[OLD BOY]

An altogether more positive take on Eleven Sports in this article from the Daily Telegraph.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business...ort-heads-top/

[Extracts]

Man who brought Premier League football to BT is out to shake up sports broadcasting once again, writes Christopher Williams “IT WAS great fun doing that,” says Marc Watson, recalling his time as the head of BT’s television business as it mounted a surprise raid on the Premier League rights auction and within months had set up a cutting-edge broadcasting operation.

“We really felt like we were changing the market. And we were.” Now he is attempting another high-risk, high-technology attack on the pay-TV market as chief executive of Eleven Sports. Backed by Andrea Radrizzani, the Italian owner of Leeds United, with further investment and production support from Endeavor, Watson is this time attempting to overhaul the sports broadcasting establishment in several countries at once.

From its base in a Mayfair backstreet, Eleven, a reference to the number of players in a football team, has assembled collections of live rights in 11 markets including Italy, Poland and Portugal, and as far afield as Taiwan. Well established in some territories, Watson is now tackling the turf he knows best in the UK. Eleven launched its streaming subscription service in August with live top-flight Italian and Spanish football, snatched away from BT Sport and Sky Sports. At the end of last month it sealed a deal with Endeavor for rights to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the mixed martial arts competition previously broadcast by BT Sport.

“What we’re always looking for is a gap in the market,”says Watson. “Those gaps can be different from place to place but we’re looking for something that consumers want and they’re not getting. “In the UK what we see is a gap for an independent premium sports service because there isn’t one. “There’s one tethered to BT, there’s one tethered to Sky and both of them are very premium, meaning that they’re quite expensive. There’s a gap for an independent player making the service available to everybody at an affordable price.”

Watson thinks Eleven will confound the sceptics by bringing in young audiences. They are watching less live sport on traditional pay-TV, prompting nervousness among rights holders about participation and the long-term value of their assets. “We think that young people today are just as interested in sport as previous generations,”says Watson. “Some people will tell you young people are not interested in sport, they’re just interested in watching short videos on YouTube and that’s it. You’ve lost that generation. We think that’s nonsense.”“It’s just that it’s very, very expensive to access. And frankly, as the music industry showed, if young people can’t access something at a price they think is reasonable they will just pirate it from an illegal streaming site, which are very easy to access. It’s a real problem for the sports industry.”

A boost may be imminent. It is understood Virgin Media is close to agreeing terms to offer Eleven as part of its pay-TV packages. Ioris Francini, the co-president of minority shareholder Endeavor, says direct-to-consumer sales have progressed “better than expected” and that Endeavor intends to increase its stake. Ownership of subscription streaming services is one way in which Endeavor aims to use its strength as a talent agent, representing top sports stars, to take a bigger share of income. He believes that UFC’s lucrative pay-per-view fights could be the key to distribution deals with BT and Sky. “We are not without leverage,” says Watson. “We are not some little guy fighting to succeed.” ■

---------- Post added at 15:32 ---------- Previous post was at 15:30 ----------

Originally Posted by telegramsam

---------- Post added at 11:15 ---------- Previous post was at 11:11 ----------

What Eleven Sports are offering at present isn't enough for me to pay extra to sub to them. I like watching the occasional Italian and Spanish football match but I can easily do without then. I have more than enough football on Sky Sports, BT Sports and Free sports.

They have to start somewhere, Sam.