There was a surprise in the football broadcast world yesterday when it was announced that Swedish based streaming company Viaplay had won the rights to exclusively show at least 40 live matches featuring the Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales men’s national football teams.
The rights cover broadcast across the UK, Sweden, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and also include around 800 matches involving the remainder of Europe’s teams, including the Republic of Ireland but not England. These rights had previously been held through UEFA by Sky who had been considered the most likely partner for a renewal.
The agreement covers all matches played by the three national teams and all other nations bar England in the European Qualifiers to the FIFA World Cup 2026 and UEFA EURO 2028 tournaments as well as the UEFA Nations League 2024-25 and 2026-27, including the finals and international friendlies involving UEFA federations.
The rights to broadcast those same games, including those of the Republic of Ireland, in Ireland, are currently being negotiated but there is no indication that Viaplay is looking to expand to the Republic.
Concern
There must be a concern that without the UK rights Ireland may not be a big enough market for Sky to commit the resource to so that may present an opportunity to RTÉ Sport or Virgin at a lower price than might previously have been the case, or for another streaming service like Livescore or DAZN to pick them up.
The rights to the 2022 UEFA Nations League have also yet to be finalised and may present a clue about the final destination of where we will be able to watch both the Irish teams in action over the rest of this decade.
A protection for Irish fans and the visibility of the FAI is that the Qualifiers for the Euros and the World Cup are currently protected by legislation here and must be made available on free-to-air channels. That protection does not extend though to the Nations League.
Viaplay was established as the NENT Group in the Nordic region in 2007 and has since expanded to Poland and the Baltics. It currently holds the rights across those territories for the German Bundesliga and the UEFA Europa League.
It will launch in the UK and the Netherlands in the second half of 2022 and will also include Ice Hockey, including the NHL, Handball, some Volleyball and Athletics.
Subscription
No announcement has yet been made in terms of costs or in whether there will be a basic monthly subscription or the possibility to provide game by game coverage.
“This is Viaplay’s biggest UK sports milestone so far,” said Anders Jensen, Group President and CEO of the company.
“Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have exciting young teams that millions of fans will be able to follow exclusively on our world-class platform.”
“These matches are in good hands. We work closely with UEFA in the Nordic and Baltic regions and know how much national sides mean to supporters.”
“Viaplay’s multi-territory partnerships with rights holders will be a key advantage as we challenge further in the UK sports market. The timing is also advantageous with these rights coming on stream in 2024, which allows us time to build our UK brand and to innovate the Viaplay viewing experience even further.”
Comprehensive
“Viaplay will provide a comprehensive and innovative home for the Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales national team matches,” added Guy-Laurent Epstein, Marketing Director at UEFA.
“With Viaplay’s long-lasting football track record, we are confident that football fans across the UK will be part of the journey of each of the three nations and will be offered excellent coverage of the UEFA national team football competitions between 2024 and 2028, whichever screen they choose to use.”
It will be a while before we see the financial value of the deal to the Irish FA and their equivalent associations in Wales and Scotland but there must be a risk in terms of fan visibility of going with a provider that has yet to launch a UK service.
Sport for Business Partners
