Facebook to Broadcast Premier League Games

Facebook has secured exclusive online Premier League broadcasting rights from 2018 until 2022 in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. The news comes weeks after Amazon had also won EPL broadcasting rights in the United Kingdom. Starting from next season, residents of the aforementioned East Asian countries will be able to watch their favorite Premier League teams, including the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Chelsea legally live on their favorite social media platform. This certainly comes as good news for Facebook after all the chaos involving Cambridge Analytica earlier this year.

Facebook Premier League Broadcasting Rights Details

The deal has cost Facebook an estimated 200 million British pounds which equals about 265 million US dollars. It is understood that they had to stifle competition from BeIN Sports and Fox Sports Asia in the progress. Last year, Facebook had unsuccessfully attempted to wrestle Indian Premier League rights from Indian broadcaster Hotstar. While Amazon Prime will be broadcasting 20 games per season online in the UK, Facebook will show all 380 games per season. At this point, it isn’t clear whether Facebook will allow its users to stream the Premier League games for free or whether there will be some sort of subscription process involved.

According to The Times, the Premier League had also held discussions with YouTube and Netflix for the EPL distributing rights in various territories. So, don’t be surprised if Premier Leauge games are shown on these streaming channels in the near future in your country.

At this time, Facebook’s partnership with Fox Sports has allowed them to broadcast some Champions Leauge, MLB, and College basketball games in the USA. Winning the Premier League streaming rights in Asia will certainly come as a major boost to the social media giant.

What’s Next?

There’s no doubt that online platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Amazon will continue to look for new opportunities to jump into the sports streaming business. Traditional TV, on the other hand, continues to suffer as a result of broadcasting rights prices skyrocketing and the ever-increasing trend of cordcutters. What do you think of these new sports streaming trends? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.