ONE Championship steps carefully forward under pandemic uncertainty

Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-07 16:02:52|Editor: huaxia

By sportswriter Lu Yuchen

BEIJING, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Under heavy strokes from COVID-19 and a suspended sports market, Asia's leading Martial Arts brand ONE Championship stepped carefully forward by raising funds, reducing the staff and opening up new soil.

ONE announced that it has added 70 million US dollars to its war chest, bringing total capital to 346 million dollars last month.

However, more 'bad' news came at the same time: ONE decided to cut down 20 percent of staff around the world.

"Though we have new financing, we still need to step carefully forward, considering current environment and uncertainty," said Hua FungTeh, Group President of ONE Championship.

Simplifying operations inside the organization might give ONE a chance to reshape itself and be more concentrated and cautious.

ONE released this year's schedule in February. Two to three matches were expected each month. But the widespread COVID-19 pandemic forced a halt to proceedings.

After months of waiting and wondering, ONE came back with the first major behind-closed-door event, named "No Surrender."

"Our game will restart in Thailand on July 31," said Hua FungTeh, "Like what we did before, we will keep on focusing on our core Asian market."

Though online business bloomed in the first half of the year, ONE still hopes that they can go back to their martial arts shows.

"Pandemic control in China is very successful. It makes the possibility of our resume comparatively higher."

ONE relaunched their Hero Series (OHS) events in Shanghai, China, last month. It means ONE will be able to continue producing new content.

ONE also added Esports and reality TV show to the ONE family to broaden resources of income and make ONE more flexible. Enditem

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