Rich Franklin talks ONE Championship US expansion
Rich Franklin talks ONE Championship US expansion Rich Franklin. [Photos ONE Championship] is already one of the biggest announcements the promotion has ever made, but ONE Vice President Rich Franklin said the partnership is just the beginning. Franklin reiterated that is putting a heavy focus on establishing a footprint in the North American market. The mixed martial arts legend made the declaration during a joint press conference with Amazon at The Novo in Los Angeles on Wednesday. He added that ONE Championship is entering a new era and that the promotion is looking to expand its influence further to include the millions of fans in the United States and Canada. said: “These are all the things that had been done to continue seeing the organization grow but that was the past and this is now. This is a new era for ONE Championship and we're focused on the United States at this point in time.” The first part of the deal will have Prime Video, Amazon’s global streaming platform, broadcast five ONE Championship cards this year starting with ONE on Prime Video 1: Moraes vs. Johnson II on August 26. The event will stream live on US primetime. Prime Video will then broadcast four more cards from September until December, all of which will start at 9:00 pm EDT. The partnership will see a minimum of 12 live events streamed on Prime Video annually. Franklin added that with ONE Championship expected to increase its influence in US and Canada, it would be inevitable for the promotion to ultimately hold shows on American soil: “We'll deliver five shows for the year 2022 on Amazon Prime. Then beginning in 2023, we will deliver at least one show per month on the cadence with a plan to again have boots on the ground next year here in the United States.”