US craft beer production

American craft beer production and UFC events per year, both climbing. Two industries that aimed for the same demographic and got it: hand-bottled IPAs and three-round headlocks, on the same calendar.

US craft beer production roughly tripled from 2005 to its 2019 peak, then plateaued, as the number of breweries expanded from under fifteen hundred to over nine thousand. UFC events per year climbed from about 20 in 2005 to over 40 by 2023 as the promotion expanded internationally and the post-Reebok-deal calendar densified. Two completely unrelated American industry-growth stories sharing a window because the same nineteen years rewarded both a small-batch beverage industry and a combat-sport calendar. Different products, same audience demographic.

Two American industries built for the same Saturday compounded together. The pint and the cage, both more available.