Joe Rogan To Sponsor Gordon Ryan, 2022 ADCC World Championships

This September, Joe Rogan is sponsoring the 2022 ADCC World Championships in Las Vegas. Rogan is also sponsoring three-time ADCC world champion Gordon Ryan who will be competing at the event.

According to Q3 2021 viewership numbers shared by Nielsen and Spotify, Rogan’s podcast reaches an average of 11 million listeners per episode, making him the most popular media figure in the United States.

The dollar-value of the the sponsorship hasn’t been disclosed, but Rogan’s support for ADCC and Ryan marks a shift in the economics of grappling.

Speaking on the sponsorship, Ryan said on his Instagram, “Happy to announce my new sponsor for ADCC. [He is] a brand and a friend I stand behind, no matter how many times he’s canceled. Thanks for being a real dude on and off camera and giving voices to people who would otherwise have none. JRE will also be an official sponsor of [ADCC] this year.”

This shift in earnings potential and spotlight has been eleven years in the making for Ryan and twenty-three years for ADCC.

Ryan has grappled since age 15. He began training in his home state of New Jersey under Miguel Benitez, then John Danaher, Tom DeBlass, and Garry Tonon.

In addition, this February, Ryan received a $100,000 sponsorship from WhyBitcoinCash.com. BJJ Fanatics described him as “the biggest draw for grappling promoters,” and now it’s proven.

Meanwhile, ADCC, or Abu Dhabi Combat Club, has existed since 1998 but didn’t break even until 2019. However, based on ticket sales, interest in the sport has surged. Mo Jassim, the organizer, doubled 2019’s numbers in 18 hours last year.

Speaking to Flo Grappling last year, Jassim said they sold more seats a year out in an hour than they had for the 2019 event. In the same story, Brazilian jiu-jitsu blackbelt, analyst, and writer Hywel Teague said the ADCC event this Fall will be the “biggest no-gi grappling event in history.”