Monetizing Jiu-Jitsu for Athletes

[annaz]

As somebody who trains, competes, and helps run a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gym, one of the biggest problems I have noticed is that the sport is expensive and there is little to no reward for an athlete’s hard work and time investment. I have spoken to other athletes about this and many of them can’t even cover basic living costs with the sport alone even with sponsorships, selling private lessons, and selling instructional content. There are other sports where athletes generate revenue just by playing on a team due to the high amount of attention the sport is given with media coverage etc. I’m trying to rack my brain on how to get Jiu-Jitsu to that level and make it a better experience for athletes who work extremely hard on top of doing things people who don’t train do. A couple of problems come to mind. 1: Jiu Jitsu really isn’t that interesting to watch (coming from somebody who does Jiu Jitsu). There has to be a tournament rule set that make the fights more interesting and so that even people who don’t participate in the sport will want to watch. 2: The exposure is limited (maybe because of problem 1?) to UFC fight pass and Flo grappling therefore it’s really on the individual athlete to market themselves (which is time consuming and without education or experience will fail). 3: The companies that typically do sponsor Jiu Jitsu athletes are Jiu Jitsu related companies meaning that it’s just one big sport incest money pool. Please feel free to add other issues that you notice and why you personally think it’s hard for athletes to earn an income with Jiu Jitsu. My current idea: starting a management system for athletes where I find sponsorships and manage exposure for each individual athlete to generate income, grow the sport, and give companies more exposure. What do you think?

 

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[Methodd]

I know there are a lot of competitors who complain about IBJJF and Flo. A quick google search:

https://www.reddit.com/r/bjj/comments/16xh57p View: https://www.reddit.com/r/bjj/comments/16xh57p/would_killing_flo_be_good_for_professional/

Second comment from a thread 4 months ago about how Flo has no incentive to improve since they have no competition.

https://www.reddit.com/r/bjj/comments/ysqeuk View: https://www.reddit.com/r/bjj/comments/ysqeuk/why_do_some_people_hate_the_ibjjf/

From last year, people compiling complaints against IBJJF

My own experience competing hasn't been than bad, but they did seem pretty unorganized. Ultimately I think there is room for improvement, but the size of BJJ as a whole will limit your Total Addressable Market and like you mentioned, athletes dedicate all their time to training and don't have much money. The best way to help them and likely the best way to make money, would be to provide a tournament and streaming service that is run well and athlete/sport focused.

All that said, some of my friends are begging to throw cash at new rashguards if they're funny, and I know they will buy clothes from companies like Albino & Preto because they also sell Gi's.

 

[Timmy C]

As somebody who trains, competes, and helps run a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gym, one of the biggest problems I have noticed is that the sport is expensive and there is little to no reward for an athlete’s hard work and time investment. I have spoken to other athletes about this and many of them can’t even cover basic living costs with the sport alone even with sponsorships, selling private lessons, and selling instructional content. There are other sports where athletes generate revenue just by playing on a team due to the high amount of attention the sport is given with media coverage etc. I’m trying to rack my brain on how to get Jiu-Jitsu to that level and make it a better experience for athletes who work extremely hard on top of doing things people who don’t train do. A couple of problems come to mind. 1: Jiu Jitsu really isn’t that interesting to watch (coming from somebody who does Jiu Jitsu). There has to be a tournament rule set that make the fights more interesting and so that even people who don’t participate in the sport will want to watch. 2: The exposure is limited (maybe because of problem 1?) to UFC fight pass and Flo grappling therefore it’s really on the individual athlete to market themselves (which is time consuming and without education or experience will fail). 3: The companies that typically do sponsor Jiu Jitsu athletes are Jiu Jitsu related companies meaning that it’s just one big sport incest money pool. Please feel free to add other issues that you notice and why you personally think it’s hard for athletes to earn an income with Jiu Jitsu. My current idea: starting a management system for athletes where I find sponsorships and manage exposure for each individual athlete to generate income, grow the sport, and give companies more exposure. What do you think?

I train BJJ as well, great sport.

The problem with BJJ and why it will never be mainstream is because it is just flat out boring to watch.
The average person does not know what's going on. Only people who train themselves can really appreciate what is happening. (seen you touch on this after I wrote it)

Some of the rulesets are also flat out boring, and some great grapplers just constantly stall in matches as the ruleset encourages it.

ADCC is probably the best ruleset for grappling, and I can maybe see it taking off with a similar ruleset to that.

Your best bet is a ruleset that punishes pulling guard, and punishes people for staling. It would also need to be time limit matches. No one wants to watch no time limit.

The problem with the management system is how will the sponsors make money from the athletes? The athlete has to offer something, that's why Gordon Ryan and Craig Jones make a killing.

You can make money in BJJ but the time commitment to be seen as someone worth buying courses from etc is quite long.

I don't have a good answer, I think the sport will grow as the years go on, but I can't ever see it being mainstream.

The best way for athletes to make money with BJJ is to transition to MMA Competition or sell courses/books etc.