Recently, the culture of watching mixed martial arts (MMA) matches is blooming led by the MZ generation. Due to the explosive interest of the MZ generation, the MZ generation has emerged as a guarantee check for MMA competition.
According to the mixed martial arts industry on the 27th, all 7,000 tickets for the ‘ROAD (Road) FC 063’ event held at the Goyang General Gymnasium in Gyeonggi-do on the afternoon of the 25th were sold out. This is unusual considering that tickets for other events of a similar scale are rarely sold out.
The age group of the audience varied from 20s to 60s, but Road FC explained that 70% of the audience was in their 20s and 30s, the MZ generation. It is known that not only general seats with an admission fee of 80,000 won, but also VIP and VVIP seats with an entrance fee of 1 million to 3 million won around the stadium cage are sold out.
Tickets sold out every time… 70% of the audience are in their 20s and 30s
Previously, Road FC, a first-generation martial arts group in Korea, continued to sell out all seats at the’Road FC 058′ competition held in July 2021, regardless of the corona situation.
Road FC cites the ripple power of YouTube as the secret to the popularity of the MZ generation. It is said that the players aroused interest in the game by communicating directly with fans of the MZ generation through personal YouTube.
An official from Road FC said, “The times want more and more stimulating things, and martial arts are a sport that is affected by that.” 스포츠토토
In the Road FC 063 game, Hwang In-soo, the ‘underdog’, won the Doctor Stop victory over Myeong Hyeon-man, the ‘strongest player in Korea’, and thrilled the crowd.
‘Black Combat’, another new martial arts group, also sells out tickets every time it holds a tournament. It is attracting fans through rivalry between players, storytelling, and player nicknames, which have not been attempted in martial arts competitions.
In the ‘Black Combat 5: Song of the Sword’ competition held at the Suwon Convention Center in Gyeonggi Province on the 4th, Black Combat selected 5 fighters by weight class and played a Korea-Japan match against DEEP, a Japanese medium-sized martial arts organization, and hit a ‘big hit’. .
Tickets for 4,000 seats were all sold out, and 80% of the tickets were from the MZ generation in their 10s to 30s. The auction of player autographed items on the day of the game, which generates additional revenue outside the game, has also been sold out. Auction items ranged from hundreds of thousands of won to millions of won.
Players and fans YouTube communication… Storytelling marketing is also effective
The dominant analysis is that domestic martial arts organizations such as Road FC and Black Combat have led the ‘heyday of martial arts’ by prioritizing player values, such as raising the cost of a player’s match than in the past and creating a storytelling centered on the player.
An official from Black Combat said, “For the MZ generation who have communicated through YouTube, we introduced narratives for each player through YouTube, leading to the success of the game.” “he said.
Meanwhile, AFC (Angel Fighting), a domestic martial arts group, and HEAT (Heat), a Japanese group, are also scheduled to hold a 9-to-9 Korea-Japan match on April 6 following Black Combat and Deep.