Major Brands Beef Up ONE Championship’s Sponsorship Portfolio

Asia’s largest global sporting property  ONE Championship has secured strategic partnerships with a raft of global brands for 2020.

German fashion house Hugo Boss and audio equipment manufacturer JBL are among 13 major global brands listed as the Singapore-based MMA organisation’s strategic partners for the coming year.

The other brands revealed by ONE are Tumi, Redbull, Lazada, DBS Bank, Foodpanda, Harvey Norman, Secretlab, California Fitness, Kredivo, Reckitt Benckiser and Unilever. More sponsorship deals with the MMA organisation are also in the pipeline for the 

As well as ONE’s MMA events, the partnerships will also focus on ONE Esports, the US$50m competitive gaming collaboration launched last year with Japanese advertising giant Dentsu.

According to ASN data, Hugo Boss has invested about US$2m+ across the Asian sponsorship market since Q217, but its spends are tipped to reach US$534k in Q120, over 2.4x of its quarterly average of US$220k. Recent deals in the region tend to be sport centric, namely, endorsement deals with Singaporean swimmer Joseph Schooling and South Korean golfer Byeong-Hun An as well as Formula E races in China and Hong Kong. It has also backed Music Matters Live Showcase in Singapore, keeping its pulse on pop cultural events to engage youth and build brand affinity among younger consumers.     

“Our organisation is about unleashing the greatness of humanity upon the world, through our martial arts and esports platforms,” said O chairman and chief executive, Chatri Sityodtong. “Each of our partners share with us a harmonious culture of excellence and innovation, and each play a specific role in realising our vision at ONE Championship.”

Meanwhile,  travel and lifestyle luggage brand Tumi which is owned by Samsonite, has also secured a seven-figure partnership with One Esports, which will be running events online and an invitational series in Singapore.

“We are very excited to be entering into a partnership with One Esports,” said Adam Hershman, GM, Tumi Greater China, APAC distribution and travel retail. 

“It is an incredible time for esports and this is a truly unique and innovative partnership that opens up new possibilities for both brands. We are looking forward to working with this new generation of athletes and the fans to perfect their journeys – while having a bit of fun along the way.”

Tumi will be creating content with One Esports as well as equip athletes on the move with travel essentials. The lifestyle brand and One Esports will also collaborate on a series of events following the Invitational Series across the region.

Esports is one of the world’s fastest-growing industries, driven by Asian fans and participants. With over 700m followers globally, and more than half of those from Asia, esports’ current rise sets it on its way to becoming one of the biggest earning sports leagues in the world.

Tumi’s partnership with One Esports first major deal in the Asian major sponsorship market since it withdrew from a celebrity endorsement with CL, a member of defunct K-pop girl group 2NE1 last February in the South Korean. The seven-figure deal is a marked rise of at least 12.5x from its US$80k outlay with CL, and clearly reflects the importance of Asia to the brand’s revenue.

ONE has a minimum schedule of 50 live events slated for 2020 across both its MMA and esports properties.