A Bridge Too Far Into The Mainstream?
July 14, 2008
Operation Market Garden was the ultimately unsuccessful Allied attempt to break through German lines and seize several bridges, with the main objective the bridge over the Lower Rhine River, during World War II. British Lieutenant General Frederick A.M. Browning, deputy commander of the First Allied Airborne Army, expressed concern, telling Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery before the operation, “I think we may be going a bridge too far.”
The moral of the above quote is that sometimes in reaching too far, one over-extends and opens themselves up to a failure that is somewhat self inflicted. I feel much the same mistake is potentially being made with MMA as it relates to moves by some to launch the sport into the deepest recesses of the mainstream. The moves are being made so fast and furious that there appears to have been little thought given as to whether or not these plans are “a bridge too far,” that may lead to a backlash.
The main area I think this pertains to is the recent moves by promoters, merchandisers, and instructors of MMA to target pre-teens as a market for mixed martial arts. While it is important to continue to find new markets for MMA’s growth, targeting this group will serve neither the sport nor the larger society as a whole well. Please know at the outset that these sentiments come out of a love for mixed martial arts, not a Phil Mushnick-type rant based out of ignorance and hate for the sport.
While MMA certainly appeals to a younger demographic, there should be some internal restraints on how far down the MMA community should reach with these efforts. Paolo Bandini made an excellent illustration of this in his blog for The Guardian:
……is indicative of the way in which the UFC has consolidated itself as a mainstream sport over the past two years. The crowd at the Mandalay Bay Events Center may contain few families, but the city has been packed all weekend with kids nagging their parents for UFC merchandise.
The sight of three girls no older than 10 showing off T-shirts featuring one man kneeing another in the head to their proud fathers is likely to stay with me, yet White can justifiably argue that on many levels his athletes make great role models…
The show itself is not everyone’s cup of tea, and for all that organizers can rightfully be proud of the fact that a broken arm remains the UFC’s worst ever injury, mixed martial arts remains an intensely violent sport. “I wouldn’t let my kids watch it,” says Evelyn, a mother who surprised her husband with tickets for his 40th birthday and for all the technical skill of the fighters, there is no denying that many in the sport’s strongest demographic – males aged 18-34 – enjoy the adrenaline rush generated by such apparent brutality.
The mother in the last quote is an example of the dichotomy that MMA faces, a public that can and will embrace the sport but at the same time clearly delineates who the proper audience is and should be for the sport. The mainstream will gradually embrace the sport, but it would seem they will blanch at moves by those in the MMA community to market towards too young of an audience.
The targeting of this market has made itself apparent in a multitude of ways. One such area is in merchandising. The guys at TapouT are certainly good businessmen and have found a message and look that resonates with their customer base. That said, do we really want a legion of children that adhere to the mantra of Tapout of being American, arrogant, and inyaface? We may be about to find out as TapouT is looking into various marketing ideas targeted specifically at kids. While one can certainly question the parenting that would buy these products, some derision has to be placed at Tapout’s feet as well for actively seeking out that market.
TapouT isn’t the only group that is looking to exploit this youth market. One of the highlights of the UFC’s recent merchandising efforts was a licensing deal with action figure maker Jakks. While lip service was paid to the items being collectibles, Dana White didn’t really deny that he would be marketing his company’s product to children:
With the WWE leaving Jakks soon, the UFC was in prime position to cut a nice deal to replace the wrestling company. I think the better thing for the company in the long term would have been to forgo the deal. One can argue that the UFC is only treading in territory that WWE opened up, but WWE has a credibility problem that isn’t harmed by marketing to kids, i.e. they have no credibility with mainstream that can be affected by such moves. The general public already thinks of WWE as carnival barkers so there is a certain freedom they have to be amoral. The UFC is still in a phase where their public perception is still being formed and subject to change. Aiming their product at pre-teen kids isn’t going to help them in this respect.
The last area that seems to be over-reaching is in the area of instruction of mixed martial arts to kids. This area is the one with the largest gray area when it comes to appropriateness for kids. Thankfully some folks like the people at Cincinnati MMA are taking a more measured approach to introducing the sport to the youth:
They are emphasizing the individual elements of the sport as well as a thorough values based program that stresses restraint and control of the skills they are learning. The instructor clearly indicates that he doesn’t want his students at that age anywhere near the cage. Unfortunately some folks aren’t as reticent about putting 10 yr olds in a cage:
In closing, I’ll expand on a quote from one of the folks mentioned above. Often Dana White likes to give the analogy of how he hates golf, can’t stand it, not his cup of tea but he thinks that folks should be able to have access and watch it, just like they should have access to MMA. I say the flip side of the coin is that while everyone should have access to mixed martial arts, should it be consumed by all demographics, including kids?
As much as I love the sport, I have to say that specifically targeting kids feels like a bridge too far.
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