La Liga and Serie A's dalliance with streaming service Eleven Sports looks as if it will be brief. Per Martyn Ziegler of The Times, the competitions may be heading back to Sky Sports or BT Sport as Eleven's fledgling UK division restructures in the face of oblivion.
Eleven launched in the UK and snapped up exclusive rights to La Liga and Serie A, and followed that with a deal that took the UFC from BT. However, their failure to secure a distribution deal on an established platform like Virgin, Sky, or BT has meant that they have struggled to attract subscribers. A report yesterday claimed they have pulled in around 50,000 paying subscribers since launching in the summer.
Securing additional exposure on a traditional platform was a condition of their contract with the UFC, and their failure to do so has seen the UFC pull out of the deal and will likely return to BT.
It has since emerged that Eleven are trying to renegotiate their football rights, wherein they will return to rights sellers IMG in return for their hanging onto streaming rights at a much lower price.
Per the Times, BT and Sky would both be interested in buying the rights to the competitions, but streaming would remain a stumbling block apparently - both broadcasters would want the right to stream the games on digital platforms were they to earn the rights.
The cost of the rights is tiny compared to the amount paid for Premier League games - the £18 million Sky previously paid for the whole of La Liga over an entire season was less than it paid for only two Premier League games.
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