newjerseynewsroom.com

BY JOE FAVORITO

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

ON N.J. SPORTS MARKETING

Anyone who has turned on a sporting event in the last two weeks has seen the preview of the new Steven Soderbergh movie “Haywire,” which stars among others Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas and Ewan MacGregor. However, one of the biggest crossover stars in the film may just be Gina Carano.

The daughter of former Cowboys QB Glenn Carano, the Texas native has been the poster girl for the female side of Mixed Martial Arts for some time, combining a championship style (just one loss in the cage) with the looks and acting ability to be a box office draw. She has been a huge draw in New Jersey for her fights under the ProElite organization and would be a welcomed participant when she returns to the cage with another existing organization, especially in an MMA hotbed like New Jersey

Her emergence as the star of “Haywire” comes at a very interesting time for women’s athletics. Going into an Olympic year and with Danica Patrick crossing over to NASCAR fulltime, it seems like the opportunity for healthy role models who can engage both male and female audiences may be higher than it has been in some time. The economy is bouncing back, the ability for any athlete to carve his or her niche in the digital space is an added plus, and there is an ever-growing need for positive stories about responsible, healthy and well rounded athletes no matter what their gender. So why could Carano be the biggest of the big?

Few reasons.

Her athletic ability is amazing: The appeal Carano had in competing was that she wasn’t just a great female MMA fighter, her technique made her a great MMA competitor regardless of her gender. She fought with flair and speed, and that athletic ability apparently has carried over into her action film career.

She has understood the business side: She was always a serious competitor, but her brand appeal in the cage went far beyond her competitive spirit. Carano understood how to work sponsors and television and mix the appeal of a woman in what is very much a man’s game, while being taken seriously by all who watched. Brands interested in testing the MMA space gravitated to her and as a result she helped grow the sport with her mix of mainstream appeal and athletic ability. She made believers out of many who thought that a woman competing would be more of a freak show and less an athletic competition, and even made the hardline male UFC consider a women’s fight at some point.

She competed in a fast growing training sport. While it is true that she has yet (and may never) compete in a UFC/Zuffa event, her success in the cage and in other MMA disciplines has made Gina Carano the role model for others, both men and women, to point to in terms of using MMA for training and success. MMA as a training sport continues to grow globally, in many ways outside of the success of the professional events of the UFC.