Corporates have jumped at the opportunity to profit off what is said to be the "fastest growing sport in Africa", with the likes of 1time Airline, Sun International, RDG, BetXchange, Fighters Only magazine, TapouT and MusclePharm all signing sponsorship agreements until 2013. "We pull better viewerships than rugby, cricket and golf, yet our sponsorships are far less expensive than all of them" said EFC Africa president Cairo Howarth. "No other sport gives this kind of value to brands and such a high return on their investment."
When compared to other locally aired sport, EFC Africa 13:
• Drew a larger TV audience than Tri Nations, Super 15 and ABSA Currie Cup rugby on SuperSport
• Pulled a larger average audience share than all cricket games including international ODIs, Pro 20s and Test matches
• Completely dominated ratings from the Nedbank Golf Challenge and boxing on SuperSport, even when combining the two
EFC Africa 13 was broadcast live on e.tv on Friday, 13 April in a two-hour broadcast slot from 10.30pm. The broadcast attracted an average audience of 770 178 viewers, 17.8 percent market share and a peak audience of over 1.1 million. The ratings from the live e.tv broadcast only took into account the South African audience, so with e.tv broadcasting into 49 countries across Africa, the true number of fans who tuned in was vastly higher. Since September 30 2011, e.tv has broadcast EFC Africa action eight times (five premier episodes and three repeats). Across those eight broadcasts, a cumulative average audience of over 4.7 million has been reached.
Statistics from EFC Africa 13 also showed that the majority of television viewers were women, proving that it is an inclusive form of sporting entertainment embraced by all walks of life. New fans are constantly being attracted, growing the fan base exponentially.
EFC Africa 13 was the second EFC Africa event to be broadcast live on e.tv and attracted a substantially higher number of advertisers during the broadcast than EFC Africa 12, demonstrating the commercial viability and attractiveness to mainstream brands of the sport. EFC Africa 13 was also the first EFC Africa event to take place outside of Joburg and plans have been made to return to Cape Town in September.
EFC Africa 14 takes place on 1 June at the Carnival City Big Top Arena. Tickets are on sale now at Computicket and Nu Metro cinemas, and main card bouts will be broadcast live on e.tv from 10.30pm, including two title bouts. Fight card and further broadcast information at efcafrica.com
