The OTT sports platform left customers outraged after technical issues disrupted their coverage of the Italian top flightLive streaming upstarts DAZN encountered another roadblock in their relationship with Serie A last weekend when customers were left without access to matches from the league's opening gameweek.Fans and consumers are now concerned about how the platform will perform going into this weekend's action.Technical issues led to DAZN subscribers being unable to login to their accounts, randomly kicked from live streams and forced to jump to mobile devices in an attempt to follow their favourite teams' first forays into the new Serie A...

The Scottish Professional Football League is in talks with broadcasting giant Sky TV over a new dealThe SPFL has entered neogtiations with Sky TV over a new and improved £150m broadcast agreement.The rights to SPFL football are available from the 2025 season and beyond, and Sky are said to be keen to renew before a competitor beats them to it. It is understood that Sky have put £30m per season on the table, which would represent an increase of £5m per year on the existing agreement.Sky looking to bump up their share of SPFL matchesThis new deal with Sky would...

The team at Sporticos has produced a list of some of the cheapest and most expensive countries in the world to watch the Premier League on TVWelcome to the EPL Price Index, the price comparison tool which tells you how much Premier League fans are paying to watch their favourite teams on TV or via live streaming around the world.Our dedicated team of researchers hand picked countries with a rich history of the sport or a huge vested interest in the modern game. We analysed countries like England, Germany and Spain, big names in the world of elite football, but...

Sporticos investigates and compares the prices of watching EPL matches in different countriesThe team at Sporticos has put together a study called the EPL Index. It compares the price of watching English top flight football in countries around the globe, to find out which fans are getting a good deal and which are paying over the odds.To determine this, researchers selected an intial 20 countries from all six continents and pit them against each other on the EPL Price Index. The selected nations all had either a rich history of football fandom or a new relevance to the game on...

Italian top flight becomes the latest league to sign a free-to-air agreement with a British broadcasterHot on the heels of ITV securing 10 La Liga matches per season to air for free on British television, One Football has agreed a deal with Serie A to show 38 live fixtures per season.The free-to-air live streaming platform will air Serie A matches on Saturday evenings, as well as some midweek games. This latest agreement will be active alongside the more broad rights deal between the Italian top flight and broadcasting giant BT Sport.Embed from Getty ImagesMatches will be shown for free on...

British free-to-air network announces three season deal to show Spanish top flightUK fans of Spanish football will be overjoyed to learn that action from La Liga is heading to free television in the form of a new deal between the current La Liga rights holder, subscription based live streamer Premier Sports, and ITV.The free-to-air staple of British television has signed on to show live coverage of 10 La Liga matches per season for the next three years, meaning that some of the biggest teams in the world will be competing on free TV in the UK.The 10 selected fixtures will...

Sport is a huge factor in the success or failure of streaming services in the hotly contested US marketAs streaming services, sporting and otherwise, continue to suffer losses in subscriber base and revenue, Paramount+ is growing steadily, largely down its coverage of sporting events like the UEFA Champions League.In the second quarter of 2022, Paramount+ gained 3.7m new global subscribers and the streamer has no plans to stop there. With a planned expansion set to take place throughout the rest of the year, Paramount is hoping to put itself above the competition. It now has 43.3m global subscribers across all...

The French pay-TV network has renewed its deal with the Spanish top flight in the regionLa Liga has announced the renewal of its TV rights deal with Canal+ in Sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar and Mauritius. The French broadcasting giant will retain the rights to the Spanish top flight for the upcoming 2022/23 season.As the new La Liga season kicks off on August 12, Canal+ has vowed to provide coverage of selected matches from the league during each gameweek of the season.The new deal also includes coverage of the Spanish second division, the La Liga Smart Bank.On top of that, Canal+ will...

Electronic Arts will be featured across matches from the English top flight for the next three seasonsEA Sports has announced a new partnership with British broadcasting giant Sky to sponsor coverage of the English Premier League on Sky Sports. As part of an ongoing marketing campaign, the gaming studio will produce a mixture of gameplay video and real football footage to air during EPL games.The new deal between EA Sports and Sky Sports began during the opening weekend of the Premier League season and will run until the end of the 2024/25 campaign.The world famous videogame company is set to...

