Boxing Making Huge Comeback With Younger Audiences

Brace yourself for a shocker: Boxing’s popularity is surging in the United States. For a sport long-deemed a relic from yesteryear, boxing is attracting fans at a higher rate in the U.S. than any other sport while also capturing a younger fan base, according recent poll data.

The esteemed Harris Poll, which surveyed more than 2,000 adults in 2021, ranks boxing as the country’s fourth most-popular sport with 33% of respondents saying they are fans of the sweet science. Ranking ahead of boxing are football (62%) and baseball and basketball (both at 49%). Back in 2010, boxing failed to place in the Harris Poll’s top 10. But perhaps the biggest Harris Poll reveal is that boxing ranks one spot ahead of MMA (30%).

None of this surprises Brian Kelly, the Chief Revenue Officer at Top Rank, one of boxing’s biggest — and most historic — promotions. Kelly quickly points to metrics from Luker on Trends that show boxing has grown more than any sport from 2010 to 2020, attracting more than 26 million new American fans over that period of time.

“It’s all a testament to the power of boxing.” Kelly said.

But what’s driving the sport’s rising popularity? Gen-Z is a big part of it, Kelly says. And recent data supports that claim. According to a Front Office Sports report, boxing has recently passed baseball as the fourth most popular sport among Gen-Zers.

Kelly said social media has been the key to drawing in younger fans.

“Boxing’s format caters very well to how Gen-Z consumes content. A boxing match can be over in 5 seconds or last for 36 minutes. There can be an incredible knockout at any moment and you don’t want to miss it,” he said.

That’s a big reason why Top Rank struck a partnership deal with Snapchat and launched its Top Rank Boxing: Uncut in late 2021. “Top Rank on Snap will deliver fans the closest imaginable look into fight week,” Kelly said.

Kelly said that Top Rank also keeps “very active” on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, knowing that compelling content drives social-media engagement. “Social media platforms are incredible outlets for us, in terms of telling a story and experiences of Top Rank boxers,” he said.

Also attracting new fans is Top Rank’s stable of stars — Tyson Fury, Vasiliy Lomachenko, Shakur Stevenson, Naoya Inoue and Mikaela Mayer, among many others. “Our boxers have amazing stories that have never been told before. Our outlets and channels are working more closely with our boxers to tell those stories,” Kelly said.

But perhaps there’s one more explanation for boxing’s growing fandom: the Paul brothers, Jake and Logan, the YouTube sensations-turned-prizefighters, who are selling out arenas and hosting pay-per-views. That might be anathema to some boxing purists but not Kelly, who says the Paul brothers are “drawing in an audience, and it’s great in terms of growing the sport.”

And growing the sport is what matters most to Kelly and Top Rank. “In recent years,” he said, “we’re seeing this shift in that casual boxing fans are becoming more passionate boxing fans… And we want the sport of boxing to continue to thrive and grow.”