Sean O’Malley is a star. Aside from what he produces in the Octagon, O’Malley differs from the rest of his division because he knows he’s a star.
Perhaps it’s the youthful exuberance or the colorful hair, but O’Malley has the “it” factor that the promotion savors. While he’s not ranked in the bantamweight division, that should soon change and we could see the 26-year-old in title contention in the next year or so. But O’Malley is not only relying on the company, he is thinking of other ways to promote his brand and business.
O’Malley has a successful twitch stream in which fans spend as much as $25 a month to pay to watch him play video games and interact with the bantamweight. He won a Fortnite tournament in 2019 and donated all of his winnings $27,5000 to Raising Special Kids, a nonprofit dedicated to helping parents of children with a full range of disabilities and special care needs. At the time, O’Malley was suspended by the UFC for failing a drug test. But, his part-time job as a gamer has helped him as he indicated in an interview that he was making “around $4,500 a month” in 2019 and its likely more with his popularity growing. The money comes from donations, subscribers to his channel and sponsors.
He’s forged a deal with AVA Direct Custom Computers that produce O’Malley inspired PC stations. One might call him a gaming influencer and as a guy with a following, he’s been able to grow a business out of the esports industry.
He’s announced that he will launch his own apparel line and has plans on launching his own line of marijuana products. The clothing brand comes due in part to recognizing that he only sees a small part of revenue from Reebok selling his likeness. He says he makes around $8,000 for over $1 million in Reebok apparel sales. As a test of this demand, he recently sold limited-edition custom basketball jerseys with his name on it for $200. With only 100 Irish-Themed jerseys to sell, they sold out in 39 seconds. Resells of them are on eBay with an asking price of $10,000.
After his last fight against Eddie Wineland in which he KO’d the UFC vet and earned a $50K bonus, O’Malley stated that he wanted to renegotiate his contract. O’Malley made $125,000 total from the UFC this past June. $35K/$35K purse, another $5K as part of the Reebok deal and another $50K from his Performance of the Night Bonus. Certainly, O’Malley believes he deserves more.
O’Malley let go of his management team because he didn’t believe they were providing him with the services. Similar to some other athletes in other sports, O’Malley serves as his own agent in negotiating contracts and let’s an attorney review the contract to ensure the legalities are squared away. But O’Malley does the business.
In 2015, former HBO executive Mark Taffet listed seven attributes to becoming a PPV megastar. One may ague that O’Malley has most of the attributes and is well on his way to being the next big draw.
In-ring style: One need only turn back to his last two fights which produced first round KOs that O’Malley has the power to stop anyone in his division. Also a slick, BJJ player, O’Malley participated in Quintet Ultra last December.
Out-of-ring persona: O’Malley is a twitch influencer and has a huge following online just from playing video games. His face tattoos, colorful hairs and prior to the pandemic, distinctive fight week dress style makes him someone you could spot in a crowd.
Natural rivalries: This will be one that O’Malley will need to cultivate and likely will grow as he continues up the ladder. You can see a rivalry with Cody Garbrandt in the offing based on the war of words on social media.
Demographics: O’Malley resonates with a lot of the young audience especially gamers, marijuana enthusiasts and those into BJJ. Unlike boxing, where the demo is dependent on the country of a fighter, O’Malley is popular with the social media generation.
Media/technology: As we’ve outlined, his twitch following is huge and he’s savvy with his social media.
Intent: In interviews its clear that O’Malley has the killer instinct to be the best in MMA and make sure he gets compensated for it. He genuinely wants to be the best and is willing to work at it.
“It” factor: O’Malley has the intangibles in being a marketable fighter. He’s already shown his business acumen and if he continues to win in the Octagon it will produce in fans.
A budding superstar, O’Malley may be a new prototype for the next generation of MMA star. Someone with the business aspect of the sport on his mind while still being entertaining inside the Octagon.
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