A few weeks ago, a viral video showed a strange combat sport being practiced in Australia. Two burly men (one holding a rugby ball) ran towards each other on a narrow track. After an electronic countdown, they collided head-on.
There was no protection. Amid cheers from the crowd, the two athletes collided violently, shoulders, knees, and hips first. Often, one would be knocked to the ground while the other stood up to celebrate their victory.
“We become ridiculous as life gets complicated,” read a comment on the social media platform X.
This sport, called the Run Nation Championship (RNC), was launched in Australia last year and is currently recruiting athletes for its third season. The initial videos show athletes with imposing physiques and a high risk of serious injuries.
But this is precisely what this sport aims to sell to the public.
Like many modern combat sports, Run Nation is heavily influenced by the UFC, whether through its name, organization, or promotion. Similar to the Power Slap – a competition where two people face each other and slap each other until one collapses – Run Nation goes beyond just being a sport. It’s more of an experience about the limits of violence and the physical sacrifices some are willing to make for victory and money.
For an outside observer, this scene might resemble a modern version of medieval jousting.
Run Nation is just the latest example of a broader trend in the sports industry: derivative sports. Instead of creating entirely new sports, organizers draw inspiration from the most memorable moments of popular sports to create standalone events.
In a context where sports are increasingly intertwined with capital and the entertainment industry, money flows towards new leagues, new formats, and entirely new sports.
The biggest challenge for a new sport is to build a fan base. The love for professional padel or volleyball doesn’t develop overnight. For the average person, it takes years before they become interested in a sport they don’t know.
In contrast, derivative sports are much more accessible because they are based on familiar foundations. The Power Slap, derived from the UFC, appeals to MMA fans. Carjitsu, a variant of jiu-jitsu practiced in a car, turns the interior of a sedan into a combat arena.
Meanwhile, TGL, the indoor golf simulator founded by Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods, provides content to fans during lulls in major golf circuits.
These tournaments often simplify the original sport to keep only the most spectacular moments. TGL transforms golf into a sequence of powerful drives and precise putts – essentially, a revamped form of skill competition.
The emerging sports market is growing so rapidly that even relatively new sports are starting to create their variants. Pickleball, which originally relied on tennis infrastructure, faced complaints about noise, leading to the creation of a new sport called typti, using softer rackets and balls.
The overall trend is to take the most appealing elements of traditional sports and transform them into standalone products.
In the age of social media, the goal of many sporting events is not only to attract crowds to stadiums but also to allow the dissemination of information online. Sports are designed to generate easily shareable videos: violent clashes or resounding victories.
TGL even participated in a competition in a venue with only about 1,500 seats, equipped with a giant simulated screen, demonstrating that the content was primarily intended for the internet.
But this model relies heavily on shocking moments.
At a Power Slap event, a super-heavyweight fight presented as a “317 kg slap” ended in disqualification. The commentator lamented, “The public was ready to immortalize this viral moment. But it didn’t happen.”
Without viral phenomena, the question is: what is the purpose of these sports?
The answer largely lies in monetary value.
Many new projects have attracted renowned investors. Typti is backed by former NFL star Drew Brees and motivational speaker Tony Robbins. TGL counts among its investors Stephen Curry, Lewis Hamilton, Serena Williams, and Justin Timberlake.
As these projects develop, they will certainly attract more capital from investment funds.
Sport has now become an attractive investment. In the United States, returns on investments in sports franchises since 2000 have more than doubled the performance of the S&P 500 index.
In a context of sluggish IPO markets and challenging fundraising conditions, many investment funds see sports as a new source of profit.
However, this enthusiasm also raises an important question: is it a genuine demand from fans, or simply the result of capital seeking quick profits?
If this trend continues, fans could become the ultimate victims of the system.
Derivative sports exploit the original sport, its athletes, and its audience to create viral content, while investment funds seek to profit from the attention and money of fans.
In other words, the real violence in Run Nation, Power Slap, or other similar sports lies not only in collisions on the field. It lies in the money-making machine that fuels this new era of unconventional sports.
