Report: ONE Championship sees uptake in viewership, fan engagement

MANILA, Philippines — Singapore-based mixed martial arts promotion ONE Championship has seen a signifcant rise in its viewership and fan engagement, according to a report released by Nielsen.

The report, titled "How the World's Biggest Sports Properties Engaged Fans in 2020", pegged ONE Championship as the fastest growing among any other major global sports properties with +113% in its digital follower growth across platforms Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

ONE Champonship, which was established less than 10 years ago, thus sits at seventh overall in total followers across the platforms.

The MMA promotion performed well across the different aspects of the study, including a No. 3 ranking in terms of cumulative reach -- a list measuring the number of unique viewers who tune in to watch at least a minute of a TV broadcast.

ONE was ranked only behind the English Premier League and the UEFA Champions League in the list.

The promotion was also ahead of its western rival UFC, which only ranked sixth in the list.

Meanwhile, in terms of total video views, ONE Championship ranked fourth overall with over six billion views across its different platforms.

Fan engagement of Facebook also saw ONE in the top five behind the NBA at No. 4.

All of this despite ranking only 10th in broadcast hours due to the challenges presented by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

ONE Championship is home to scores of Filipino MMA athletes, including world champion Joshua Pacio, former titlists Eduard Folayang, and Brandon Vera among others.