DOHA, SINGAPORE – beIN MEDIA GROUP (beIN) and Group ONE Holdings (ONE) have announced an exclusive multi-year partnership to broadcast ONE Championship events live across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) for the first time in the region.

This is a milestone partnership that will mark the first time beIN is distributing mixed martial arts content to its audiences, underlining the growth of the sport across the region as well as the growing fanbase and rising demand for ONE’s dynamic content.

beIN SPORTS, beIN’s flagship channel, will broadcast ONE’s international events with both Arabic and English commentary across 24 territories in the MENA region. The broadcaster will also feature ONE round-up shows across its channels, in addition to dedicated social media and digital content throughout the year on beIN SPORTS’ platforms.

Mohammad Al-Subaie, CEO of beIN MENA said: “We are delighted to sign this agreement with ONE, a significant promoter of MMA throughout Asia, and one that has united fans and fighters alike under a powerful martial arts and e-sports banner. ONE events are a fantastic addition to our already impressive sports portfolio, and highlights our ongoing commitment to showcasing diverse sports to our subscribers across MENA.”

Hua Fung Teh, Group President of Group ONE Holdings, added: “This partnership with beIN will be the catalyst for ONE’s content proliferation across the Middle East and North Africa and will allow us to reach and engage live with our passionate fans here through the largest sports broadcaster in the region. beIN is one of the world’s leaders in sports broadcasting and we’re very proud that they’ve chosen to partner with us and showcase our unique products on their platform.”

One of the key drivers of the partnership is the demographic alignment. The Middle East and North Africa is a region with one of the most attractive demographics globally that is highly Millennial and GenZ (74% under the age of 39[1]), digitally native and well-educated. ONE’s fan demographic mirrors this with 71% of its fans under the age of 442. 

Martial arts participation and engagement has grown significantly across MENA over the last few years. This announcement is just the latest in a series of partnerships that ONE has signed, including recent agreements with the Qatar Investment Authority and Media City Qatar, as it seeks to become the leader in martial arts and gaming across the region.

Subscribers can tune into beIN SPORTS PREMIUM 3 now to enjoy ONE Championship. 

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About beIN MEDIA GROUP

beIN MEDIA GROUP is a leading independent global media group and one of the foremost sports & entertainment networks in the world. The group distributes and produces an unrivalled array of entertainment, live sport and major international events across 5 continents, 40 countries and in 9 different languages spanning Europe, North America, Asia, Australasia and the Middle East & North Africa (MENA).

beIN MEDIA GROUP’s flagship sports network, beIN SPORTS, holds the single largest portfolio of sports rights of any global broadcaster; and through its iconic MIRAMAX film studio, beIN holds an extensive library of Hollywood blockbusters while having a growing presence in series and movies production and distribution, as well as in the digital space. beIN MEDIA GROUP acquired Digiturk, the leading pay-tv operator in Turkey, in August 2016.

For more information on beIN MEDIA GROUP, please contact: mediaoffice@bein.com.

About Group ONE Holdings

Group ONE Holdings (ONE) is Asia’s largest global sports media platform with a broadcast to 150+ countries around the world. According to Nielsen, ONE ranks among the world’s top 10 biggest sports media properties for viewership and engagement. Through its marquee sports properties (ONE Championship and ONE Esports) and its passionate millennial community, ONE is a celebration of Asia’s greatest cultural phenomena, martial arts and gaming, and the deeply rooted Asian values of integrity, humility, honor, respect, courage, discipline, and compassion. ONE can be viewed on many of the largest global free-to-air and digital broadcasters, including Amazon Prime Video Sports, ELEVEN Sports, Star Sports, Beijing TV, iQIYI, One Sports, Abema, IB, NET TV, Vidio, Startimes, Mediapro, Thairath TV, VieOn, Skynet, Mediacorp, Spark Sport, Match TV, Dubai Sports, RedeTV and more.

For more information on ONE, please contact: pr@onefc.com.

[1] 74% under the age of 39 refers to % of internet users male and female between 16 to 39 years of age (GenZ + Millennials) among 16-64 year olds in Egypt, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Israel

Data period: FY22 Q1-Q2.

Source: GWI (GlobalWebIndex)

2 71% of fans under the age of 44 refers to ONE YouTube Global Channel views from users below 44 years of age in Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, UAE, Yemen.

Data period: 1 Jan to 26 Sep 2022.

Source: YouTube.