be the biggest issue. USA-NKF generally requires 25,000 square feet of contiguous column-free floor space. Arena-styled elevated seating is preferred. A 5,000-square-foot competi- tor staging room is required. Banquet seating for 100 is another desired asset. About 2,900 hotel rooms are required for USA-NKF's major competitions, and the bulk of them must be available at a centrally located headquarters hotel. To host the competition itself, hotels must meet the same requirements as any other facility. Bid proposals are generally accepted two years out. "We try to work up to two years ahead on host bids," Burns said. "The U.S. Open is in Las Vegas every year and we signed another contract with them this year. So far, we haven't looked at another venue for that." ■ Sport REPORT USA Karate/USA National Karate-Do Federation 2012 USA Open: 2,300 competitors Increase in USA Open participation: 14 percent Contact: www.usankf.org United States Amateur Mixed Martial Arts Competitors: 910,000 Participants competing on a regular basis: 382,000 Contact: www.usamma.com www.ikfkickboxing.com www.ifightsports.com/USAStates.htm 34 August 2012 www.sportseventsmagazine.com Subscribe Contact S.P.O.R.T.S. 2012 ▼