This could be the first of many.
Uefa is set to launch its own streaming platform for the start of the 2019/20 season. After its initial launch, the ‘Over The Top’ platform will be available outside Europe and North America, with the Champions League unlikely to be available on the platform until 2021 due to broadcasting contracts currently in place.
Uefa’s president Aleksandar Ceferin was re-elected unopposed on Thursday morning, and is behind the plans to launch ‘Uefa TV’ around the world.
This move could signal a significant shift in how sport is broadcast around the globe, as the Netflixisation of football gathers momentum.
Other sporting organisations have similar structures in place, such as the NFL’s Game Pass app, UFC Fight Pass, and Eleven Sports, which broadcast LaLiga and Serie A games to a UK audience this season.
Uefa TV is expected to target ‘higher growth territories’ in its early days, showing just minor European competitions such as the Europa League.
A third tier European competition, the Europa League 2, is set to be introduced in 2021, which could be available to watch exclusively via Uefa TV.
