Let’s go back in time a little bit to the spring of 2022: Amazon Prime Video, one of the world’s power players in streaming media, secured exclusive rights to the NFL‘s Thursday Night Football package a year earlier. This was quite the big splash in a changing media landscape.
Previously, Amazon Prime Video simulcast games on the Thursday night package when the games were aired on linear television over FOX Sports and NFL Network. The exclusive relationship with Amazon carries a hefty price tag: $1 billion (USD) annually over an 11-year window.
In so doing, Amazon became the first premium streamer to carry a series of NFL contests. This deal sent a clear message: How viewers consume content has been changing and is changing, seemingly by the minute. The floodgates were opening up to stay.
ONE Championship Signs North American Streaming Deal with Prime in ’22
A few months before the exclusive deal with the NFL was to begin, Amazon Prime Video made an effort to bolster its sports portfolio. This time, the platform turned its attention to competitive violence. In April of 2022, Amazon and ONE Championship came to terms on an exclusive media deal covering its subscription base in the United States and Canada.
Amazon is bringing One Championship mixed-martial-arts fights to Prime Video as it pushes deeper into live sports https://t.co/b7twHokBcC
— Bloomberg (@business) April 27, 2022
Effective in August of that year, ONE would present live events once a month on Fridays during primetime, dubbed ONE on Prime Video. At the time, ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong was excited about the arrangement.
“As the world’s largest martial arts organization, we believe our collaboration with Prime Video will allow us to reach a wider North American audience that is hungry for an authentic and differentiated product that you simply cannot get with any other organization,” Sityodtong said. “We look forward to showcasing the absolute greatest martial artists on the planet, right here in the ONE Championship Circle and on Prime Video.”
MMA took center stage in the initial ONE on Prime Video main events. That first Friday night on Prime, Aug. 26, 2022, featured a rematch between Demetrious Johnson and Adriano Moraes for the ONE Flyweight Championship, with the former emerging victorious (fourth-round knockout: flying knee.)
Timeslot Great for North American Fans
Compared to ONE Championship’s previous United States relationship with Warner Bros. Discovery-owned TNT Sports, the current pact with Amazon is much better for US-based viewers of the promotion. When TNT aired ONE events in April of 2021, they ran as the lead-out program for AEW Dynamite on Wednesday evenings at 10 pm ET.
While watching combat sports at any time of the day or night would be a welcome idea for anyone, Wednesday nights is a pretty tough sell, particularly for those people who have day jobs. Folks who work the typical 9:00 to 5:00 shift need to get up pretty early in the morning to get ready for another day on the job.
Sacrificing sleep, even if only for a little bit on a weeknight, would have made for a challenging Thursday at the office. With the Amazon deal, those who go to work from 9:00 to 5:00 don’t have to worry about anything given that these shows happen on Fridays and the week is done by the time the card starts.
Full Gamut of Combat Disciplines on Display
While MMA is featured during ONE Championship events, it’s only part of the promotion’s equation. A graphic displayed on Prime Video Sports’ homepage says it all about ONE Championship:
“More than MMA,” the graphic’s caption reads. “Friday fight nights. Every month.”
You’ll be served a four-course meal when you pull up a chair to watch ONE’s events. Aside from MMA, you’ve got kickboxing, Muay-Thai, and submission-only grappling to watch. Take the Sept. 6 ONE 168 from Ball Arena in Denver, for example:
On a night where John Lineker will compete in Muay-Thai for the first time versus Asa Ten Pow, the ONE Lightweight Submission Grappling Championship is at stake in the co-main event when Kade Ruotolo battles current flyweight grappling titleholder Mikey Musumeci. That’s immediately followed up by the main event and another champ vs. champ battle in Muay-Thai between Jonathan Haggerty and incumbent flyweight kickboxing titleholder Superlek for the former’s bantamweight title.
Amazon’s Sports Stock Only Rising From Here
In the event that you’ve just now woken up from a coma, Amazon’s sports properties have grown in recent months and it’s a pretty big get. With the NBA’s current TV deals set to expire after the upcoming season, Prime Video secured partial media rights to the league effective in 2025.
In total, Amazon Prime will air 66 games annually during the regular year, along with postseason play and alternating conference finals with ESPN/ABC. If you didn’t have Amazon Prime Video before, ONE Championship, the NFL, and the NBA are more than reason enough to get it now.
Where else can you get an NFL and an NBA game on Black Friday in the future?
Final Thoughts
As someone who loves to watch combat sports over the weekend, watching ONE on Amazon is time well-spent on a Friday night. Most people may choose to go out on Friday nights, but these shows keep you glued to your seat from the opening bell of the first fight all the way to the final shots of the arena after the main event.
There’s no denying it: ONE Championship’s relationship with Amazon is a knockout for all parties involved. Here’s hoping that it thrives for years to come.