Spanish federation signs deal to provide "Freemium" OTT platform for the next six seasonsLa Liga is launching a free football live streaming platform in China called La Liga Plus. The new service will carry all 380 La Liga matches per season, as well as over 450 Segunda fixtures, for the upcoming six seasons.While La Liga Plus will be available for free to Chinese audiences without subscription, the most high profile matches from the Spanish top flight will remain behind a pay-per-view wall.The launch of the new OTT platform will be supported by Chinese digital company Streamline.Embed from Getty ImagesFans in...

Streamer in talks to split its exclusive domestic rights to the Italian top flight with pay-TV rivalGlobal sports live streaming platform DAZN has entered negotiations with rival Sky to share its exclusive Serie A TV rights in Italy. DAZN won the Italian broadcast rights to Serie A last summer, in a deal reportedly worth around €2.5bn.Executives at DAZN are now looking to create a distribution partnership with Sky Italia, in a move which would mark the return of the Italian top flight to linear television in the country.For the 2021/22 season, Serie A was available exclusively online on DAZN in...

Steven Gerrard will be looking to push on in his first full season in charge of the Midlands clubAfter a 14th place finish in the Premier League last season and two early cup exits, some Villa fans will rightly be expecting a little more from Steven Gerrard. The former Rangers boss oversaw a mixed bag of performances last time out, after joining in November, and will surely feel there is more to be gotten out of this Villa squad.While the results weren't always outstanding, one thing which Gerrard has shown he can do is attract players that otherwise wouldn't be...

The new deal between the streaming service and the Italian top flight is set to run for the next three seasonsAbu Dhabi Media (ADM), the public service broadcaster of the UAE government, and private media company Starzplay, have signed a deal to exclusively stream coverage of elite Italian football for the next three seasons.The agreement not only covers the Italian top flight Serie A but also major domestic cup competitions in the country - the Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa Italiana.Starzplay is the fastest growing live streaming and VOD service in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and...

English second tier and American broadcaster said to be close to agreeing a new contractAmerican sports broadcasting giant ESPN is reportedly on the cusp of renewing its TV rights deal with the EFL Championship. Reports suggest that ESPN is already making plans for the upcoming season, which starts this Friday (July 29) in the English lower leagues, despite the fact that an agreement has not yet been struck.It is understood that ESPN intends to air the opening game of the 2022/23 EFL Championship season on its television channels ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes, before moving the rest of the campaign to...

The Turkish media company will take over from D-Smart as the country's home of Spanish top-flight footballTurkish media giant Saran Media Group has signed a five-year agreement with La Liga to air matches from the league across their distribution channels in the region. The new deal comes after La Liga's previous broadcasting deal in Turkey with D-Smart came to an end, and begins at the start of the upcoming season, running until the end of the 2026/27 campaign.La Liga fans in Turkey will be able to watch matches on Saran Media's sports network S Sport, on its traditional pay-TV channels,...

Takeover adds more sports rights to the Nordic platform's portfolio ahead of its UK launchSwedish based live streaming giant Viaplay has completed its anticipated takeover of Premier Sports in a deal said to be worth around £30m. The agreement will see Premier Sports' broadcasting rights, subscriber base and employees move over to Viaplay ahead of its upcoming entrance into the UK market.Viaplay have acquired Premier Sports, a network of linear sports TV channels and live streaming services, from Setanta Sports on a cash basis, without incurring any debts.The move is significant for Viaplay as it prepares to enter the UK...

Cautious optimism seems to be the feeling in South London right now as Palace hope to build on a very positive campaign last time outIt's never easy to know exactly what a fanbase is thinking, but from an outsider's perspective, last season seemed to have all the hallmarks of success for Crystal Palace. Bringing in Patrick Vieira might have had some fans fearing the worst, given the club's experience with another certain forward thinking, former big name player who was relatively new to coaching. The Frenchman soon put those needling concerns to bed and went on to deliver a stellar...

