Horizon Sports & Experiences said it will help manage sponsorship, entitlements and brand activations in the United States for martial-arts organization One Championship.

Formed  last year by co-CEOs David Levy and Chris Weil, Horizon Sports, will be looking at ways to attract new and innovative sponsors to One Championship.

Horizon Sports, which recently produced the Pickleball Slam on ESPN,  will identify, negotiate and represent sponsorship and entitlement agreements. It will also provide data and analytics services.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Horizon Sports & Experiences as we prepare to officially launch in the U.S.,” Chatri Sityodtong, chairman and CEO of One Championship, said. “The U.S. is the world’s largest and most sophisticated sports and entertainment market and home to the world’s most elite sports leagues and properties. We’re grateful for HS&E’s staunch support to help us scale and succeed as we host our dynamic martial arts events live for the first time in front of our passionate U.S. fan base.”

One Championship makes its on-the-ground U.S. debut on May 5 in Colorado, when the top of the card will feature flyweight world champion Demetrious Johnson and Adriano Moraes.

The event will be streamed live by Amazon Prime Video as part of a multi-year agreement announced last year in which Prime will show 12 One Championship events per year.

“One Championship is one of the biggest sports media properties in the world, and we’re excited to partner with them,” David Levy, co-CEO of HS&E, said. “As One Championship embarks on its U.S. debut next month, this is the perfect time to collaboratively work together to break new boundaries, create innovative sponsorships and activations for brands looking to connect with the unequivocal leader in martial arts and its engaged fan base.” 

Amazon Prime Video will kick off its exclusive NFL Thursday Night Football package on September 15 when the Los Angeles Chargers meet the Kansas City Chiefs. The regular-season schedule highlights the streaming service's growing lineup of live sports programming.

But TNF, which premiered on August 25 with an exclusive Houston Texans-San Francisco 49ers preseason game, is just part of a mix of live sports events the streaming service hopes to use to lure in fans. The Prime Video lineup also includes regular-season WNBA basketball games, mixed martial arts events from One Championship and exclusive in-market New York Yankees baseball games and Seattle Storm WNBA games.  

Amazon VP of global sports video Marie Donoghue recently spoke to Multichannel News about Prime Video’s live sports aspirations and what the genre adds to the overall value of the streaming service. Here’s an edited transcript of that discussion. 

MCN: How do you see live sports programming fitting into the overall value proposition for Prime Video? 

Marie Donoghue: As you know, Prime is a membership benefit, and so live marquee sports is what we call a headline benefit. We have the NFL — probably the most popular sport in the U.S. — with our Thursday Night Football deal, which we’re really, really excited to launch this season with our first game on September 15. It’s a massive investment for us and we've based it on our track record working with the NFL over the last several years, as well as the experience we've had in Europe. We've been showing top-tier sports for several years with the Premier League in the U.K. and the Champions League in Italy and Germany, Ligue 1 in France and the U.S. Open tennis tournament in the U.K. We know for sure that top marquee sports programming really resonates with our customers, so it's become an essential part of our service in several countries. 

MCN: What drew Prime Video to the WNBA and how has it performed for the streaming service?

MD: We’re huge fans of the WNBA, and overall we saw increased viewership this season for the WNBA. Last year they were developing the Commissioner’s Cup (the WNBA's mid-season tournament), so we thought it would be an awesome opportunity to serve our fans. I think fans really liked it because you get to see the top teams compete.

MCN: Along with the NFL and WNBA, Prime Video has also streamed live local games for such teams as the WNBA’s Seattle Storm, Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees and MLS’s Seattle Sounders FC. Is that a strategy that you will look to continue with other teams in other sports? 

MD: Yes, we look at everything. We always consider whether there is a way for us to improve the experience, the accessibility and the value for fans. We found with the Sounders, the Yankees and the Storm that that was all true. We were able to reach an audience that isn't reached by the traditional pay TV bundle, and we've also been able to provide great value to our subscribers — you get the games with your Prime membership. 

MCN: Prime Video has also stepped into the combat-sports ring with One Championship. Does that franchise offer a different sports appeal to Prime Video subscribers than the WNBA or NFL fotball? 

