Bet365 snaps up web-only Ukraine-England match
Bet365 has bought the rights to the Ukraine-England World Cup qualifier on 10 October, the first England football match that's rights were sold exclusively for internet broadcast.
BET365 HAS BOUGHT the rights to the Ukraine-England World Cup qualifier on 10 October, the first England football match that’s rights were sold exclusively for internet broadcast.
As reported on EGRmagazine.com, the rights holder which also runs the WatchAndBet service that sells live sports content for online broadcast to most of the major online bookmakers, Perform Group, held talks with the major UK publishing companies, internet service providers and online betting operators regarding the sale of the rights.
As well as on the Bet365 website, the match will also be shown on Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper sites The Times and The Sun, and shown a pay per view basis on Perform site UkrainevEngland.com.
However unlike other websites, Bet365 will offer viewing of the match free to account holders.
Bet365 chief executive John Coates said: “We stream over 5,000 events live a year, so when good quality matches become available, we look to see if we can secure them. The fact that none of the UK television companies have taken the rights makes the broadcast more significant, and we are pleased to be able to make the game available for free for customers with a funded account.”
England have already qualified for next year’s World Cup in South Africa, and the Ukraine game will be seen as a test of the revenue that an internet broadcast of one of their games could generate.
The rights to all of England’s group games had originaly been bought by sports TV channel Setanta, but after the Irish broadcaster collapsed they reverted to international agency Kentaro, which decided on the live pay-per-view internet option with Perform.
Bet365 is just one of several bookmakers that have invested heavily in football marketing in recent weeks. As reported on EGRmagazine.com last week, Bwin has signed a three-year extension to its sponsorship agreement with Real Madrid Football Club, just weeks after Bwin secured the broadcast rights for the Primera and Segunda Divisións, Spanish football’s two top leagues.
Bet 365 arch rival in sportsbetting, Betfair, signed a two-sponsorship deal with Real Madrid rival and Champions League winners FC Barcelona last month, just weeks after signing a similar deal with Manchester United; while William Hill signing a three-year sponsorship deal with Primera Liga team Malaga CF the nearest team to the British community on the Costa del Sol.
Other egaming and football deals recently include official betting partner ties in England between Sportingbet and Portsmouth FC; between Asian sportsbook 188Bet and Chelsea FC and between Bodog Europe and Fulham FC.