Interest in modern sports has changed significantly in the last decade as the prevalence and availability of new, non-traditional sports has increased to United Kingdom residents via the television, internet and increasing coverage in mainstream media. The traditional favorites of football, cricket, rugby and boxing are beginning to make way for other sports.
Professional wrestling, most commonly seen in the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) competition has been popular for many years in the United Kingdom but has managed to keep many fans who first encountered the sport as a child interested as they grow into adults. In the same way as mixed martial arts has done, professional wrestling is challenging boxing as a popular contact sport. The appearance of scripted story lines and fights, together with brand name fighters and famous participants has led to a strong cult-like following which shows no signs of weakening.
American Football is a prime example of a relatively new sport gaining ground in England and Britain. The main competition available to England’s fans is the NFL, one of the biggest world American Football organizations. During the regular and post seasons matches can be found on pay per view TV channels as well as late night specials on free to air channels. Increasing knowledge of the rules and stars of American football has led to a growing NFL and American Football following on this side of the pond. Both evidence and a partial cause for this is seen in the few NGL matches that have been played at Wembley Stadium in the UK.
Mixed Martial Arts is another example of a relatively new global sport that has become popular back home in Great Britain. Focusing primarily on the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC, mixed martial arts (MMA) is steadily replacing the sport of Boxing as a favorite combat sport among many British people. Such a growing fan base and UK tours of events, together with UK venue events, merchandise and media coverage has meant that in the near future Mixed Martial Arts may overtake boxing as the primary combat sport seen on our TVs, which may radically alter the sporting world.
Football, or soccer in the United States, is a definite favorite of the United Kingdom’s sports fans and this is unlikely to change as it continues to be the biggest and in many ways the best spectator sport, both on and off the pitch. Massive money and popular personalities has resulted in entertainment on the pitch with exciting teams, players competing in fantastic leagues and tournaments, meanwhile off the pitch football stars are more popular than they’ve ever been. English Premier League, UEFA Champions League and the home nations international matches are the most popular matches for UK fans but recently with coverage of foreign leagues and competitions such as the USA soccer leagues and the many European leagues, interest in non-domestic competitions has been increasing.
