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.
07:55 [MUSIC PLAYING]
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