MMA a Sport or Not?
This is an editorial I wrote after
finding out what local news stations had to say regarding the Mixed
Martial Arts. Did you know the mainstream media had this opinion? Read
on to find out..
So Is Mixed Martial Arts a Sport or Not?
It
looks like Mixed Martial Arts have arrived and are not making any plans
to go anywhere, but mainstream media is scrambling to decide what to do
with this frenzy of fans demanding everything Mixed Martial Arts. The fact of the matter is that it seems to come down to a basic question of “What the heck is it?”
As an aspiring journalist in the Martial Arts field, I called up several media
companies available to me and inquired regarding their coverage or need
for coverage of Mixed Martial Arts and Martial Arts Events in general. I
was amazed to find out that no organization in Charlotte, North
Carolina, was interested in ongoing coverage of Mixed Martial Arts
events or Martial Arts Events. Their replies were a
mixture of both silence all the way to Charlotte Observer’s “unofficial
response” from Harry Pickett that Mixed Martial Arts were not “sports”
as the paper defines a sport.
The first thing that seems strange about that is that in order to have these events legalized, the bill had to be passed. This
means that our elected officials speaking on our behalf as constituents
have already declared that not only is it a sport, but that it is to be
regulated by the official state represented Boxing Association and
Alcohol and Liquor Enforcement. That being said, what does constitute a sport to us as readers? Is it the presence of competition alone? Would it be the measurement of human performance? Is having an accountable set of statistics required? Should there be certain team formats respected? An
interesting comment made by one of the Charlotte Observer’s Sports Page
Reporters was that while “they would cover as many events involving the
kids as possible”,” there was confusion about whether Mixed Martial
Arts should be in the Sports category or Entertainment with
Professional Wrestling.” Wow.
For
all the mainstream media’s struggle with whether or not to publish
information on MMA, their respective television stations don’t seem to
be struggling with whether or not to air the competitions or at least
programming showcasing the Martial Arts. Spike, Vs, History, Discovery, Science, SciFi, and now the media giant CBS are all getting in on the show. There
are also the interests from Showtime and HBO in covering these events
and staggering profits on the steady increase from MMA’s massive
involvement in Pay-Per-View events. Still, not defined in the news as a sport.
Arguments
go all over the place on this one and the only real answers are the
ones that come out of the people who buy the papers or watch the news’
mouths. So, once again, loyal fan and reader and
detractor, it is up to you to decide for yourself and let your local
newspaper or television stations know that you think that Mixed Martial Arts is indeed a sport or whether you do not. Yours truly is waiting pen in hand for your answers.
Please send all those answers to endgame2012@bellsouth.net or post them here, and I will make sure your voices count.