The Football League has announced its plans to live stream every EFL match during the Qatar World Cup this winterEFL clubs have voted, after convening at the league's AGM, that all Football League matches taking place during the upcoming 2022 World Cup will be shown via live streaming on its dedicated platform, iFollow. This will include matches taking place on Saturdays at 3pm, breaking the so-called "3pm blackout".On top of that, iFollow will also air coverage of matches taking place on Boxing Day, New Years and Easter next season. The majority of the clubs from the three tiers of the...

Eddie Howe and his Magpies side prepare to take the next step in their evolution in 2022/23 after a fine finish to the last campaign2021/22 was a rollercoaster season for Newcastle United supporters. The campaign started with very little optimism. Steve Bruce and his team struggled in the Premier League, slipping to the bottom of the table, and the toxic cloud hanging over former owner Mike Ashley's tenure at the club showed no signs of dissapating. That was until October when the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia officially completed its takeover of the club, ending what was, in the...

Global OTT streamer has reportedly opened discussions to acquire fellow international sports streaming company Eleven SportsDAZN is said to be looking to bolster its sports rights portfolio by buying out Eleven Sports, which is based out of London and owned by Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani.The organisation is divided into three sub-divisions, one in the UK and Ireland, one in Portugal, and one which operates globally. Across these markets, football fans can get access to a number of different competitions including most major leagues - the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, etc. Aside from football, Eleven Sports also...

World Cup 2022 sponsor to carry OTT platform on its VIDAA smart TVsFootball world governing body FIFA will secure a place for its live streaming platform FIFA+ on Hisense VIDAA smart TVs. The chinese electronics company serves as the core sponsor of the 2022 Qatar World Cup and will carry FIFA+ on its latest models.It is hoped that this partnership with Hisense will expand the platform's reach ahead of the winter world cup in Qatar.This is the latest football related deal signed by Hisense after they recently formed a partnership with Premier League club Leeds United to create content for...

The French pay-TV network will own the rights to all UEFA club matches from 2024 to 2027French broadcasting giant Canal+ has bought the exclusive rights to all UEFA club competition matches from 2024 to 2027, after paying European football's governing body some €480m in a new deal.Canal+ currently shares UEFA rights in France with Qatari-owned network beIN Sports. Under the current model, beIN shows 138 live matches per season from the UEFA Champions League, while Canal+ only has the rights to 34 matches.However, Canal+ does have first choice on which matches to air under the current agreement, and is also...

The Italian top flight has finally reached an agreement to sell its MENA TV rights, following beIN disputeSerie A has accepted an offer from Abu Dhabi Media to show live Italian top flight football in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), after more than a year in the cold in the region.After Serie A parted ways with its previous MENA broadcast partner beIN Sports, the league was forced to show matches in the region completely free on YouTube.This new deal will allow Serie A to once again generate revenues in the Middle East and North Africa.The crux of the...

The live streaming platform will show 17 live matches per season on Tuesday nights starting in 2024Amazon has successfully won the rights to show UEFA Champions League matches on its Prime Video platform for the first time. The deal, which applies to the UK, will enable Prime Video to show live coverage of 17 selected matches per campaign, with those scheduled to be aired on Tuesday nights. Amazon will have first choice as to which matches to air.This news represents the end of BT Sport's dominant reign as the sole provider of Champions League football in the UK.The BBC will...

The Italian steadied the ship last season and now looks to make more progress after being backed in the transfer marketThings were looking bleak at the beginning of November last year at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Newly appointed manager Nuno Espirito Santo wasn't able to replicate the success he'd had at Wolves and results were dire in Europe and domestically. That was until the Portuguese was relieved of his duties on 1 November and replaced the very next day by Antonio Conte. The Italian arrived with a justifiably big reputation, as a former Premier League winner with Chelsea and multiple...