Which major sports do you consider relevant in the US?

[MikeO]

Easy way to judge this.
MMA has shows on cable. NHL has shows on cable. (lets take the playoffs out of it, the regular season NHL from October-Apri)

And for those months MMA crushes NHL in cable ratings and its not even close.

Thats NOT counting MMA PPV's or NHL stanley cup games. If you want to start comparing that by all means lets do it. Fact is MMA makes more $$ on average per fan than the NHL could dream of.

[Brian Fein]

NHL has 10-12 games every night of the week.  Are there 10-12 MMA events every night?  Or maybe 1 per week?

Not a fair comparison.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

Seems to me that MMA is more of a niche sport than hockey.

Even folks who don't watch hockey checked the news to find out who won the cup.  Folks who don't watch MMA barely even knows it exists. 

[Dave Gray]

I have no idea who won the Stanley cup.

[Brian Fein]

I have no idea who won the Stanley cup.

This is sad.  I'm sorry but you don't even have to be an avid fan to see it plastered on SportsCenter.  And on your own message board...

Yeah, you're probably right.

No argument here.  I doubt you'll ever see this much success from one city over a decade again.   Especially not from all 4 major sports.  I can see some team 6-peating or something, while another team also gets 2 championships, but not this spread out, no.

Note the phrase YOU used in the discussion about winning the Stanley Cup - "4 major sports"

Are you just trying to incite something here?

[Spider-Dan]

The NHL is a loser on cable tv when it comes to  ratings for the regular season while UFC is a cable TV ratings monster.

The NHL has a good week a year, the UFC draws big year round on PPV!

MikeO, which of the following statements do you agree with?

1) In a given calendar year, all UFC events combined have more total TV viewers than all NHL games combined.
2) In a given calendar year, all UFC events combined have a higher attendance than all NHL games combined.

[Dave Gray]

This is sad.  I'm sorry but you don't even have to be an avid fan to see it plastered on SportsCenter.  And on your own message board...

Note the phrase YOU used in the discussion about winning the Stanley Cup - "4 major sports"

Are you just trying to incite something here?

No, now that you mention it, I remember it.  But I didn't watch a single game or highlight from the series.  But I didn't even know it.

[Dave Gray]

MikeO, which of the following statements do you agree with?

1) In a given calendar year, all UFC events combined have more total TV viewers than all NHL games combined.
2) In a given calendar year, all UFC events combined have a higher attendance than all NHL games combined.

Of course, the answer is neither.  But this is a bad way to determine popularity.  Like I said before, it's apples and oranges.  The structure of the sports isn't the same. 

I do think that hockey is more popular, but not using this metric.  There are SO MANY more times to watch hockey in a year than with UFC.  There are like 50 hockey games a week.  There are only half that many UFC programs per year.

[MikeO]

Seems to me that MMA is more of a niche sport than hockey.

Even folks who don't watch hockey checked the news to find out who won the cup.  Folks who don't watch MMA barely even knows it exists. 

Couldn't be more wrong. A fraction of America can name 5 current NHL Hockey Players off the top of their head. The vast majority of America can name 5 current MMA stars. And EVERYONE knows of Brock Lesnar. Brock is a bigger world-wide star than any hockey player and it isn't even close!

[Spider-Dan]

Isn't that like saying that VH1 (home of Hogan Knows Best) must be one of the most popular television channels because everyone knows who Hulk Hogan is?

Brock Lesnar is one of the worst examples to pick if you want to prove that MMA is popular.  He was more well-known than any UFC fighter before he set foot in an octagon.

[MikeO]

Doesn't matter how your well known.....YOU ARE KNOWN! You bring the masses to the sport. You bring the media attention. The NHL has nobody. UFC has Brock among many others but Brock is the biggeset.

Brock is the biggest star in MMA and a bigger star than any NHL player. That's a fact. Can't deny it

Randy Couture, Rampage Jackson, Chuck Lidell, Tito Ortiz, Matt Hughes, GSP...your average joe walking the street has at least heard of those people and know they are UFC/MMA guys. Start naming a bunch of Russians and Europeans in the NHL and the average guy walking the street wouldn't know if they are prime ministers or hockey players. They would have no friggin clue as to who your talking about.

[CF DolFan]

I don't follow either of the sports so I'll try to name them.  I know Lidell, Ortiz and I know Brock from wrestling. Didn't a Gracie used to do this too?  From hockey I know Wayne Gretsky, Gordie Howe, Mario  Lemiex, Bobby Orr, Bobby Hull, Sidney Crosby and Jagr. I've seen several MMA matches and don't think I've watched 5 hockey games in my life ... outside of the Olympics.

Not that I didn't know it already but I would have to say hockey is certainly more popular than MMA.  It's a cult in the northjust like college football in the south. While I think MMA appeals to a select group and not neccesarily the same groups.

[Spider-Dan]

Doesn't matter how your well known.....YOU ARE KNOWN! You bring the masses to the sport. You bring the media attention. The NHL has nobody. UFC has Brock among many others but Brock is the biggeset.

Brock is the biggest star in MMA and a bigger star than any NHL player. That's a fact. Can't deny it

Hitching your wagon to a WWE property is not a long-term solution.  People who follow Brock don't care about when he's NOT fighting (which is not likely to happen again, given his medical problems).

