Surging One Championship shapes Asian MMA landscape

MANILA, Philippines – Five years ago, mixed martial arts in Asia was in its infancy. While the sport was growing from strength-to-strength in other parts of the world, the scene was less developed. That all changed when One Championship launched in 2011.

One Championship burst onto the scene and never looked back. In just a few short years, the organization grew to become the number one sports media property in Asia, an impressive feat when you consider that non-Asian sporting properties like the National Basketball Association and Barclays Premier League have traditionally dominated airwaves.

One Championship’s formula for success involves combining world-class entertainment value, similar to what one will find in a Las Vegas extravaganza, with elite sporting action that features Asian heroes that fans can root for. The end result is an event that attracts the biggest celebrities in the countries, and fans that pack out the arena to catch their favorite mixed martial arts stars in action. One Championship emphasizes it is Asian-based with a roster of Asian World Champions. The world-class production value also created a television product that has wowed fans of live sport all over the world.

One Championship has also managed to enter the market at an opportune time. Broadcasting rights are at an all-time high. The Barclays Premier League recently reached sold broadcasting rights in Britain alone for more than 5 billion pounds over the next three years, while the National Basketball Association struck a nine-year, $24-billion deal with ESPN and Turner Sports last year. As the rest of television moves towards live streaming and subscriptions, live sports’ contribution to premium content on television grows even larger. One Championship has leveraged this growth to be broadcast to over 70 countries all over the world, and the number continues to grow at an exponential rate. While the numbers alone are mind-blowing, industry observers who have been watching the explosive rise of sports media rights say it is merely a sign of things to come.

In a global study titled outlook for the sports market, PWC stated: “Media rights are projected to continue growing at the highest rate among the four segments; a compound annual rate of 9.1 percent, from an estimated $12.5 billion in 2013 to a projected $19.3 billion in 2018.”

Asia has long been viewed as the final crucible where the biggest battles for sports media rights will take place. As the region rapidly expands into a force to be reckoned with on a global scale, records are set to be broken as history is written.

Leading the charge in the battle for Sports Media is undeniably One Championship. In a space of 4 years, the largest mixed martial arts promotion has rocketed its way to the forefront as the largest sports media property that Asia has ever produced.

Based in Singapore, One Championship is Asia's largest sports media property with a global broadcast to over 1 billion homes across 75 countries. With over 90 percent market share, One Championship is Asia's largest mixed martial arts organization.

The outlook appears to be rosy for One Championship, and 2015 looks promising thus far. The organization has held sold-out events in United Arab Emirates, Taiwan, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. One Championship post-produced show in China out-rated the NBA. One: Rise of the Kingdom was the highest rated show in the country and in the Philippines, One Championship is second only to the NBA in terms of sports viewership. The country has also broke viewership records in every country it has been aired live in. One Championship is expected to expand to even more markets in the coming year, including ten events in China alone.

One Championship CEO Victor Cui stated, “Asia is the fastest growing market for sports media rights and sponsorship in the world and One Championship is proud to be at the forefront of the exploding sports market. It has been my commitment to work with the best, and only the best, in every aspect of our business and as we continue to reach up to a billion viewers around the world with live MMA content, we are confident on delivering an experience that will keep fans hooked.”

Critics and industry experts have narrowed down the key success factors for One Championship phenomenal growth. One Championship uses a world-class production value to showcase the mixed martial arts stars that step into the cage. The organization features Olympic level athletes and competitors, as well as building local heroes that viewers can relate to. The end result is an Asian-based content that has global significance, and attracted blue chip sponsors and partners that include Disney, Petron, Kawasaki, Canon, Everlast, Tune Talk just to name a few.