
Selling Violence: Marketing Combat Sports
From Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly by Apostrophe Podcast Network
April 11, 2026 · 28 min · Season 15 · Episode 14
About this episode
This episode explores the marketing strategies behind violent sports, tracing their origins to Tex Rickard and examining the influence on WWE and UFC.
This week, we look at the marketing of violent sports. Starting with a man named Tex Rickard, who wrote the playbook on fight promotion back in the 1920s. We’ll analyze how WWE pro wrestling took a page from Rickard to create spectacles. And we look at the phenomenon that is the UFC – and how mixed martial arts promotion can be carbon-dated all the way back to Rickard in the ‘20s. We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance you don’t , subscribe ad-free here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
People in this episode
Host: Terry O'Reilly
Topics covered
- marketing
- combat sports
- WWE
- UFC
- fight promotion
- Tex Rickard
Keywords
- marketing
- combat sports
- Tex Rickard
- WWE
- UFC
- fight promotion
- violence
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: WWE, UFC, Acast
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