ONE Championship Breaks Global Viewership Records With Latest MMA Event

According to industry analyst Nielsen, a record-breaking 85 million people tuned in to watch ONE Championship’s 100th mixed martial arts event in Tokyo.

The Singapore-based promotion’s ONE: Century event was broadcast live in 145 countries across linear and digital platforms, with the 11-bout fight card also marking ONE’s live TV debut into the US market via broadcast partner, Turner Sports.

The event’s viewership figures, which include social media channels on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, are being touted by ONE Championship as the highest for an MMA event globally.

“I am thrilled to announce that ONE: Century broke all viewership records and stands today as the most-watched martial arts event in history with over 85 million viewers worldwide,” One Championship chief executive, Chatri Sityodtong, said.

“China alone brought in over 10 million viewers on live terrestrial TV and digital platforms. Asia is the world’s largest media market in terms of eyeballs with over 3 billion viewers in the same three hour time zone.”

“ONE Championship is broadcast on free-to-air TV and digital platforms every week in every major country in Asia. Even with the 85 million viewership number, we have barely scratched the surface of the full viewership potential in Asia.”

ONE Championship announced its first US rights deal with Turner Sports in December last year, signing a three-year contract which made the B/R Live over-the-top (OTT) service the promotion’s principle broadcast home in the US.