September 18 – UEFA is poised to take a deeper step into the broadcast business with the launch of its own OTT streaming platform which will air content outside the big money TV deals of its Champions League, Europa League and national team competitions.
UEFA Marketing Dir Guy-Laurent Epstein said that the OTT platform would not be competition for broadcasters but would make use of a huge amount of content the European governing body has which does not make it on to major broadcast networks.
It would also presumably allow for matches to be geo-blocked by territory allowing a wider distribution of content from premium competitions that would not necessarily be available in all national markets, either via subscription or free view.
“We do not want to compete with TV channels, but to take advantage of the wide range of content we have, such as summaries, delayed games, backstage pictures, and women’s and grassroots competitions, whose broadcasters generally do not have the same visibility as the men’s tournaments.”
The platform, which Epstein said “is not ready yet”, would also be a showcase for Futsal and age-group competition.
There is a gentle movement towards rights owners/governing bodies moving towards their own OTT platforms rather than opting for the free Facebook streaming option or channel building platforms of consumer driven services Netflix and Amazon who only really have an appetite for premium rights.
IMG launched its Strive OTT service in Scandinavia in the summer, and is offering an OTT subscription to Serie A in certain markets globally. Formula One has also launched its own streaming platform.
In what is an increasingly disrupted broadcast market, but also one with greater volumes of content being made available by rights holders, broadcast deals are showing signs splitting across multiple delivery platforms.
For example, in the US, Champions League and Europa League rights holder Turner Sports in the first year of its rights deal will carry just 46 Champions League matches on its pay-TV channel TNT, with all remaining fixtures on its new B/R Live over-the-top (OTT) platform.
B/R Live allows viewers to buy a full season ($79.99), a month-long subscription ($9.99), or on a pay-per-match basis ($2.99).
Turner reportedly paid $60 million for the UEFA rights taking through to the end of the 2020/21 cycle.
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