A new sports poll posted in the Sports Business Journal (subscription required) last week lists boxing and mixed martial arts as sports that some senior-level sports industry executives in pro and college sports thought may slip into irrelevance. The poll, which was a part of bigger feature on horse racing in last week’s issue named the sport of sailing as the most dangerous to become obscure.
The poll that was given this past September to 2,000 senior-level sports executive had boxing as the second most dangerous sport to fall into irrelevance followed by horse racing and then MMA.
The poll, which was part of a story on the Breeder’s Cup horse racing event last week gauged the pulse of sports executives as to their opinions. Turnkey Sports & Entertainment conducted the survey in conjunction with the Sports Business Journal.
The question that was posed to the executives was, “Which of the following sports is in most danger of slipping into irrelevance?”
Sailing was on the top of the list with 43% of those polled picking the sport which most visible event is The America’s Cup. Next, was boxing with 34% followed by horse racing, 15% and then MMA 6%. Two percent of those polled gave no response or were not sure.
Payout Perspective:
The poll appears to be solely based on the opinions of senior sports industry executives and does not base it on any findings or numbers which would have them conclude which sports has fallen into irrelevancy. But, the survey reveals the perceptions of those within the sports industry. Its likely that the poll was meant to evaluate the opinions as it relates to horse racing as the feature story this survey accompanied was how the Breeder’s Cup adds enhancements to bring more of an audience to its event. As for the listing of boxing and MMA, one might infer that boxing appears so high on the list due to the lack of notable fights and the lack of the sport on network television. Obviously, those that follow the sport of boxing know that with the battle between HBO-Showtime and the influx of PPVs for boxing fans, the sport continues on. For MMA, why it appears on the list although not as high, might be due to the fact that there are not as many big events. Similar to boxing, most MMA followers know that there are a lot of MMA events for fans to watch, its just that there are not enough big events due to injury, scheduling or other factors.
“the sport of sailing as the most dangerous to become obscure” – you mean it isn’t already?
@Diego – Somewhere someone is on their yacht worried.
Jason, I’m sure you mean “sport most IN DANGER of falling into irrelevancy” — not “MOST DANGEROUS…”
I know this is not your full-time job and all, but if you could please make sure to proofread your work, that’d be most appreciated. I find the grammar and punctuation often makes articles almost incomprehensible often times. I don’t mean to be a grammar troll, but I do enjoy the service this site provides, and thank you for it. But, again, I really find the lack of proper grammar and sentence structure extremely off putting, and merely seek to provide some constructive criticism.