Randy Couture, Rampage Jackson, Chuck Lidell, Tito Ortiz, Matt Hughes, GSP...your average joe walking the street has at least heard of those people and know they are UFC/MMA guys.

They are no more famous than Sidney Crosby, Mike Modano, Brendan Shanahan, or Paul Kariya... and that's to say nothing of Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux.  I think you greatly overestimate the popularity of the UFC.

Furthermore, even if I accepted your premise of those individual fighters being more popular, what MMA fighter is as well known as the Detroit Red Wings?  Or the Pittsburgh Penguins?  You're comparing apples to minivans.

Worldwide, you have an argument (but worldwide, both the UFC and the NHL are statistical noise compared to soccer, MLB, or the NBA).  In North America, UFC is significantly less popular than the NHL.

[MikeO]

I said "current NHL players"  Gretzkey and Mario jesus christ go back to Gordy Howe why don't ya lol.

And once again your "qualifying" the fame of Brock Lesnar. Who cares how he became famous. It's a stupid argument and is meaningless. He's famous!! That brings popularity to the sport he competes in. Michael Jordan became famous playing in the NBA, then he had a small army of media following him playing minor league baseball. That elevated minor league baseball ever so slightly as more people followed IT because of HIM!!! They spent more money on minor league baseball. Sold more merchandise in minor league baseball. More attention=more popular!! Simple Concept! BUT, unlike Jordan....BROCK CAN GO! The guy won the world title in like 3 or 4 fights and beat a who's who of guys.

And Brock is due to fight in Feb or March, so stop writing his obit.  BY THE NUMBERS (actual facts) Brock is only the 3rd biggest PPV draw in UFC history. Behind GSP and Chuck Lidell.  Once again FACTS saying nobody watches when he isn't fighting. In fact Brock's season of TUF was one of the lowest rated of all time. Seasons with Rampage, GSP, Evans, Forest drew much higher ratings. Once again thats a FACT!!

Top Ten UFC Draws of All-Time
 
(career PPV buyrate totals as one of the headliners of a card - all buyrates are estimates) *updated after UFC 124
 
Total
1 Georges St-Pierre 7790000
2 Chuck Liddell 6324000
3 Brock Lesnar 6045000
4 Matt Hughes 5899000
5 Forrest Griffin 5630000
6 BJ Penn 5525000
7 Tito Ortiz 5294000
8 Frank Mir 5209000
9 Randy Couture 4767000
10 Anderson Silva 4650000


In the USA outside of a couple cities in the northeast and 1 or 2 in the midwest, nobody cares about hockey. It's the one sport ESPN doesn't want, thats all you need to know!! On the other hand UFC is turning down ESPN in the US and only partners with them overseas. ESPN is the perfect example actually. It doesn't want hockey and its begging for UFC. Game over!

[Spider-Dan]

And once again your "qualifying" the fame of Brock Lesnar. Who cares how he became famous. It's a stupid argument and is meaningless. He's famous!!

He is famous because of WWE.  All of those fans (whom you claim as proof of MMA's influence) were actually influenced by pro wrestling.

That brings popularity to the sport he competes in. Michael Jordan became famous playing in the NBA, then he had a small army of media following him playing minor league baseball. That elevated minor league baseball ever so slightly as more people followed IT because of HIM!!! They spent more money on minor league baseball. Sold more merchandise in minor league baseball. More attention=more popular!!

And what happened when Jordan left the minor leagues?

Seems like that would be a relevant detail.

Once again FACTS saying nobody watches when he isn't fighting. In fact Brock's season of TUF was one of the lowest rated of all time. Seasons with Rampage, GSP, Evans, Forest drew much higher ratings. Once again thats a FACT!!

I notice that you chose not to address the FACT that NHL has a much higher attendance and viewership than UFC.  Furthermore, I think we can both safely agree that the NHL OBLITERATES the UFC in merchandising sales, video game sales, endorsement deals, etc.

In the USA outside of a couple cities in the northeast and 1 or 2 in the midwest, nobody cares about hockey.

The 2010-11 NHL season ran from October 7, 2010 to April 12, 2011.  Here are the attendance figures for every U.S. UFC in that time frame (I am including only the main numbered UFC events, so as not to unfairly skew the UFC numbers on the low end):

UFC 121: 14,856
UFC 123: 16,404
UFC 125: 12,874
UFC 126: 10,893
UFC 128: 12,619
UFC 130: 12,753
average: 13,400

How many NHL teams do you think averaged more than 13,400 attendance for their FORTY-ONE regular season games?  Let me make this easy for you: all but two. One was NY Islanders (who are in an area that you have already conceded as a hockey region, and share a city with another NHL team).  The other is the Phoenix Coyotes.

So, to clarify: hockey "hotbeds" such as San Jose, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, Anaheim, Raleigh, and Tampa ALL averaged a better draw (for regular season games!) than U.S. UFC events.  And of the bottom three NHL teams in attendance, one of them was moved and one of them is being subsidized by the local government.

In other words, an U.S. NHL team that was as poorly attended as an average U.S. UFC event would be in dire straits.

I think that says it all.

P.S. To be fair, you could cite the fact that 6 of the top 9 best-attended MMA events ever (including #1 by a mile) were in Canada, which has been excluded from this comparison.  However, citing Canada in a popularity contest of hockey vs. MMA is the joke that writes itself.