Are Canadians more bloodthirsty than Americans?
People would normally laugh this question off based on how Canadians are stereotyped around the world. Canadians are peacekeepers, aid…
People would normally laugh this question off based on how Canadians are stereotyped around the world. Canadians are peacekeepers, aid givers and humanitarians but at the same time, strangely enough, mixed martial arts fanatics.
The statistics don’t lie, Canadians spend an incredible amount of money every year on combat sports entertainment. We as a country account for 17% of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s total revenue, and that number is growing continuously every year. Only 6 of the UFC’s 129 events have been held on Canadian soil, but all 6 sit on top of the UFC’s all-time attendance list. Before the sport was even legalized in most places in the country, per-capita, Torontonians consistently purchased more MMA pay-per-views than anyone, anywhere in the world.
The UFC first broke into the fight-hungry Canadian market on April 19th 2008 in Montreal, Quebec. On the back of hometown fighter Georges St-Pierre, the company topped their previous attendance record by more than 2300 tickets, selling out the Bell Centre in record time. The staggering success of that first Canadian event raised a lot of eyebrows, not only within the UFC, but also with members of provincial parliaments across the country. This sport was obviously a big money-maker for the promoters and governments alike resulting in increased pressure to get the sport sanctioned in other provinces.
A few years removed from that first event, The UFC’s April 2011 arrival in Toronto only helped prove that Canadians have an unquenchable thirst for their unique brand of entertainment. Once again they shattered their all time event attendance record, packing over 55 thousand people into the Rogers Center. The event generated over $12 million in ticket sales alone and was expected to inject over $40 million into the local economy.
Ontario’s acceptance of mixed martial arts has resulted in a host of start-up promotions that have been eagerly waiting to tap into the market for years. The sport only has been legally sanctioned for two months yet large events have already been staged in Barrie, Windsor, London and Toronto. With shows planned to take place in Mississauga and Sudbury in early June. Fans have spoken with their wallets and the expansion of MMA appears to be gaining speed. The sport’s popularity isn’t just centered on Quebec and Southwestern Ontario either. Last year, Vancouver attracted over 17,500 fight fans into what was then known as GM place for UFC 115, the promotion’s first ever show on Canada’s west coast.
It is unclear why we Canadians are such hardcore fans of the mixed martial arts. Does it spawn from our love for bone-crushing hockey hits? Do our incessantly nice demeanours force us to suppress much of our daily aggression and require a violent form of entertainment to relieve our rage? Either way, if the sport keeps growing at the rate it is, it makes me wonder, could MMA someday be our 2nd National sport?