Prime Video, ONE Championship Strike Multi-Year Deal for Combat Sports Rights
Fire up your streaming device of choice, fight fans — ONE Championship is coming to Amazon Prime Video.
On Wednesday, Amazon and ONE Championship announced a multi-year agreement for Prime Video to broadcast 12 live ONE Championship martial arts events annually. The full live events will be available exclusively on Prime Video in the United States and Canada; the first event will be announced later this year.
ONE events aim to represent the full spectrum of martial arts, with world-class athletes from over 80 countries competing across MMA, Muay Thai, kickboxing, submission grappling, and other disciplines. Compared to other MMA promotions, ONE seems to do a better job of celebrating each individual martial art and will sometimes match up fighters from the same discipline for added drama and intrigue.
“ONE Championship is thrilled to work with Prime Video, one of the largest premium sports content providers in the world, to bring our live events closer to fans in the United States and Canada,” ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong said. “As the world’s largest martial arts organization, we believe our collaboration with Prime Video will allow us to reach a wider North American audience that is hungry for an authentic and differentiated product you simply cannot get with any other organization. We look forward to showcasing the absolute greatest martial artists on the planet, right here in the ONE Championship Circle and on Prime Video.”
Combat sports have found their footing as the world moves from linear and PPV systems to streaming platforms. The most obvious comparison is the UFC and Top Rank boxing’s deals with ESPN, where purchase records were set in terms of PPV buys during 2021. On a smaller scale, Paramount+ is also home to Bellator and Combate Global MMA events. You can also look to Peacock and its multi-billion dollar deal with the WWE.
Combat sports are key for many consumers in the coveted 18-49 range that advertisers look for, and while we don’t yet know if the ONE Championship broadcasts will contain commercials, they certainly should bring some highly soughtafter eyes to Amazon’s platform.
“We are proud to add exclusive coverage of ONE Championship events to our suite of marquee live sports offerings,” said Amazon’s Vice President of Global Sports Video Marie Donoghue. “In addition to offering a full suite of martial arts disciplines, ONE Championship shares our mutual commitment to elevating female athletes, boasting five reigning female world champions.”
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 10,000+ movies, TV shows, and Prime Originals like “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” “Jack Ryan,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “The Boys,” and more. Subscribers can also add third-party services like Max, Showtime, STARZ, and dozens more with Amazon Prime Video Channels. Prime Video also offers exclusive live access to NFL Thursday Night Football.