Singapore open water team finishes 14th, calls it "good indicator" ahead of SEA Games
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Business Times
3 hours ago
- Business Times
Pathway to profitability: One Championship spreads wings in Asia and beyond
ONE Championship – the company that's produced dozens of mixed martial arts (MMA) world champions such as Angela Lee, Stamp Fairtex and Aung La N Sang over the years – is busy growing its footprint in Asia and beyond. The Singapore-based promoter has a firm presence in Bangkok, where it stages the weekly One Friday Fights event at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium. These shows are beamed to some 195 countries during Aisa prime-time hours. Last month, One Championship announced the relocation of its global production hub from Singapore to Bangkok, with the move aiming to 'centralise production' and better support the company's expanding content operations. Outside of the Thai capital, One Championship continues to stage major live events – there will be one show in Tokyo in November, and another in the US state of Colorado in June 2026. Earlier this year in February, the company held its second event in Qatar. 'Asia remains our core, with the Middle East and the US as strategic expansion markets,' said co-founder and group president Teh Hua Fung in an interview with BT Weekend. Teh, who joined the company in January 2018 as chief financial officer and gradually moved up the ranks, spoke about a wide range of issues such as the geographic focus and why he's confident that One Championship remains firmly on a path towards profitability. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 2 pm Lifestyle Our picks of the latest dining, travel and leisure options to treat yourself. Sign Up Sign Up What are your responsibilities as co-founder and president? I run the business with (chairman and CEO) Chatri Sityodtong. We make the big decisions together with our leadership team. I oversee global expansion and business development. The areas of focus are capital markets, group strategy, and building partnerships with both businesses and governments. Where are the main commercial opportunities these days? The Middle East is a region that has very strong tailwinds – a young and very digitally savvy population, and strong government support for sports and entertainment. We are growing our operations in Qatar – it's part of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and those countries have a combined population of 60 million. Qatar represents the starting point of our entry into the Middle East, and we are going to focus on that. If you look at the broader Middle East and North Africa region, you have very large countries like Egypt that have a big appetite for sports. The US remains a very key market for us – it's the largest sports market in the world. Today, we are the only Asia-based sports property with live events carried on Amazon Prime Video in US primetime hours. This places us alongside the likes of the NFL, MLB, Nascar, WNBA and soon, the NBA. As a Singapore-headquartered company, that's something we are very proud of. 'Singapore remains our global HQ. It's home to our senior leadership, investor relations and strategic planning functions,' says One Championship's co-founder and president Teh Hua Fung. PHOTO: REUTERS What about Singapore? Singapore remains our global HQ. It's home to our senior leadership, investor relations and strategic planning functions. We value Singapore's world-class infrastructure, global connectivity and deep talent pool. We also cherish and appreciate our longstanding working relationships with government agencies here like Singapore Tourism Board, Sport Singapore, the Infocomm Media Development Authority, Economic Development Board and Enterprise Singapore – all of whom have been important partners in our journey. Revenue in the last five financial years has seen a steady increase. What's the road to profitability like, and how are you getting there? Our group-level financials are filed in the Cayman Islands, in line with our re-domiciliation several years ago. The trend is clear. Since our peak investment year in 2019, costs have declined steadily while revenues have grown in both volume and variety. A question I often get is: It's been more than a decade (One Championship was established in 2011), so why are you still unprofitable? We are not profitable yet, but the path is very visible now. That said, a precise timing is hard to predict in this business. Many of our key revenue drivers such as broadcast rights, sponsorships and hosting fees are large, multi-year deals that tend to close in uneven cycles. While we have always been confident in the direction, it's hard to call the precise timing of profitability given the natural lumpiness of the business. Fans enjoying the action at a One Friday Fights event in Bangkok. Last month, One Championship announced the relocation of its global production hub from Singapore to the Thai capital. PHOTO: ONE CHAMPIONSHIP What are the challenges? Building a global sports property requires heavy upfront investment. Unlike one-off event promoters or circuses, sports media businesses are full-stack ecosystems – you need a global brand, world-class athletes, live event infrastructure, broadcast capabilities, international distribution, and strategic partnerships. All of this requires a lot of time and money to build, and you must reach a critical mass in audience before you start seeing serious monetisation. This journey is not unique to One Championship. Formula 1 operated at a loss for decades before becoming a highly profitable business under Liberty Media. They had to build global infrastructure, including races across multiple regions, to expand their fanbase and eventually unlock commercial upside. Once scale is reached, the economics shift dramatically. Like a theme park, it's expensive to build but once it's up and running, incremental revenue outpaces fixed costs, and margins expand. That's the phase we are approaching now.
