Today I’m going to show you all of the different reasons why boxing is such a popular sport.
The quantity of people participating in boxing has grown enormously, with 6.7 million active boxers in the United States alone in 2021 (up by 1.3 million from 2010).
Let’s jump into the reasons for the popularity and growth of the sport.
Thrill of Fighting
Boxing is fast, exciting, ferocious, and incredibly fun to both do and watch. I love rocking up at the boxing gym and throwing multiple combinations, dodging punches via the pads. It’s exhilarating and excellent for your mind, body, and soul.
Human beings are wired to enjoy violence. We have depended on it to survive throughout evolution. Multiple regions of the brain and body influence the expression of aggression, including various hormone and neurochemical systems. Fans subconsciously hope to see their favorite fighter knock out the opponent. The sport is thrilling and will continue to be so.
Betting Companies
Boxing can be a good sport for some people to bet on due to one’s understanding of what may likely happen in a bout. The gameplay is simple which therefore eliminates risks, and betting itself is addictive, which therefore increases the likelihood of that person avidly watching the sport.
Bigger Venues
Due to the growth of the sport, smaller stadiums would reach max capacity quickly. The introduction o bigger venues like Madison Square Garden, Caesar’s Palace, and The MGM Grand led to more and more tickets getting sold and more and more people becoming super fans.
There is nothing more special than being at a boxing event in person, and it makes a fan even more loyal in comparison to watching the sport behind a screen. This loyalty increases word of mouth, so more and more people get into watching the sport.
Better, Bigger, and More Boxing Gyms
There are 3,390 in the US in 2022 (up 640) from 2012. This increase has led to the possibility of more and more people getting involved in the sport.
The majority of gyms now have superb, up-to-date equipment that is both fun, useful, and enticing to use.
Social Media and How it Has Led to a Greater Attachment to Fighters and Boxing
In the olden days, you would be able to read what a fighter said in an interview with a journalist in the paper.
Nowadays, you get to see your favorite fighter in their prime training environment, you get to see what they eat, how they spend their free time, and so much more. Boxers have been able to greatly improve their personal brand, sell more of their product, share their love of the fans more, and influence deep loyalty with them.
Boxing organisations have also been able to increase the quantity of ticket sales due to increased exposure with social media users.
For example, WBO’s Instagram page has over 140,000 followers, many of whom would click through to their website and purchase tickets for upcoming fights.
YouTube Boxers
Since 2018, YouTubers (starting from KSI and Joe Weller) have started competing and commentating in the boxing scene due to the growth of the sport, the uniqueness of the PR strategy, the excitement it brings for their fans, and of course the money they generate from it.
This has astronomically benefited the sport of boxing due to the fact that the majority of the YouTuber’s fans wouldn’t normally be following the sport but now may feel inspired to buy tickets and compete themselves because their hero is.
Television
Like social media, TV has revolutionalized the sport of boxing. On June 1st, 1939, NBC became the first American television network to broadcast a boxing match.
Some boxing bouts now generate over one billion television views due to fact that nearly 1.75 billion people have a TV in their homes.
Thank you for reading our article, follow us on Instagram for more!
