The business of combat sports is booming - here's what you need to know
The business of combat sports is soaring with an estimated three hundred million fans worldwide. On this episode of The Exchange, the Chairman and CEO of ONE Championship speaks about how digital technology is helping to grow his billion-dollar sports empire.
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00:00 Combat sports are booming and technology is changing how fans all over the world watch
00:08 the action.
00:09 Chairman and CEO of One Championship, Chatri Sitchitong, joins us to share his latest battle
00:15 plans.
00:19 Welcome to The Exchange from our studio here in Doha.
00:22 Now two massive martial arts media companies sit at the top of the industry.
00:28 The UFC and the One Championship are now both worth well over a billion dollars according
00:34 to recent market capitalization figures.
00:37 Dana White's Las Vegas-based UFC now has a $10 billion market cap with Chatri Sitchitong's
00:43 One Championship valued at $1.4 billion.
00:47 But this explosion of popularity extends to other brands too, such as Bellator and the
00:53 Professional Fighters League.
00:55 And the big fight between the brands now is really all about how we watch the content.
01:00 Streaming services and social media platforms have become the battleground set to decide
01:06 the future of the industry.
01:09 An estimated 300 million people now consider themselves fans of mixed martial arts with
01:16 popularity at its highest in countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil,
01:22 Singapore and China.
01:25 And increasing numbers are trying the sport themselves.
01:29 Last year in the United States alone, the market for martial arts studios and clubs
01:35 had grown to be worth an estimated $9 billion.
01:39 Chatri Sitchitong is the chairman and CEO of the One Championship.
01:44 I spoke to him about growth, competition and how he feels tech is helping to make leading
01:50 sports brands recession-proof assets.
01:56 If you take a look at your phone where millennials and Gen Z live, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram,
02:02 etc.
02:03 You can't see the tennis ball, the basketball, the ping pong ball.
02:06 You can't see the soccer ball very well.
02:08 You can't see a 200 lap race in F1 very well on your phone.
02:11 Too long form or you just can't see that.
02:13 You physically can't see the ball.
02:15 You can see a flying knee, you can see a head kick KO, bite-sized content, live.
02:21 That's what combat sports is.
02:22 There are three rounds of action and then the next fight comes.
02:25 You can pick and choose which fighters you want to watch and it's very bite-sized.
02:28 It doesn't require you to spend three, four hours or eight hours of your time.
02:33 You can literally consume the content, enjoy it and understand it and it's very easy to
02:36 use.
02:37 There are 5,000 sports properties in the world.
02:39 I'm talking about the top 10, top 15, top 20 where one champion is in the top 10 largest
02:45 sports property.
02:47 Because you hit scale and you actually can ignite fandom all over the world.
02:51 Again, a single event for us several months ago, we were number one Twitter in the US,
02:55 number one on Twitter globally.
02:56 At the same time that weekend, we were number one on Douyin, Kuaishou, Weibo, which is a
03:00 Facebook, Instagram and TikTok of China.
03:03 Simultaneous different languages, different cultures and yet we're able to in one weekend
03:08 light up both countries, a country of 1.4 billion and a country of 350 million.
03:13 That is the power of digital and that is the power of sports.
03:17 One of the benefits that one has and why we're the world's largest combat sports property
03:20 today in terms of viewership and engagement metrics as per Nielsen, the ratings agency.
03:26 It's because of our right values of our heroes who are genuinely heroes who inspire entire
03:31 countries, inspire the world with their stories, their values of integrity, humility, honor,
03:35 respect, courage, discipline, compassion, the bedrock values of martial arts.
03:39 And I think that ethos with one as the home of martial arts has really resonated all over
03:44 the world.
03:47 Huge growth driven by global brands and the latest streaming technology.
03:53 But with more and more people taking up sports like jiu jitsu, boxing and Muay Thai, how
03:58 are smaller businesses getting in on the act?
04:01 Well, we sent our reporter Ryan Caparald to meet martial arts experts in Qatar, building
04:06 a business around a shared passion.
04:08 Well, yes, guy, I'm here today at the Qatar MMA gym in Doha, which is one of the biggest
04:15 centers for the sport in the region.
04:17 And in the last decade, this sport has grown massively with huge fan bases across the world.
04:23 So how do businesses like this operate?
04:26 Well, on a day to day, it's usually pretty busy.
04:36 We run a lot of classes here for jiu jitsu, Muay Thai, MMA, and also for the kids, Muay
04:43 Thai and jiu jitsu.
04:45 In this gym, we've been running some amateur competitions with all the protection and stuff.
04:51 I had a couple of my students fighting here as well, and you know, when you have 18 year
04:58 olds that come and fight, all their friends from school, sometimes even their teachers
05:03 come to watch, and they like to see their friends win and like to see their friends
05:08 fight, and that just brings more and more people.
05:10 I think we can only grow MMA, especially in the Middle East, since it's a new sport, just
05:17 like it was in Brazil and just like it was in the U.S. in the beginning.
05:21 It is here now, right?
05:23 It has to start from somewhere.
05:25 But what is the future of MMA?
05:29 Can it continue against the odds and become one of the globe's leading sports?
05:33 Well, earlier, I caught up with Ron Westfall from the Futurum Group.
05:38 He explained that streaming might be the key to the expansion in popularity for sports
05:43 like this across the globe.
05:45 In fact, what we're anticipating is a spike in bundling.
05:51 In fact, in the U.S., already half of new streaming subscriber ads are parts of bundles.
05:58 And certainly a prime example is the Disney ESPN bundle.
06:03 And so that, I think, is going to harbinger more of this.
06:07 I think we're going to see more bundles that include, certainly, sports.
06:12 But will not just be, for example, U.S. sports, but certainly world sports.
06:20 Now it's time for our regular feature Business in 60 Seconds.
06:23 Start the clock.
06:25 Fashionista shareholders of the global retail store Next will be hoping for good results
06:29 when quarterly progress is reported this month.
06:32 The fashion giant, which has stores across the world in the last few months, has made
06:36 a pledge to cut the carbon emissions of the company by 2030, which has caught the eye
06:42 of industry analysts across the planet.
06:45 And what is the future of the biggest football club in the world?
06:48 Well, this month, Manchester United is due to report its quarterly earnings projections.
06:53 This comes as the 23-24 season has just kicked off amidst uncertainty over the future of
06:59 the club, which has been subject to multiple takeover bids.
07:04 While Ryanair is set to hold its annual general meeting this month, Europe's busiest low-cost
07:09 airline has expanded routes over the last couple of months, with destinations such as
07:14 Stockholm and Venice reaping the economic benefits of a huge influx of tourists.
07:22 Three seconds.
07:23 Good, but not quite a knockout performance.
07:26 Now the business of combat sports is one which over the last decade has evolved on a huge
07:32 scale.
07:33 Public participation is at an all-time high, with sold-out arenas across the globe and
07:39 packed MMA gyms, this huge level of growth shows no sign of slowing down.
07:45 Well, that's all we've got time for on this edition of the show.
07:48 Thanks for watching.
07:50 Please do check out Euronews.com for all your latest business news.
07:53 And join us again next time on The Exchange.
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