ON DECRYPT
Could this be the end of an era? The end, soon, of "is on which channel the match, tonight?" That those who do not like football do not rejoice too fast, there will always be matches. But only on the internet, on the UEFA website (UEAF.tv). The European football body is seriously thinking about it, according to the Financial Times . Like Netflix, it wants to get rid of traditional broadcasters - Canal +, TF1, BeInSports, or RMC Sport - to create its own paid Internet streaming offer. Typically, tonight's match, Madrid-PSG would only be on the UEFA website.
So what is the interest of suddenly do without television channels? The timing of this announcement owes nothing to chance! The TV channels - Canal Plus, RMC Sport, BeInSports - are currently, at this very moment, participating in the call for tenders to acquire the rights of the Champions League for the seasons 2021-2024. The tender ends Wednesday at 10 o'clock.
A website to have a direct relationship with the customer
But all these chains lose a lot of money with football and want to renegotiate the rights, down. And so, the message from UEFA, which sells these audiovisual rights, is: "Warning, if you refuse to go to the cash register, you will no longer have the rights.
So for now, we are at the threat stage. Football will stay on television, at least for the next three seasons. But in the long run, we can think that UEFA will launch its own website to see the matches. Because the big advantage is that UEFA will then have a direct relationship with football fans and may include targeted advertising, selling seats, jerseys .... In short, have direct access to the final consumer, which is very valuable. So in the end, football should end well on the Internet.