Exclusive: One Championship CEO explains what’s next after steep layoffs

One Championship has been weathering a barrage of hits from doubters lately after announcing on June 15 that it’s laying off 20% of its headcount.

But the sports media company appears to be in a comfortable cash position for now. In the same announcement, it also said that it had just completed a US$70 million fundraise. Existing backers Sequoia Capital and Temasek Holdings participated in the round, which also included a new investor described as a “blue-chip multibillion-dollar investment firm in the US with heavy sports media and tech expertise.”

Of course, One isn’t throwing in the towel and dropping its bid to become “Asia’s first global sports media property,” as company chairman and chief executive Chatri Sityodtong puts it.

“We’re grateful that we now have a multiyear runway under any scenario,” he tells Tech in Asia in an exclusive interview.

Assuming One continued its revenue growth trajectory in 2019, the company could be looking at a runway of close to four years, Tech in Asia’s research shows.

Covid-19, however, could throw a spanner in the works. One’s revenues from February to May 2020 were hit by social distancing and other measures to contain the pandemic, which forced the company to put all its events – its bread and butter – on ice. It held its last event behind closed doors in Singapore on February 28.

Losses are but a drop in a bucket.

Lately, One has come under the scrutiny of many media outlets because of its financial figures.

It posted three consecutive annual eight-figure losses from 2016 to 2018 that amounted to more than S$175 million (US$126 million), according to company filings seen by Tech in Asia. The bulk of it stemmed from “marketing expenses, administration, and other expenses.”

Meanwhile, nearly two-thirds of One’s revenue in 2017 consisted of barter deals instead of cash transactions. Since its 2018 financial statement doesn’t single out barter transactions, it’s unclear how much of its sponsorship income that year consisted of cash and noncash deals.

Squaring off with the UFC

Sudden job cuts

Returning to the ring

Future plans