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ABEMA, the Exclusive Live PPV Broadcaster of All Matches in Historic Fight Event "Yogibo presents THE MATCH 2022" Sold Over 500,000 PPV Tickets

ABEMA ｜June 22, 2022

ABEMA was the exclusive live broadcaster of all 16 matches for "Yogibo presents THE MATCH 2022." PPV broadcasts of the biggest Japanese fight event were available live on Sunday, June 19, 2022. The 16 matches drew a lot of attention, especially the "epic battle" between Tenshin Nasukawa and Takeru, a long-awaited matchup, and the semi-final fight between Kaito and Masaaki Noiri, which went into extra rounds, was called the "co-main bout" and were the highlights of the day.

The event was remarkable for selling over 500,000 PPV tickets and set an all-time ABEMA PPV record for the number of simultaneous connected viewers. Also, the number of daily active users of ABEMA hit a new high. The hashtag #THEMATCH2022 topped the trending Twitter hashtag chart in Japan and worldwide. Furthermore, a total of 29 phrases about the event entered the rankings, including "Tenshin," "Takeru," and "fight of the century."
The day after the event, "THE MATCH 2022: Tenshin Nasukawa vs. Takeru, Tonight at 9 p.m., Unedited Free Broadcast," set a new viewership record for a one-hour program on ABEMA. Many of the program's viewers gave the match rave reviews.

Comments by CyberAgent, Inc. Executive Officer and OEN, Inc. CEO Takunori Fujii
"Thank you very much for watching THE MATCH 2022 on ABEMA. All 16 of the amazing fights and the contenders who appeared in THE MATCH 2022 gave us such strength. The all-out fight in the headline between Tenshin Nasukawa and Takeru was an impressive, inspiring match for fight sports fans as well as people who have never been exposed to the genre. It was truly the fight of the century. We are greatly honored that ABEMA PPV could be the exclusive live broadcaster of this event and I want to give my compliments and gratitude to Tenshin, Takeru, and all the other contenders. Also, we are proud that we could deliver viewers the highest quality footage on ABEMA PPV and the praises we have received. Our systems maintained stable streaming without technical difficulties, either on the day of the live broadcast or the next day. I feel that THE MATCH 2022 made PPV a more familiar part of everyday life. I hope we can create a business model that also benefits the contenders. At ABEMA, we will strive to deliver large audiences with everything that makes fight sports great, including kickboxing, mixed martial arts, boxing, and pro wrestling."

ABEMA PPV ONLINE LIVE BROADCAST "Yogibo presents THE MATCH 2022"

Started at 11 a.m. on Sunday, June 19, 2022

Matches (Reverse Order)
Match 15: TENSHIN NASUKAWA VS TAKERU　-Main Event-
Match 14: KAITO VS MASAAKI NOIRI -Semi Final-
Match 13: KENTO HARAGUCHI VS HIDEAKI YAMAZAKI
Match 12: KOSEI YAMADA VS RUKIYA ANPO
Match 11: TAIJU SHIRATORI VS KONNAPAR WEERASAKRECK
Match 10: KAN NAKAMURA VS LEONA PETTAS
Match 9: YA-MAN VS RYUSEI ASHIZAWA
Match 8: "BLACK PANTHER" BEYNOAH VS HIROMI WAJIMA
Match 7: RIKIYA YAMASHITA VS SINA KARIMIAN
Match 6: YUTA UCHIDA VS MAHMOUD SATTARI
Match 5: YUUKI KASAHARA VS CHIHIRO NAKAJIMA
Match 4: KAZANE VS TOMA KURODA
Match 3: MUTSUKI EBATA VS RIAMU
Match 2: SHIRO VS MASASHI KUMURA
Match 1: MASAHIKO SUZUKI VS AKIHIRO KANEKO
Opening Match: RYUJIN NASUKAWA VS RUI OKUBO

Producer: Yuji Kitano
ABEMA Fight Channel Executive Producer

Yuji Kitano has been in charge of sports including fight sports since ABEMA launched in 2016 and has been in his current role since 2018. As Executive Producer of ABEMA Fight Channel, he has produced live fight sports broadcasts for K-1, Rise, One Championship, Pro-Wrestling Noah, and New Japan Pro-Wrestling, as well as programs such as "Kakuto Dreamers" and "Kakuto Dairi Senso." On ABEMA PPV ONLINE, which fully launched in 2021, he has produced mega hit original programming like "Mikuru Asakura's 10-Million-Yen Project" and "Ryusei Ashizawa's Brawl Project," and has been involved in producing "New Japan Pro-Wrestling vs. Pro-Wrestling Noah," "Naoya Inoue vs. Aran Dipaen," and "One X: Aoki vs. Akiyama." Tenshin Nasukawa vs. Takeru, the headline bout at THE MATCH 2022, sold over 500,000 PPV tickets, a record for online ticket sales in Japan.

Kitano joined TV Asahi in 2004, where he interviewed athletes and worked on major sports broadcasts such as the World Swimming Champions, the Olympics, US Open golf and The Open Championship, and the Grand Prix of Figure Skating. In his fifth year at the broadcaster, Kitano switched to the content business department, where he started up New Japan Pro-Wrestling World, a New Japan Pro-Wrestling subscription service, as its first producer. He grew it into one of Japan's largest sports subscription services. Kitano has been at the forefront of the content business, working with analog and digital technology both in Japan and abroad. Examples include a project and production for a special edition of the New Japan Pro-Wrestling magazine that sold over 1.5 million copies, providing content for CyberAgent's avatar community service Ameba Pigg, and the entertainment and concert business in Thailand.

About ABEMA

ABEMA is a video streaming service that seeks to bring innovation to television. In addition to Japan's only 24-hour news channel, ABEMA broadcasts on over 20 channels covering a variety of genres, including popular Japanese and foreign dramas and romantic programs, animation, sports, and more. Over 30,000 original episodes are always available for streaming, with no member signup required. As a hybrid service that provides both TV for mobile devices and on-demand streaming, ABEMA programming is available to view anytime, anywhere to suit any lifestyle. The ABEMA Premium service for 960 yen a month allows viewers to enjoy all ABEMA productions and features, including exclusive content, program downloads, and archived comments.
Pay-per-view service ABEMA PPV ONLINE LIVE allows viewers to use ABEMA coins to purchase and watch individual paid online live content streamed on ABEMA.
*1. As of January 2022 according to AbemaTV, Inc. research

ABEMA Overview

Name	"ABEMA"
Distribution	Browser/ Google Play /App Store / Amazon Appstore
Country	All over the world except in areas where there is no necessary network environment. *All the programs are provided in Japanese.
Price	Free