Straits Times
5 hours ago
- Straits Times
Newcastle United arrive in Singapore for pre-season match with Arsenal
Newcastle captain Bruno Guimaraes brushed aside the speculation surrounding an exit for striker Alexander Isak, whom he called a 'top player' and a 'good guy'. SINGAPORE – Whoops of delight and manic calling of players' names from about 40 supporters greeted the Newcastle United squad when they arrived at their Pan Pacific Singapore base on the morning of July 25. But all the buzz surrounding the English League Cup winners over the previous 24 hours involved one of their players who did not even board the plane bound for Singapore. Hours after Newcastle announced that their squad that left England on July 24 was missing star striker Alexander Isak due to a thigh injury, multiple UK media outlets reported that the Swede was considering an exit from the club. The noise surrounding Isak – heavily linked with a move to English Premier League champions Liverpool – meant Newcastle manager Eddie Howe probably did not have a restful flight here as his team prepare to play Arsenal on July 27 as part of the Singapore Festival of Football. And while the 47-year-old Englishman did not stop to speak to the media, he flashed a smile of acknowledgement and a thumbs up to the supporters. Most of the players, too, alighted from the bus and headed straight into the hotel, although some later interacted with fans inside. Speaking to the media later, club captain Bruno Guimaraes brushed aside the speculation surrounding Isak, whom he called a 'top player' and a 'good guy'. Said the Brazilian midfielder: 'I think he (is going) through a lot of things at the moment. Some things that I've seen are not true, but my focus at the moment is with the lads (here). Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore SMRT to pay lower fine of $2.4m for EWL disruption; must invest at least $600k to boost reliability Singapore MRT service changes needed to modify 3 East-West Line stations on Changi Airport stretch: LTA Asia Live: Thailand-Cambodia border clashes continue for second day Singapore Etomidate found in blood of 2 people involved in fatal Punggol Road accident in May: HSA Singapore More students to get Smart Buddy watches; most schools have gone cashless Singapore Vape disposal bins at 23 CCs for users to surrender e-vaporisers, without facing penalties Business Microsoft Singapore managing director Lee Hui Li dies while on sabbatical Singapore Kopi, care and conversation: How this 20-year-old helps improve the well-being of the elderly '(The situation with) Isak is something that I cannot control, and the club has control on it. I hope he is going to be fit again when we return to Newcastle to prepare for the new season.' England defender Dan Burn, when asked if he understood if Isak wanted to leave Newcastle, said: 'Listen, everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but I think we can just (only) control what we can control. That's a question for Alex to answer. 'He's obviously a big player for us, but we do have a lot of quality in the squad as well, obviously, bringing Anthony (Elanga, winger) in as well, which I think was a great signing.' Burn and Guimaraes were among the Newcastle players – including Italian midfielder Sandro Tonali, English defender Kieran Trippier and Brazilian midfielder Joelinton – who greeted fans inside the hotel and obliged them with photos and autographs. Supporter Irfan Said, who managed to snag the signatures of four players on the back of Newcastle's famous black-and-white jersey, said: 'Trippier and Bruno were the most friendly players. 'Trippier said he had a long flight and that he was tired, but he still came and interacted with us, and was very warm to us.' On Isak not being a part of the travelling squad, the 30-year-old modeller, a Newcastle fan since 2001, said: 'Yesterday, I was angry, sad, just feeling a mix of emotions... But today I am over it. I would of course prefer him to stay, but if his mind is (elsewhere), maybe we can move on.' Howe had previously said he expected Isak to join the team for their Asia tour. Any move for the striker, who has scored 54 goals in 86 Premier League games for Newcastle in the last three seasons, would likely see the buying club having to fork out a figure upwards of £120 million (S$206.9 million). After the game against Arsenal in Singapore, Newcastle will travel to South Korea, where they will meet a K-League selection side at the Suwon World Cup Stadium on July 30, before facing fellow EPL side Tottenham Hotspur at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on Aug 3. This is the Magpies' first visit here since 1996, when a side featuring Faustino Asprilla, David Ginola and Les Ferdinand thumped an S-League All-Stars team 5-0 in front of 41,000 fans at the old National Stadium. On July 23, Arsenal beat AC Milan 1-0 in the first of two games in this year's Festival of Football in front of an underwhelming 22,381 fans. Burn said he was hoping for 'big numbers' of fans at the 55,000-capacity National Stadium on July 27. 'Arsenal is going to be a tough game, it always is,' he said. 'They've had a few more days to get used to the time difference and the heat. But we're just looking forward to working hard and going out and training and preparing for the games.' Newcastle ended a 70-year trophy drought when they beat Liverpool 2-1 in the English League Cup final at Wembley in March. They went on to finish fifth in the EPL to qualify for the Champions League for the second time in three seasons.
CNA
9 hours ago
- CNA
Water quality issues force postponement of open water training sessions at World Aquatics Masters Champs
SINGAPORE: Open water training sessions for the World Aquatic Masters Championships were cancelled on Friday (Jul 25) as a result of "water quality levels exceeding acceptable thresholds". In a message to participants seen by CNA, World Aquatics announced the cancellation of the morning and afternoon sessions. It added that a technical meeting is planned for 4.45pm and that it will "continue monitoring water quality" and provide more information prior to the women's 3km race tomorrow. The Masters Championships features athletes aged 25 and above, with age groups for individual events in five-year bands, starting from 25-29. This news follows postponements at the World Aquatics Championships earlier this month as a result of E. coli bacteria. On Jul 15, the women's 10km race at the was postponed just hours before it was set to begin, with organisers saying that the water quality levels did not meet "acceptable thresholds" as a result of an analysis of samples taken last Sunday. The race was then pushed back to Jul 16 morning. World Aquatics executive director Brent Nowicki said later that elevated levels of the E. coli bacteria were responsible for the race postponement. He added that the source of the contamination had yet to be determined. E. coli are bacteria typically found in the intestines of humans and animals. Common symptoms of ingesting a pathogenic strain of E. coli include vomiting and diarrhoea. Tests conducted in the weeks and months leading up to the event had shown results within "acceptable limits", he added. Following Mr Nowicki's comments, World Aquatics said then that water quality results had "improved", but further tests showed that levels still exceeded "acceptable thresholds" after testing conducted earlier in the day. The events eventually went ahead on Jul 16 afternoon. Sentosa is the venue for the high diving and open water swimming events at the Championships. It is also hosting the open water swimming events at the Masters Championships.
