ONE Championship Sees Major Growth Opportunity With Prime Video Broadcast Partnership
Over the past decade, ONE Championship has grown into the world’s largest martial arts organization. Founded by CEO and Chairman Chatri Sityodtong in 2011, the Singapore-based company has already conquered the East and now has its sights set on the West.
An exclusive, multi-year broadcast partnership with Prime Video announced in April 2022 provides ONE Championship with the ideal partner to engage a young, digital-first audience in the United States, the leading market for sports and entertainment on the planet. The partnership comes after ONE ranked as a top-five global sports property for viewership and engagement in Nielsen’s “2021 Year in Review: Sports Consumption Evolution” report.
With five ONE on Prime Video events having aired in U.S. primetime during 2022, the foundation for success in the West has been built. ONE on Prime Video 1: Moraes vs. Johnson II on August 26, which saw MMA legend Demetrious Johnson knock out defending champion Adriano Moraes to claim the ONE Flyweight World Title, exceeded viewership expectations set for the event. This event also trended No. 1 on Twitter in the United States and had three of the top-10 Twitter trends globally. Across the first five events, the engagement has also been phenomenal, with the average viewer tuning in for more than 1.5 hours.
“We had our first two events, and we’ve blown it out, and I just think [ONE] is going to do great things,” Marie Donoghue, Vice President of Global Sports Video at Amazon, said at SBJ’s World Congress of Sports. “I’m really excited to see what [Chatri] and his team will do this year.”
While broadcasting monthly events in U.S. primetime to a global audience certainly builds momentum, there is nothing like attending a ONE Championship event in person, so the organization is packing its bags and coming to North America to host its inaugural event on U.S. soil on May 5, 2023, in Colorado. This historic card will be the start of a regular cadence of on-ground events stateside.
Interested fans can register here for priority access to the official ticket pre-sale.
ONE Championship isn’t just focused on the United States, as it also continues to build out its offerings across Latin America (LATAM) and Middle East/North Africa (MENA). In September, the organization announced a multi-year partnership with beIN Sports, one of the largest broadcasters in MENA, and quickly followed that up in October with Globo, one of the largest broadcasters in Brazil. These partnerships further ONE Championship’s global reach, which includes being broadcast in more than 150 countries worldwide.
“These are truly game-changing partnerships that enable us to work with the leading broadcasters in LATAM and MENA to reach even more of our fans in new markets that have a deep love and passion for martial arts,” said Hua Fung Teh, Group President of ONE. “We’re very proud that they’ve chosen to showcase our unique content and this will further accelerate ONE’s global scale to inspire both new and existing fans worldwide.”
ONE’s content stack isn’t just limited to martial arts. It also includes the hit unscripted reality show The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition, which offers casual or curious fans an opportunity to learn more about everything ONE stands for outside of the Circle. Season 1 is available on Prime Video in the U.S. and Canada, with Season 2 scheduled for release in the second half of 2023.
Interested fans in the U.S. and Canada can check out Season 1 on Prime Video here.
ONE Championship’s parent company, Group ONE Holdings, also includes ONE Esports and various initiatives, such as VR and the ONE Super App. With all of these products, the digital-first organization offers a variety of unique sponsorship opportunities as it focuses on working with the right strategic partners that match the brand’s ethos and long-term vision.
Additionally, ONE has worked with household brands across the globe, including TUMI, FanDuel, Microsoft, JBL and many more, which were attracted to the organization’s values, storytelling, global reach, and ability to connect with audiences at their most engaged moments. TUMI, a long-standing partner, has created a custom case for ONE’s World Championship belts, which has been a massive success in uniquely showcasing the true values of both brands.
In 2021, ONE Championship had 13.8 billion video views across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, second only to the NBA in terms of viewership for global sports properties. ONE Esports received more than 321 million monthly views across its social channels and 3 million unique monthly site visitors.
“Our success over the last decade provides a solid foundation for us to push on and take ONE to the next level as a truly global sports property,” said Hari Vijayarajan, ONE’s Chief Commercial Officer. “The next decade offers all of us a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make our mark on the sporting world and build a lasting legacy that will continue exciting and inspiring fans across the planet for years to come.”
Ten years from now, ONE Championship plans to host live events in all major regions – Asia, the Americas, Europe, and MENA – connecting fans globally with the world’s best martial arts action, stories that transcend borders, and new heroes who are born every week. Now is the time to partner with ONE, integrate into the product, and make your mark on the history of global sports entertainment.
To learn more about ONE Championship, please visit ONE’s partnership page.
