By Tariq Saleh
LIVENow, the nascent international sports and entertainment streaming platform, has today secured a one-year pay-per-view rights deal for English soccer’s Premier League in Singapore in a sublicensing agreement with telecoms company Singtel.
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The agreement for the 2021-22 season represents the service’s first rights deal for the Premier League in any territory.
LIVENow will be sublicensing the rights from Singtel which has an existing two-year deal running until the end of next season.
For the forthcoming campaign, LIVENow will offer single match passes for the Premier League and provide a flexible option for soccer fans in Singapore with the ability to purchase pay-per-view passes for one fixture per match week.
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LIVENow, which is owned by Aser Ventures, the global investment company of Italian sports and media executive Andrea Radrizzani, will provide coverage of the English top-flight via its OTT platform, with live games available on multiple devices.
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By GlobalDataThe service will also have several features including a ‘Watch Together’ option, bringing fans together through ‘virtual living rooms’.
The deal builds on LIVENow’s coverage of the ongoing European Championships in Singapore after landing an exclusive rights deal for the continental national teams competition in April.
It followed this up with a late rights deal for Euro 2020 in the Philippines last month.
Peter Leible, LIVENow head of sport, said today: “LIVENow was founded on the principle of providing ‘choice’ for customers and offering flexibility in how they can buy and consume content. We’re delighted to provide a pay-per-view option for football fans in Singapore, to watch one of the most competitive leagues in football.”
LIVENow’s soccer portfolio also includes England’s FA Cup, Italy's Serie B and Serie C, and Spain’s LaLiga across various international markets.
LIVENow was rolled out last year as a new outlet for the distribution of sports, music and fitness events, and industry conferences.
Radrizzani is the chairman and founder of Aser Ventures, whose other assets including Eleven Sports, the international multi-platform subscription broadcaster, Whistle Sports, the online sports network, and Premier League outfit Leeds United.
Meanwhile, in Belgium, telecoms and pay-TV broadcaster Telenet has retained domestic rights to the Premier League.
The renewal will see Telenet, which operates in Flanders and regions of Brussels, continue to provide coverage of the league on its Play Sports channels until the end of the 2024-25 season.
Its existing deal was not due to expire until the end of next season.
The majority of Premier League matches are shown live on Play Sports, with a selection also available on the free Play Sports Open channel.
The Premier League features several Belgian internationals, including Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Youri Tielemans and Timothy Castagne (both Leicester City), and Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham Hotspur).
In previous seasons, Telenet has co-operated with rival telecoms firm and cable operator Voo to distribute the Premier League in Francophone parts of Belgium where its cable network does not reach, but has refused to confirm if this tie-up will continue beyond next season.
As well as England’s top-tier, the Dutch Eredivisie and the Uefa Europa League are part of the Play Sports package.
Through an agreement with subscription broadcaster Eleven Sports, Play Sports subscribers also have access to the domestic Belgian Pro League, the German Bundesliga, Spain’s La Liga and the Italian Serie A.
The 2021-22 Premier League season begins on 14 August.
Peter Leible outlined LIVENow's global rights strategy and the significance of the Singapore market in a feature in June.
