Amazon Expands Its Live Sports Offerings with MMA Promotion

Amazon is continuing to add to its live sports portfolio with a five-year distribution deal with mixed martial arts promoter One Championship. 

The deal, which covers the U.S. and Canada, will see Amazon exclusively broadcast at least 12 live One Championship events annually on its streaming service Prime Video.

The pact allows One Championship to compete in the U.S. with rival UFC, which reported its best financial year to date in 2021. 

Amazon has been diversifying its live sports offerings with deals across multiple sports and leagues. 

• In March 2021, it agreed to an 11-year deal with the NFL for exclusive rights to “Thursday Night Football” that will pay the league $1 billion per season. 
• Two months later, the Premier League agreed to roll over its $7 billion in broadcast deals to 2025, which includes a 20-game package with Amazon.
• In June 2021, it signed a three-year deal to broadcast Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 games for $1 billion.

The Seattle-based tech giant is also adding highly regarded talent to its live sports coverage. In March, it hired ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit and legendary NBC commentator Al Michaels to handle Prime Video’s “TNF.”

Valuable Investment 

In January, Group ONE Holdings, the Singapore-based parent company of One Championship, raised $150 million in a funding round, valuing the MMA promotion at more than $1 billion.

The round was led by Guggenheim Investments and the Qatar Investment Authority, the nation’s sovereign wealth fund.