MD: One Championship is the world’s largest martial arts organization, and we’re bringing them live in primetime to the U.S. and Canada exclusively. They are primarily based out of Singapore, but next year we’ll have some events from the US. Those fans are incredibly passionate and engaged and the One Championship organization is fairly unique, and I’m particularly pleased that they treat female athletes equally. We’re really excited about working with them. ■

Prime Video will soon add martial arts to its lineup of live sports events as the streaming service secured rights to 12 live One Championship events annually.

The deal provides Prime Video exclusive rights to One Championship events, which feature world class athletes representing more than 80 countries competing across MMA, Muay Thai, kickboxing, submission grappling and other disciplines, said the service. Prime Video’s official launch date of global sports property’s live events will be announced later in the year, said Prime Video.

One Championship content was last seen on U.S. television in 2021 when TNT aired four live events in April.

The deal adds to Prime Video’s live sports offerings, which include select New York Yankees games, and launching later this fall, exclusive NFL Thursday Night Football games.

“We are proud to add exclusive coverage of One Championship events to our suite of marquee live sports offerings,” said Amazon Global Sports Video VP Marie Donoghue in a statement. “In addition to offering a full suite of martial arts disciplines, One Championship shares our mutual commitment to elevate female athletes, boasting five reigning female world champions.”

Added One Championship chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong: “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. 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 can’t get with any other organization.” ■

Asia-based martial arts media company ONE Championship will look to introduce its unique fight brand to U.S. viewers via an live Oct. 12 telecast on TNT, part of a three-year distribution deal between the two companies signed in January. 

As one of the largest martial arts organizations in the world, ONE Championship offers bouts across all martial arts disciplines such as Muay Thai, kickboxing, submission grappling and mixed martial arts.

“Our partnership with ONE Championship is off to a terrific start and we’re thrilled to showcase their historic 100th event with fans in the U.S,” said Tina Shah, executive vice president and general manager of Turner Sports, which offers ONE Championship content on its B/R Live streaming service. “As ONE Championship continues to expand its domestic reach, we’ll continue to work closely with them as we identify new opportunities to share this compelling content with a passionate, growing fan base.”

Heading up ONE Championship is founder, chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong. I recently spoke with Sityodtong about the ONE Championship brand and its move into the U.S., as well as his thoughts on the current combat sports marketplace.

Define the ONE Championship brand.

ONE Championship is Asia's largest global sports media property. In the Western Hemisphere the largest sports property is the NFL and is cherished by all Americans -- in the same way in the East, Martial arts is cherished by all of Asia. We have 550 world class martial artists on our roster, of which 140 are world champions across various disciplines. So whether it's mixed martial arts, kickboxing, Muay Thai, Kung Fu, karate etc., we have the largest roster of world champion martial artists on the planet of any organization. The formula for our success has been values, heroes, and story. We want to celebrate the values of integrity, humility, honor, respect, courage, discipline, and compassion, which are the bedrock values of martial arts but also the bedrock values of the best of humanity. Our genre might be martial arts but our platform is humanity, and anyone can watch our show and take away from our heroes.

Has the organization had a lot of exposure here in the U.S.?

We just started broadcasting on TNT and B/R Live. We have events every 10 days of the week on B/R Live across the continent of Asia and broadcast all over 140 countries. Our 100th show will be on Oct. 12th and broadcast live [at 11 p.m. (ET)] on TNT.

How many future One Championship live events will Turner Sports look to to televise?

I think I think it's going to start a big, big trend in which there will be more and more events televised live on TNT.

How do you expect to compete in a growing mixed martial arts genre in the US dominated by the UFC?

Actually there are tons of mixed martial arts organizations in the U.S., but I think there isn't one that has our formula. So we're 180 degrees opposite of whatever is in the Western world in terms of what MMA promotions are. I would say the vast majority of western promotions focus on the blood sports angle that includes controversy, anger and hatred -- anything you can do to create controversy and stoke the fires. That's a very different approach from us -- we don't have any of that. Our heroes are genuine role models for society, so it's a very different approach.

The UFC, however you define it, is very popular in the U.S. Do you feel that your approach to fighting and mixed martial arts will translate well for the U.S. viewer?

Yes -- I think it's going to be refreshing, very new and eye-opening. Watching the world's best martial arts compete, but yet at the same time watching them behave in such a respectable, honorable way will appeal to viewers.