ONE Championship CEO talks pandemic

ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong admits that there were certain struggles to overcome when it came to functioning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ONE Championship is a live martial arts event but had to stay in Singapore for most of its fight cards due to strict border control implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, ONE continued to produce a slew of impressive events.

During the ONE 164 post-event press conference, Chatri Sityodtong explained that the promotion has not been able to function and tour as confidently as it would have liked but persisted anyway. He explained:

"2022 started off still halfway with COVID, right? I think Asia hasn’t really come out until September or October. So the first nine months of Asia, you know Japan just began opening up in October I think, China’s still not open, Thailand just began opening up, even the Philippines just began opening opening a few weeks ago so it hasn’t been a full year in terms of our ability to throw events, to put the pedal to the metal so to speak."

Despite these hurdles, ONE Championship continues to grow and work with new business partners all around the world. Sityodtong continued:

"But if you look at what ONE has achieved in 2022, on the business side, we can talk about Amazon, largest broadcaster in America, OG platform and soon to be the largest sports broadcaster in America in the next one to three years. "

Sityodtong added that in 2022, ONE Championship began broadcasting in even more nations:

"Globo, largest broadcaster in Latin America and in Brazil with 200 million viewers, Amazon 200 million subscribers. Bein Sports, the number one broadcaster by far in the Middle East when it comes to sports and the largest portfolio in terms of media rights with 55 million subscribers. Next we have a press conference in Thailand to make a big announcement."

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ONE Championship continues to grow

ONE Championship is already one of the largest combat sports promotions in the world, and it has broadened its reach by broadcasting in more countries across the globe. The organization also continues its growth into new nations and on new broadcasters.

According to ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong, the rapid growth of ONE has been staggering. He continued:

"But you go country by country, we’re with the biggest broadcasters, the most prestigious broadcasters now on the planet and it just snowballed. Abema TV, people don’t know has 80 million downloads out of a country of 125 million people. We’re the number one partner there in combat sports. The list goes on and on. I think it’s very clear what is happening. I still say again, the world is so big. There’s Apple there’s Samsung, there’s GM there’s Toyota. There’s ONE, there’s UFC."

See below for the full ONE 164 post-event press conference: