With services like Pluto TV or soon Freevee from Amazon, films and series are available in streaming for free. In the area of sports, however, the offer still looks meager, at least at the moment. That should change, because the world football association FIFA has started its own streaming service. What is behind the free offer? TECHBOOK followed up.
As you might expect, FIFA+ is all about the round leather. It promises “live matches from national leagues, match statistics, the largest archive in international football, top-notch original content, fascinating global stories and much more”. In total, FIFA+ wants to put around 40,000 matches on the screen in 2022 alone. That sounds pretty interesting, but it also raises doubts as to what exactly FIFA is trying to show.
Streaming for sports promotion
“FIFA+ is the next step in our vision of a truly global and inclusive football and underscores FIFA’s core purpose of spreading and promoting football around the world,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino. “This project marks a cultural shift. It changes the way football fans want to experience and interact with football. It is an important part of my 2020-2023 vision by accelerating the democratization of football. We are very excited to share it with the fans.”
Exclusive productions and originals
The offering of FIFA+ will continue to grow and expand throughout the year, providing new, globally relevant and customized content. The following productions are particularly highlighted:
Ronaldinho: The Happiest Man in the World
An exclusive documentary featuring previously unreleased archive footage from one of the greatest players of all time. The 90-minute film, directed by Stuart and Andrew Douglas and produced by Bernie Goldmann and Los Angeles Media Fund’s Simon Horsman and Jeffrey Soros, tells the gamer’s unique story from his beginnings on the streets of Brazil to his rise to become one of the most popular players of the world. Lionel Messi, Frank Rijkaard and Carles Puyol reveal what the FIFA legend means to them.
Captains: Season 1
Fulwell 73’s (Sunderland ‘Til I Die, All or Nothing: Juventus) groundbreaking eight-part series following six national team captains in qualifying for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. The series features Luka Modrić (Croatia), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon), Brian Kaltak (Vanuatu), Andre Blake (Jamaica), Hassan Maatouk (Lebanon) and Thiago Silva (Brazil) leading their teams.
Croatia: Defining a Nation
This original documentary illustrates how football binds and binds this nation and a group of friends who have achieved global fame despite extreme adversity. They became legends and immortalized their country on the football map. From acclaimed director Louis Myles (Kaiser: The Greatest Footballer Never to Play Football, Liverpool FC: The 30-Year Wait).
academies
Insights into some of the biggest hotbeds of talent, produced by Shoot the Company. The first season tells the story of RSC Anderlecht in three times 30 minutes.
FIFA+ fails to meet expectations
FIFA+ will be available from launch on all web and mobile devices, with a range of connected devices coming soon. The platform is offered in five languages (German, English, French, Portuguese and Spanish). Six more languages will be added in June.
However, in our opinion, football fans should not expect too much from the streaming service, because the broadcasting rights for all important live games are still held by DAZN and Sky, so FIFA+ is not allowed to show them at all. Irrespective of this, the clubs earn billions from these exploitation rights in particular. It is hard to imagine that a streaming service like FIFA+ would show matches for viewers (permanently) free of charge because they were financed by advertising. On the other hand, Sky and DAZN would not simply let these rights be snatched away from under their noses, after all, football is part of their core business there.
Also interesting: German sports streaming service announced