Eleven Sports pressured to drop 3pm broadcasts in UK, but promises fight is not over
October 19 – Internet sports broadcaster Eleven Sports says it is reluctantly dropping screening European football matches in the UK on Saturday afternoons.
Broadcast
UEFA steps in to mediate over Eleven’s breaking of English Saturday 3pm broadcast ban
October 16 – UEFA has diplomatically stepped into the debate over UK football’s traditional Saturday afternoon broadcast blackout being breached by saying it is in talks with the English and Spanish leagues following reports that online streaming service Eleven Sports is defying the rules.
Yes you Kan: UEFA quells Israeli political hysteria over right to broadcast in West Bank
By Andrew Warshaw
October 15 – UEFA has firmly denied reports that it has banned Israel’s public broadcaster, Kan, from televising qualifying games in the disputed occupied territories.
Fanfoot picks up $150m Brasileiro OTT rights for platform launch in 2019
October 10 – Brazil’s top league, the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, has agreed a $150 million international streaming deal with sports tech startup Fanfoot which will launch its OTT platform in 2019.
Facebook builds footprint in South America with 4-year Copa Libertadores buy
October 8 – Facebook has expanded its live football output picking up rights to South America’s Copa Libertadores matches in a four-year package from 2019-2022 for its Watch platform.
OTT channel Eleven breaks English ‘blackout’ rule with Barca vs Bilbao broadcast
October 3 – OTT streaming service Eleven Sports has challenged the English FA’s ban on the broadcast of live football matches on Saturdays between 2.45pm and 5.15pm by showing live coverage of Barcelona’s match against Athletic Bilbao last weekend.
beIN Sports adds territories in renewed 4-year EFL broadcast rights deal
September 26 – Although the victim of aggressive piracy of live sports rights in Saudi Arabia, beIN Sports has not slowed its commitment to football with the announcement of a new four-season deal through to the end of the 2021/22 season with the English Football League’s (EFL) three divisions and Cup competition.
Broadcast disruption: UEFA set to launch OTT streaming platform
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.
Premier League goes legal in Saudi as beoutQ steals another round of matches
August 22 – Saudi Arabian pirate broadcaster beoutQ is showing no signs of easing up on its copyright theft, stealing every match of the round two of the new Premier League season for broadcast into Saudi Arabia and the Middle East.
EFL test live streaming demand with 31 mid-week matches
August 22 – The English Football League (EFL) is halfway through its first midweek round of EFL fixtures to be streamed in the UK and Ireland. 31 games across the Sky Bet Championship, Sky Bet League One and Sky Bet League Two will have been live-streamed by the end of tonight’s matches.
Geo-political genocide: Saudis ban beIN Sport, waving though beoutQ to continue piracy
By Paul Nicholson
August 20 – The Saudi Arabian competition authority has today released a ruling that bans Qatari-based broadcaster beIN Sport from transmitting into the kingdom. The cancelling of the beIN Sport license means that the only way to view top level international football in Saudi Arabia will be illegally via the pirate channel beoutQ.
LFP appeals to EC for help to stop Saudi-distributed beoutQ’s Ligue1 theft
November 16 – France’s Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) has written to the Directorate General for Trade at the European Commission calling for support in investigating the piracy activities of Saudi-broadcast beoutQ and demanding the copyright theft is stopped.
Evidence proves pirate channel beoutQ is Saudi-based and Arabsat promoted
By Paul Nicholson
August 16 – Pirate satellite broadcast beoutQ, which has been stealing the rights to beIN Sport broadcast content, has continued where it left at the World Cup, with every game of the first Premier League weekend stolen and broadcast via the Arabsat satellite. beoutQ also stole six of the 10 opening games of France’s Ligue 1, including PSG vs Caen.
Facebook adds UCL for Latin America as it keeps up its charge into live football rights
August 16 – Facebook has added more football broadcast rights to its rapidly growing portfolio, this time bringing to its streaming platform UEFA Champions League and UEFA Super Cup rights in Spanish-speaking Latin American territories.
Facebook expands live streaming on Indian sub-continent with 3-year LaLiga deal
August 15 – Facebook has confirmed it has snapped up the rights to show Spain’s LaLiga on Indian sub-continent in a three-year deal that starts Friday with the kick-off of the new league season.