Chatri Sityodtong, the chairman and chief executive officer of ONE Championship, added another accolade to his growing résumé as he received the 2017 Influential Brands “Top CEO of the Year” award at the 2017 CEO Asia Conference organized in conjunction with Deloitte.
In the presence of esteemed guests from all over the world in various industries, the citation was bestowed upon Sityodtong during the annual awarding ceremony at the Capitol Theatre in Singapore on Tuesday, 7 November.
The prestigious award is given to CEO’s who have proven exemplary in various areas, namely: exhibiting strong business leadership, building confidence from stakeholders and fully embracing branding as part of the business strategy.
In 2016, past recipients of this prestigious award include other notable CEO’s such as Mr. George Quek; Chairman of BreadTalk Group, Mr. Anthony Tan; Co-Founder and CEO of GrabTaxi Holdings, Dr. Michael Tan; Co-Founder and Group CEO of Fullerton Healthcare Corporation, Mr. Richard Eu; CEO of Eu Yan Sang International, Mr. David Chiem; Founder, CEO and Chairman of Mindchamps Holdings and Mr. Alain Ong; CEO of Pokka International.
“It is an honor to receive the 2017 ‘Top CEO of the Year’ Award from Influential Brands, but I have to give credit to an amazing team we have at ONE Championship,” Sityodtong said.
With nearly two decades of insight into Asia’s top global brands, businesses, and rich Asian cultural heritage, Influential Brands recognizes exceptional performance of some of the biggest names from various industries.
Influential Brands identifies, engages and recognizes Asia’s most influential companies, while it is also a think-tank formed to gain consumer insights through various methods of research.
Leveraging on more than 19 years of branding knowledge, know-how and expertise in Asia, Influential Brands seeks to provide knowledge, raise awareness of desirable brands, celebrate the unique aspects of Asian-based businesses and our rich Asia’s brand heritage.
“ONE Championship promises to continue to dedicate itself to highlighting Asia’s greatest cultural treasure, martial arts, and telling its inspirational stories through our local homegrown martial arts superheroes,” Sityodtong shared.
ONE Championship has taken the sport of mixed martial arts in Asia to new heights as the biggest local and global brands in the world have been attracted to the organization and a number of key partnerships have formed over the years.
The list includes Sequoia Capital, Temasek Holdings, Disney, Marvel, LG, Kawasaki, Panasonic, Haier, NagaWorld, Universal Music Group, GoDaddy.com, AGD Bank and Tune Talk, to name a few. The company’s ability to form deals that are mutually beneficial to all parties has been essential in its growth.
In 2016, a measure of ONE Championship's rapid ascent was seen following the announcement of the promotion's eight-figure investment from Heliconia, a subsidiary of Singapore's financial giant Temasek.
Sityodtong attributes the promotion’s success to its content and its extremely loyal fan base that is growing by the number every single day.
“ONE Championship captures the essence of entertainment similar to a show in Las Vegas, but combines it with the sporting excellence of elite martial artists. It also breaks the mold of being a global sports media property that is based in Asia,” he explained.
“Sports entities have traditionally originated from the west, whether it is FIFA, NBA, Formula 1, or ATP. ONE Championship is an Asian brand that has Asian values, some of the best Asian stars, big Asian brands as partners, but with a product that appeals to the global audience,” Sityodtong asserted.
Even though he saw the demand for premium combat sports content to originate from Asia, Sityodtong dreamed of ONE Championship being so much more.
“We have experienced such exponential growth,” he stated. “ONE Championship is popular because we built this organization with the Asian people in mind. Asia is the birthplace of martial arts and we felt it was right to showcase all the local talent here to the rest of the world.”
It has been a phenomenal 2017 for ONE Championship as the organization has achieved sensational growth, marking significant increases in social media influence and television distribution in the past three years.
In addition, the company has managed to garner a whopping 8.3-billion social media impressions in 2017 from just 352-million in 2014, which is more than a 23 times increase.
Social media video views is even more impressive, totalling 1.5-billion across multiple platforms compared to 312 thousand just three years prior.
Furthermore, ONE Championship has posted astronomical increases in global TV distribution, now being broadcast to a potential one-billion viewers in over 128 countries worldwide.
In the past three years alone, ONE Championship has come to a peak TV ratings share of 1-2% to a staggering 11-36% projected by the end of 2017, which is up to 36 times the amount of growth.
In comparison, TV ratings in Asia for global sports media properties such as the EPL, F1, and the NBA only sit at 1-6%. This includes an increase in annual TV broadcast per core country, coming from 12-18 hours to a phenomenal 100-2800 hours, a more than 230 times spike.
In the same year, ONE Championship’s recent highlighted growth has already seen it rival the growth of Formula One (F1), the highest class of single-seat auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA).
ONE Championship is scheduled to hold 24 events in 2018, compared to F1 which is scheduled to hold just 21 events.
Moreover, ONE Championship’s one-billion potential global broadcast reach is coming close to F1’s 1.5-billion.
On the social media front, ONE Championship is completely crushing the competition, with a more than 5-million user fanbase with over 1.3-million average Facebook video views. In contrast, F1 has only registered 3.86-million with 400,000 average views.
While 2017 certainly continues to be spectacular for the promotion, 2018 already promises to be even better as ONE Championship pulls out all the stops to become the global leader in martial arts and sports entertainment.
ONE Championship announced earlier this year its blockbuster 2018 calendar featuring 24 massive events taking place in iconic cities across Asia.
The promotion continues to set the bar for authentic world-class martial arts, bringing a unique experience to fans all over the region.
Apart from events previously held in major Asian cities, ONE Championship also introduces inaugural events in new markets South Korea and Japan.
“2018 promises to be an even better year, and I can’t wait to share every moment with our beloved fans,” Sityodtong guaranteed.
As the sport of mixed martial arts continues to grow worldwide, Sityodtong’s vision in further cultivating ONE Championship as a household name in Asia is sky’s the limit.
“Our vision is to become a part of everyday life for everyone in Asia. I envision a world where everyone in Asia will tune into our events every weekend. There is no reason why it should not happen because Asia has always been the home of martial arts,” he ended.