Dana White on Olympic viewership – “You want viewers? Put MMA in the Olympics”
The Olympics are in full swing right now…. but Dana White thinks they can do better
Currently, there are five martial arts disciplines included in the Olympic Games: Judo, Taekwondo, Karate, Wrestling (which includes both Freestyle and Greco-Roman styles), and Boxing.
Mixed martial arts fans have long been asking for MMA to be included in the international multi-sport event which dates back to 1896 in Athens, Greece.
UFC CEO Dana White was recently asked about MMA being included in the Olympics when he said, “I think it should be an Olympic sport already.”
While the UFC frontman would like to see MMA included, he added, “It’s not my job. It’s not what I’m looking to do. I’m not pushing to turn this thing into an Olympic sport. [But] I agree with whoever said that, yes [I’d like to see it added].”
The UFC brand in particular when it comes to MMA is the big money maker and the organization that draws in the most ratings. White believes adding mixed martial arts could benefit the Olympics as far as viewership goes.
“And not to mention the fact that one of the big problems the Olympics is having right now, is viewership… You want viewers? Put MMA in the Olympics,” he said.
The ratings for the 2024 Olympics seem to be improving since the previous games however.
Through the first five days of the Paris Games, a span which includes Friday’s Opening Ceremony, NBCU is averaging approximately 33.8 million viewers across all TV and streaming platforms, which marks an improvement of 79% compared to this stage of the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Earlier this week, NBC reported that the opening Saturday of Paris 2024 was watched by more than 32 million viewers across its linear and streaming platforms, marking an 83 per cent increase on the first day of competition at Tokyo, which was held behind closed doors because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
