You’ll take what you can get for free. With growing opportunities for football fans around the globe to access any game or follow any league or competition they like, there are certainly some kind of openings for football associations and streaming services to generate broader interest in specific competitions. Trying to get more global reach, the Spanish second division as well as games from the Coppa Italia or Ligue 1 will be available for free on YouTube or DAZN’s social channels.
DAZN wants more customers – and offer Brazilians a taste of free streaming
OTT service DAZN has really established itself as a go-to option for viewing football anywhere. Since the company is going to stream games from Italy and France in Brazil for the next few years, it wants to build up its audience in certain markets. That’s why it offered free streams via their social channels for fans in Brazil. Those supporters could therefore follow Coppa Italia clashes or Ligue 1 encounters featuring PSG or Thierry Henry’s AS Monaco, as SporsPro report. Facebook and YouTube were the platforms to provide those games.
But Facebook itself is trying to gain or at least keep users by offering free coverage of Champions League matches in Latin America. From 2018 to 2021 they have free-to-air rights to 32 live matches every season, including the final and UEFA Super Cup. Guy-Laurent Epstein, UEFA Events SA Director of Marketing, commented:
We look forward to the launch of this new partnership that will ensure the large community of local football fans is reached in a highly innovative and accessible manner.
This very innovative and accessible manner is also a springboard for augmenting the global reach for leagues of arguably less interest; especially if they can be watched for free.
YouTube provides free coverage of second Spanish divison in over 155 countries
The Spanish LaLiga has just announced that nearly everyone in the world will from now on be able to view any game from the second Spanish tier, LaLiga Segunda, live and for free on YouTube. In more than 155 countries fans can follow teams like former champions Deportivo La Coruña or the
FC Málaga. While fans in Spain will have to turn to the official broadcasters and pay, those in Germany, the UK, France, India, New Zealand, Australia and so many others can get free access. The option to follow the games is even more inviting as commentary is in English.
Apart from the live matches, the official LaLiga 1|2|3 YouTube account will also stream highlight shows. Melcior Soler, director of the LaLiga Audiovisual department, said:
The way we consume live sports is being changed by a new generation of online broadcasters, and we are committed to using such channels to extend the appeal of our competitions. This move will strengthen the LaLiga 1|2|3 by bringing it to an entirely new global audience, in a format that we think will really appeal to the viewer.
To consume football on a big screen, or even in a stadium, is probably still the most intriguing prospect for fans. But we’re in the age of mobile devices and people get their news and information on their smartphones or tablets, via apps mainly. That very aspect of modern day media usage favours DAZN for example, which has also been strengthened by Japanese marketing giants Dentsu, that have bought stakes at the Perform Group and have given some notable financing.
When everyone is on YouTube, Facebook or Twitter, the football associations will need to present their competitions there as well. And free streaming is the best way to get into the fans’ heads and on their phones. Fans who might be convinced to become paying customers sooner rather than later.