Following the news in the week that attendances were up by 6.9% at SSE Airtricity League of Ireland matches last season it has now emerged that every game played in the Premier and first Divisions will be live streamed for the next four years to a global audience.
The FAI has signed a partnership with a German based company called Trackchamp who have been working with the Northern Ireland Football League over the past two years and who will be responsible for the streaming.
They emerged from an international tender process which looked at a number of different potential suppliers and what they could do to broaden the appeal and the revenue of the domestic league.
Demand
There had been much talk from commentators including Niall Quinn of the demand for soccer around the world and how the FAI could tap into that.
Controlling the live stream is a way which we believe will become the norm for sports organisations in years to come and is a model being successfully followed by Major League Baseball in the US, with the NFL in a hybrid fashion for international markets and by our own GAA in partnership with RTÉ through the GAAGo service.
The model of those services is pay per view where fans around the world can buy match by match or season ticket passes to follow the teams of their choice.
Potential
The potential market size for the Irish game is smaller given the competition it faces from local soccer leagues that totally dominate mass media coverage in markets like the UK, Germany and Spain but this is an additional revenue stream to what was there before and should therefore be welcomed and given a chance even if there are no commercial details on the table as yet.
Trackchamp is a joint venture itself between the German betting and gaming giant BWin and tracking technology leaders Chyanhego.
Win have built their betting business online through providing live streams of games for betting purposes and this is likely the first port of call for monetising the deal.
Betting
The FAI does not have a betting partner at present but that may change in the coming months with qualification for the Euro 2016 Finals now secured.
On an international scale football has now overtaken horse racing as the primary betting medium. It is the stream of live pictures and the ability to bet on hundreds of different outcomes over the course of a ninety minute game that make this deal interesting and of potential value.
Whether there is a plan or the expertise in place yet to broaden the broadcast from that initial platform is not yet clear but will develop over the time of the deal.
Performance
The tracking technology will also be available to clubs to improve performance through enhanced use of video analysis. That alone should raise standards of play and management.
Trackchamp will provide an additional source of revenue for the FAI, while improving engagement and performance within the SSE Airtricity League. Up to 15 jobs are expected to be created across the country to facilitate more than 250 SSE Airtricity League games being streamed live online next season.
“We are constantly striving to improve the SSE Airtricity League,” said FAI CEO John Delaney.
“The introduction of exciting new technologies which will increase global reach and will allow clubs to gather increased technological analysis can only be good for the national game.”
Democratisation
“For us, this is about the democratisation of football,” added Martin Fureder of Trackchamp.”
“The service has been designed specifically for ambitious leagues to help bring them closer to the likes of the Premier League and Bundesliga. We are confident that our technology will widen fan engagement and generate new commercial revenue streams for our partner leagues.”
This are only the first steps into a deal but they will be fascinating to watch as global broadcast rights begin to fragment into smaller packages and more niche audiences.
The League will face the challenge of TV next season as it goes head to head with new Friday night broadcast slots from the premier League. This is a way of starting to stand their ground on TV as opposed to running scared of the giants.
It is likely that the next renegotiation of rights for the domestic game will introduce elements of streaming for matches not broadcast live on the mainstream channels.
