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Largest Global Sports Media Property in Asia Created

Despite the fact that Asia has been able to churn out excellent athletes left and right for so long now, it still falls behind in the global sports media area. This is because despite the immense talent it has been bringing to the table, they would rather go with larger international groups because it gives them far more publicity than any local organization possibly could.

ONE Championship has a ten-year broadcast deal with Fox Sports Asia

For many years, Asia has not had a global sports media property such as NFL, Major League Baseball, and the NBA in the United States, but ONE Championship has recently stepped up to fill the spot, and the martial arts promotion based in Singapore has leveraged the resources of the Lion City throughout its rise to prominence..

Taking the Initiative

According to ONE Championship representatives, there was no other group that catered to an audience on a pan-Asian scope. An opportunity might not have knocked, but because of the leadership of founder, chairman, and CEO Chatri Sityodtong, ONE Championship has blasted the door of its hinges. At the end of 2017, Fox Sports Philippines called Sityodtong the third-most powerful person in Asian sports.

Receiving direct support from the Singapore government and the Economic Development Board has been a help and part of the reason ONE Championship has thrived with Singapore as its headquarters. Because of its location, it is in a position to acquire large sum investments from Temasek Holdings. This is a unit of Singapore’s state investment fund, Sequoia Capital and Mission Holdings.

Alongside Singaporean media and telecommunications companies such as Singtel, one of Asia’s biggest mobile network operators and MediaCorp, a free-to-air network broadcast, others have also insured that ONE Championship will stay in an advantageous position regarding distribution and exposure. These connections, as well as a focus on social media and TV distribution, have caused extreme growth.

Staying with Singapore for the long run means building a relationship with the future of the city. Another recent partnership with Singapore Exchange (SGX) has created a way for ONE Championship to work with younger Singaporeans. With homegrown talents like Christian Lee, his sister Christian Lee, Benedict And and Amir Khan, ONE Championship events usually show a wealth of Singaporean stars that enhances the likeability of the product to the home city and its fans of varying ages.

That connection even reaches over the world of martial arts into other sports. Singapore native and Olympic Gold Medalist Joseph Schooling has been tapped as an exclusive ambassador of ONE Championship. ONE has also hired other famous Singaporean people to help the company grow.

Hua Fung Teh (M), a former leader at Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry was hired as CFO.

Some Background

Formerly known as ONE Fighting Championship or ONE FC, ONE Championship is a MMA promotion based in Singapore which was launched on 14 July 2011 by businessman Chatri Sityodtong and former ESPN Star Sports senior executive Victor Cui. According to CNBC, ONE Championship is Asia’s biggest sports media property with an international broadcast to more than one billion homes in 128 countries.

ONE Championship has over US$100 million in total capital as of July 21, 2017

It is known as the biggest MMA promotion in Asia, and famous fighters on the roster include Bibiano Fernandes, Eduard Folayang, Roger Gracie, Ben Askren, Brandon Vera, and Shinya Aoki.

The first ONE Championship event was held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on 3 September 2011. The promotion has since expanded across the Asian region. ONE Championship has held over 40 events to date with shows being held in Manila, Jakarta, Dubai,  Kuala Lumpur, Taipei, Beijing, Guangzhou, Phnom Penh, Yangon, Hefei, Macau, Changsha, and Bangkok as well as Singapore.

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