The martial arts and combat sports industry is on the rise, fuelled by the popularity of MMA, currently one of the world's fastest-growing sports.
The rising popularity of the sport has opened up significant opportunities, with a recent IBIS sport report revealing that there were 45,000+ martial arts and MMA gyms by 2023 in the US, which generated over $12.6 billion. That number is, however, expected to skyrocket to more than 67,000 by the end of next year, which illustrates just how massive an opportunity this could be for players in the sector.
Alta Global Group (NYSE:MMA) is well positioned to benefit from this growth as it enables the broader global martial arts and combat sports industry to maximize their monetization opportunities by increasing consumer participation in the sport.
Through Trainalta.com, powered by the Alta Community Platform, Alta offers martial arts and combat sports programs such as the Warrior Training Program and UFC Fight Fit Program, supported by strategic partnerships with gyms, coaches, athletes, and influencers to facilitate effective communication, curated content, and easy onboarding.
The platform enhances both digital and in-gym experiences, enabling seamless community engagement. The renowned Warrior Training Program, running in gyms across the US, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, operates through a revenue-sharing model with gym owners, culminating in a sanctioned amateur MMA final fight night, catering to beginners seeking fitness and lifestyle changes.
Alta also owns mixedmartialarts.com, following a recent acquisition in November 2023. This acquisition has given its portfolio significant strength through leveraging mixedmartialarts.com’s top 3 global ranking, 530,000 user profiles, 15 million views, and over 5 million social media followers to actively engage fans and help support gyms, coaches, and participants. Here’s a clearer snapshot of its digital reach:
In what is no doubt another major corporate milestone, Alta recently reaffirmed its commitment to unlocking the unparalleled opportunity to convert 640 million MMA sports fans into participants by announcing its strategic acquisition of Hype for an undisclosed sum.
Hype is essentially a subscription-based mobile marketing platform designed specifically for small businesses looking to supercharge their growth by harnessing the power of social media.
This mobile-first platform combines the functionalities of a mobile website builder, like Linktree, with the core email and SMS marketing capabilities of CRM systems like HubSpot, while also providing an integrated payment system. Being a mobile-first solution makes Hype perfectly suited for owner-operators who manage much of their business on their phones, making it especially ideal for combat sports gyms.
For Alta, Hype’s value proposition is that it’s going to help gyms grow participation in combat sports by allowing the gyms to increase engagement with their members and acquire and retain them without the hassle of bundling different products and platforms. That means that gyms can become more efficient and better positioned to grow their own revenues.
Fortunately, Alta has been able to bring on the development team as well as the founder, Nick Chen. With Hype's expert team now joining Alta, the company gains invaluable in-house technology expertise, replacing the previously outsourced team and fortifying Alta's capability to deliver cutting-edge technology solutions for the combat sports sector without additional costs.
To better illustrate why Hype’s acquisition is so compelling for Alta, consider this:.
The platform was previously funded by venture capital, receiving over $22 million in investment, including for the launch, which reaffirms investor confidence in the potential of the product. So far, Hype has processed over $40 million in payments through its platform, helped businesses collect over 4 million contacts, and is currently generating approximately $200,000 annually in recurring revenue.
By integrating this technology into its existing platform, Alta estimates it could accelerate its technology roadmap by at least 18 months, delivering many millions of dollars in technology capex and development cost savings while reducing customer acquisition costs for its partner gyms.
Alta CEO and founder Nick Langton underscored the significance of the acquisition: "This acquisition represents a pivotal moment for Alta. To be able to put this technology in the hands of our valued gym partners, we believe it will be a game changer for them to grow revenues and more effectively engage with their members. We expect this transaction to materially accelerate Alta's mission to convert more fans into participants and drive more shared revenue opportunities. Under Nick Chen's leadership, the Hype team has created a market-leading platform that we believe is perfect for owner-operators who run their businesses on their feet from their mobile devices. We believe this is the perfect tool to help combat sports gym owners supercharge their business."
As mentioned before, it's not only gyms that will benefit from this platform. Hype's technology solution extends well beyond the martial arts and combat sports sectors. It has proven utility and established customers, giving Alta the ability to unlock further opportunities by targeting small businesses globally as well as potentially applying the platform to other local and community sports. In fact, Hype reimagines the future of multiple product categories simultaneously across a $100 billion market for small business software.
Following the acquisition, Alta will distribute the Hype product offering across its extensive community of over 500 partner gyms and thousands of coaches and athletes globally across the Alta Platforms.
Alta believes that this acquisition presents a significant opportunity to launch a new SaaS offering for its gym, coach, and talent partners, further increasing the embedded revenue opportunity that exists from each gym, coach, and talent relationship on our platform.
The company has already proven that its warrior training programs deliver at least $24,000 in gross revenue per program. Therefore, Hype’s acquisition will only fuel further revenue growth. According to Alta’s projections, each active gym could potentially generate $88,000 in annual revenue now that the company is launching new membership tiers.
As of January 2024, the company had over 500 active gyms globally that had claimed their profiles and signed T&C’s on the platform, illustrating the scale of the revenue potential here. Alta currently has a market capitalization of only about $41 million, but it certainly appears there’s room for movement to the upside going forward.
It is also important to note that Hype’s acquisition ties in well with its recent successes in creating iconic partnerships with some of the most high-profile and respected identities in MMA, who are helping it to amplify its brand and drive platform adoption.
These include the company’s recently announced investment from five-time MMA world champion Conor McGregor. McGregor's investment and endorsement come at a pivotal moment as Alta embarks on rolling out its transformational Warrior Training Program across the US. He will be lending his support to Alta's flagship 20-week Warrior Training Program.
In a recent video post on social media, McGregor urged MMA fans to embrace martial arts training through Trainalta.com, emphasizing the platform's role in providing a space for learning and camaraderie. He highlighted Trainalta.com as an essential organization in the martial arts space, supporting MMA gyms worldwide and underscoring Trainalta.com's commitment to fostering a vibrant community of martial artists and combat sports enthusiasts while revolutionizing training experiences globally.
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