The camera rolls and chatri sityodtong looks straight into the lens, mostly speaking off the cuff with just a small index card for cues. His voice is clear and confident. His gaze never wavers. In one easy, breezy take, the founder, chairman and ceo of one championship nails the peak’s q&a video segment. Just like that, it wraps in under 10 minutes.
When I comment that he makes filming appear so effortless – it is normal for most interviewees to require at least a second take – he nonchalantly shrugs it off. “We are a media company,” Sityodtong remarks. “Getting it right makes the process efficient for everyone.”
Spoken like a true media mogul. Nine years ago, he built the Singapore-based ONE Championship from scratch and on the back of a dream to create real-life superheroes by promoting martial arts as an Asian cultural treasure. Today, it is Asia’s largest global sports media property with over 2.7 billion potential viewers across 130 countries. Investors include Temasek Holdings and Sequoia Capital.
But even this mixed martial arts (MMA) behemoth, valued at US$1 billion (S$1.3 billion) after a US$166 million Series D funding round in October 2018, has not been spared the fallout from Covid-19. From March till June, it had to halt its live stadium events. In Singapore, Sityodtong also temporarily closed his chain of Evolve MMA gyms that has since reopened.
This story is from the October 2020 edition of The PEAK Singapore.
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This story is from the October 2020 edition of The PEAK Singapore.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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