One Championship, an Asian mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter and sports media property, has closed a US$150 million funding round.
Qatar Investment Authority and Guggenheim Investments, the asset management and investment advising subsidiary of Guggenheim Partners, co-led the round.
The fresh capital will help Singapore-based One Championship diversify its content offerings, such as reality television shows and live fights and e-sports tournaments, among other entertainment businesses.
As part of the expansion strategy outside of Asia, the firm looks to foray into the US market — home to its archrival Ultimate Fighting Championship.
One Championship previously secured a round of financing worth US$346 million from Sequoia Capital, Iconiq Capital, and Temasek in June. Financial Times reported that this round brought One Championship’s valuation to US$1 billion
Earlier this month, Temasek and Sequoia reportedly converted US$179 million worth of convertible notes into equity shares in the firm, as per VentureCap Insights data.
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One Championship, owned and operated by Group ONE Holdings, was founded in 2011 by Havard graduate Chatri Sityodtong, a self-made entrepreneur and lifelong martial artist. To date, the firm claims to have broadcast sports shows to more than 2.7 billion spectators in over 150 countries.
One Championship has recently expanded into reality TV to cope with headwinds caused by the pandemic. It launched the first season of The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition on Netflix in the first quarter of 2022.
In addition, it has also ventured into e-sports. Its ONE E-sports Dota 2 Singapore Major, broadcast earlier this year, attracted 274 million viewers.
The firm plans to captivate new audiences through social media, athlete-related stories and digital merchandising such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
The Bussiness Times revealed that One Championship hit a profit of US$340.6 million this year, reversing from a deficit of US$83.5 million the year before. Yet, the reversal of fortune is attributed to a US$400 million from the sale of intellectual property rights to Group ONE’s US subsidiary established in 2020.
Verified Market Research recently-published report estimated the value of the global sports online live video streaming market size at US$18.1 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach US$87.3 billion by 2028, representing a CAGR of 21.26 per cent during the forecast period of 2021-2028.
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Image Credit: One Championship
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