ONE Championship Hits U.S. With Powerful Partner In Amazon Prime Video
In just over 10 years, ONE Championship has become the world’s largest martial arts organization. Haven’t heard of it? Don’t worry. It’s coming to a screen – and a state – near you soon.
You may have recently seen the promotion’s debut on Amazon Prime Video Sports – ONE on Prime Video 1: Moraes vs. Johnson II – on August 26. The blockbuster event kicked off a new multi-year agreement with Prime Video, announcing ONE’s return to U.S. primetime in a big way.
Hours after MMA legend Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson knocked out Adriano Moraes to claim the ONE Flyweight World Title, ONE Championship was trending No. 1 on Twitter in the United States and had three of the top 10 Twitter trends globally.
Less than 12 hours earlier, ONE also hosted an event in Asia primetime and was trending No. 1 on Douyin, Kuaishou, and Weibo – the equivalents to Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter – in China.
To reach the No. 1 spot on social media platforms in both China and the U.S. on the same day is no easy feat. But as the ONE Championship team likes to say, “It is still and always will be Day ONE.”
“We are incredibly proud of our game-changing partnership with Prime Video, the home of NFL’s Thursday Night Football, Premier League, and now, ONE,” said Chatri Sityodtong, Chairman and CEO of ONE Championship. “Traditionally, Asia has been a net importer of sports content from the West. This marks the first time in history that the West has imported a sports league from Asia at this size and scale on a platform as extensive as Prime Video.”
But ONE Championship is not a Cinderella story by any means.
The Singapore-based company was founded in July 2011 by Sityodtong, a Harvard-educated businessman and former professional Muay Thai competitor. Since hosting its first event that September, ONE has grown leaps and bounds, building a roster of elite athletes from over 80 countries that compete across MMA, Muay Thai, kickboxing, submission grappling, and other combat sports.
As a global organization that currently broadcasts to more than 150 countries, ONE’s dedicated fan base spans all corners of the world. The organization was recently named a top-five global sports property for viewership and engagement in Nielsen’s “Year in Review: Sports Consumption Evolution” report with more than 13.8 billion video views across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok in 2021, second only to the NBA.
With 30 times more broadcast hours from 2014-2020 and online organic impressions up 115 times to 20.3 billion during that period, ONE continues to achieve new heights, led by in-house capabilities to produce high-value intellectual property (IP) content coupled with global media rights distribution.
“Our unique and holistic approach is what sets us apart, as it’s never been done before on this scale,” said ONE Group President Hua Fung Teh. “That’s been the key to our success and why rights holders and partners have been so keen to work with us, as we offer a differentiated product that is meeting the insatiable demand of a growing global fan base that is passionate about martial arts.”
Not only does ONE differ in regards to content and IP, but a fighter-friendly rule set and weight-cutting policy separate the property from competitors. ONE does not allow weight cutting via dehydration, instead ensuring athletes are hydrated and healthy ahead of their bouts.
The first-of-its-kind program for combat sports focuses on athlete safety by introducing “walking weight” competition via multiple weigh-in and hydration tests during fight week, including before and after the event.
Combine ONE’s athletes being in peak condition with the fact that their MMA fights are judged cumulatively instead of round-by-round, and you end up with over two-thirds of their MMA contests ending in a knockout or submission finish – the highest “finishing rate” of any major global combat sports organization.
Look no further than ONE on Prime Video 1, where seven of nine fights ended in a finish — including Johnson’s emphatic knockout of the night.
Over the past decade, ONE Championship has become the largest global sports property in Asia.
That time has allowed ONE to build a product and brand that present a refreshing take on the fast-growing combat sports scene in the West, while riding the evolving consumer behavior of sports fans on streaming platforms.
The next evolution of ONE started in August with ONE on Prime Video 1: Moraes vs. Johnson II the first of 12 live annual U.S. primetime events available exclusively to Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada as part of a new multi-year agreement signed on April 28.
Four more broadcasts this year on September 30, October 21, November 18, and December 2 will set the stage for ONE’s debut on U.S. soil in 2023. The U.S. is a major priority for the organization, as it represents the largest sports entertainment market in the world.
It’s the same reason why leagues like the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB play international games during the preseason or regular season each year. Thanks to increasing global distribution rights and the popularity of social media, they are able to engage with fans from Singapore to Silicon Valley and everywhere in between.
ONE plans to host multiple events in the U.S. beginning next year. Several states have already approved the promotion’s rule set, with more to come.
“If you’re in the sports business, then you have to be in North America,” ONE Vice President Rich Franklin said. “The U.S. in particular is home to the largest sports franchises in the world, and if we want to be truly global, then we simply have to be there. Luckily for us, the North American audience’s demand for martial arts is only increasing year on year, and as The Home of Martial Arts, we can’t wait to give them a new, refreshing, authentic experience of watching combat sports.”
Expanding Content Stacks & Global Expansion
Not only does ONE Championship offer fight fans a multitude of martial arts action, but Group ONE Holdings – the organization's parent company – expands that reach even further into esports, entertainment content, and more.
As one of Asia’s largest esports platforms, ONE Esports features the world’s biggest titles, such as League of Legends, Dota 2, and Valorant. Partnerships with TUMI, HSBC, JBL, Samsung, and other major brands not only help spur continued growth, but are a testament to the success that ONE Esports has already achieved.
On the entertainment content side, Season 1 of The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition, a business reality show, was met with rave reviews. In fact, the program was named “Best Non-Scripted Entertainment” and “Best Adaptation of an Existing Format” at the Asian Academy Creative Awards last year.
The series debut of The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition garnered an estimated 4 million viewers on its premiere broadcast night in 2021 and is now available on Netflix in more than 150 countries. As part of ONE’s agreement with Prime Video, it will be made available on the platform in the near future as well.
Along with ONE Championship’s growing fan base, investors are equally as bullish. Group ONE Holdings has raised $515 million since its founding, including the most recent round of $150 million led by Guggenheim Investments and Qatar Investment Authority last December, which valued the company at $1.4 billion.
While the U.S. is a major focus for the organization, the Middle East is also now a key target in ONE’s global growth strategy.
On June 22, Group ONE Holdings and Media City Qatar signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a strategic long-term partnership, collaborating in the production and development of a wide range of global content in Qatar across multiple media sectors. The partnership will commence by showcasing Qatar in the filming of Season 2 of The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition.
ONE and Media City are also in discussions to develop and produce live sports programming, including studio shows, that will not only enhance Qatar’s production capabilities, but will attract world-class media companies and talent to the Gulf nation.
Moreover, by holding events in the Middle East during primetime, ONE Championship will serve the insatiable demand for combat sports in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. New media partnerships across the three regions will be announced soon, paving the way for on-the-ground showcases in those markets in the future.
With ONE on Prime Video bringing monthly events to U.S. primetime, opportunities in Latin America are quickly presenting themselves, and a slew of new partnerships will be announced soon, along with a likely ONE event in Brazil.
In addition to these regional plans, a series of shows and events called “Road to ONE” have already been executed in countries like China, Thailand, Philippines, Mongolia, Japan, and the U.S., with more markets coming soon. “Road to ONE” focuses on growing the martial arts ecosystem in a specific market, while the regional winners earn a contract with ONE Championship to compete on the global stage.
“We’re extremely proud of all that we have achieved in such a short space of time so far, but this is just the start of our journey,” Sityodtong added. “Our team motto is that it is always still Day ONE, and we will never rest as we build a legacy for generations to come by showcasing the beauty of martial arts, inspiring fans all over the world to live their dreams.”
To learn more about ONE Championship, please visit ONE’s partnership page
