UK Arm of Eleven Sports To Go Under.

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Cjay
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UK Arm of Eleven Sports To Go Under.

Post by Cjay »

Eleven Sports, a streaming service that aimed to become the "Netflix of sport", is at risk of closure after only four months, following its failure to secure distribution via established pay-TV operators and amid concern over mounting losses.

The Daily Telegraph has learnt that Eleven Sports is considering pulling the plug on its UK operation after the mixed martial arts competition UFC triggered an exit clause on its exclusive deal, which was due to begin in January. Crisis talks with other rights holders are ongoing in hope that part of the business can be salvaged.

The UFC deal, agreed in September, required Eleven Sports to guarantee widespread distribution via established pay-TV operators such as Sky, Virgin Media and BT, as well as its own streaming apps.

However, talks with Virgin Media collapsed last month when the cable operator refused Eleven Sports’ demands on pricing. Meanwhile Sky and BT, which both spend heavily on sports rights for their own channels, have been taking a wait-and-see approach to their new challenger and have not entered detailed dialogue aboutdistributing its coverage.

UFC is this week in emergency discussions about a new deal with its existing partner BT Sport to ensure fans can continue to access coverage.

 

Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani controls Eleven Sports

Eleven Sports also owns the UK rights to top-flight Italian and Spanish football. It is believed to be preparing to hand back the broadcast television rights to Serie A's agent IMG and La Liga to allow them to be resold. It is appealing to retain online streaming rights at a steep discount, potentially allowing it to operate a UK service sustainably in a small market niche.

 

An Eleven Sports spokesman said: "Without carriage agreements with the existing platforms, alongside the challenges posed by rampant piracy, the current market dynamics in the UK and Ireland are very hostile for new entrants.

"We are in discussions with our rights partners, La Liga and IMG, about how we can restructure our existing agreements in order to continue our current OTT [streaming] service."

According to industry sources Eleven Sports has attracted only about 50,000 subscriptions since its UK launch in August. It charges £5.99 a month for its streaming service, delivering an estimated monthly income of less than £300,000, a long way short of its costs for sports rights andproduction.

Eleven Sports is controlled via holding company Aser by the Italian entrepreneur Andrea Radrizzani, who also owns Leeds United, and has taken minority investment from Endeavor, the Hollywood talent agency, which also owns UFC and IMG.

A pay-TV source said: “These guys were just totally naive about how easy it would be for them to get distribution, which is the absolute key. The problem was they just didn’t have the funding to take the time it takes to do these deals.

 

 

Chief executive Marc Watson denied Elven Sports needed pay-TV distribution

“They thought they could just turn up and get wholesale in a couple of months, but the complexity of the technology integration as well as the commercial terms is massive. The other guys trying to do streaming, like Amazon and Dazn, just have deeper pockets and can afford to lose money for longer.”

 

In an interview published in October, Marc Watson, Eleven Sports’ chief executive, said pay-TV distribution was not a requirement.

He said: “We don’t need to do those deals but we would like to because we think it makes sense for customers and at the end of the day it is the customer that is the boss.”

Existing sports broadcasters have been waiting for the newcomer to fail. One said in October: “If we’re not losing many customers because we don’t have that content, then they will need to come to us with a good price. If they don’t, we can just pick up rights when they go bust.”

By shutting its domestic business, Eleven Sport could preserve its finances for its business in other countries, which are more mature and successful. The company, based in London, operates in Italy, Poland and Portugal, among others.

Its failure in the UK underlines the high barriers to entry. Dazn, backed by the billionaire Sir Len Blavatnik, has so far avoided the British market because the presence of BT and Sky as strong and fiercely competitive incumbents makes sports rights and especially football more expensive than anywhere else.
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Re: UK Arm of Eleven Sports To Go Under.

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Lesson learned i hope Radz.

Sometimes you have to lose money to make money and for that you need DEEP pockets.

No expert but seems Radz was a bit naive. :duno:
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1964white
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Re: UK Arm of Eleven Sports To Go Under.

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I'm saying nothing
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Re: UK Arm of Eleven Sports To Go Under.

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No real surprise. People can't afford all these streaming platforms on top of paying through the nose for subscription channels.
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The Subhuman
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Re: UK Arm of Eleven Sports To Go Under.

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To be honest I could not care less
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dezzy
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Re: UK Arm of Eleven Sports To Go Under.

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Took a risk, at least he’s using a different business model at Elland Road. Cut his loses though, tried to take on Sky and BT and failed.
But tell me a business man who hasn’t?
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dezzy
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Re: UK Arm of Eleven Sports To Go Under.

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faaip wrote: Wed Dec 12, 2018 8:36 pm To be honest I could not care less
I’m glad it failed, ups the content on Sky and BT which I have, UFC staying on BT, Radz was going to sell it as PPV, I’m not a big UFC fan but I like the big hype fights, La Liga back to Sky?
But I get your point, no effect on us as a club, positive if anything as he’ll be less involved with Eleven Sports
I realised I was dyslexic when I went to a toga party dressed as a goat..
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