Facebook will adopt a new position in relation to football in 2020. The social network announced that it will stop broadcasting the Libertadores and the Champions League in 2022.
The announcement was made in a statement signed by the director of sports alliances for Latin America, Leo Lenz Cesar. In the case of the Champions League, it was expected, since Facebook decided not to enter the competition for the next cycle, which will continue with TNT Sports.
According to the executive, for global reach, Facebook will focus on other models with content producers, while betting on live sports broadcasting through Watch.
In the letter, César emphasized praising the numbers obtained by Facebook. More than 1.25 billion people use Watch every month, and views of live sports content on Facebook increased 74% in 2020, compared to the previous year. The audience almost tripled during the Champions League final, which became the most watched soccer game in the platform’s history, and a 48% growth in the number of views during the Libertadores season. 2020.
By Leo Lenz Cesar, Director of Sports Associations for Latin America
“The success of our video platform, Facebook Watch, owes a lot to the people in Latin America, who are some of the most engaged with video content in the world. In the past three years, we have acquired the rights to major championships such as the Libertadores and the Champions League to offer fans new interactive and social ways to experience sport on the platform.
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More than 1.25 billion people use Facebook Watch each month, and views of live sports content on Facebook increased 74% in 2020, compared to the previous year. We saw viewership almost tripled during the Champions League final, which became the most watched soccer game in Facebook history, and a 48% increase in the number of views during the 2020 Libertadores season. .
Despite the results of our live sports content, we do not plan to extend our current major broadcast rights agreements. We remain committed to working closely with our partners at UEFA and CONMEBOL to provide great experiences for fans and brands through the end of the current Champions League and Libertadores season in 2022.
Moving forward, we will focus our efforts on helping the sports industry, from leagues to clubs, athletes, confederations, creators and broadcasters, to develop and engage audiences, build sustainable business models, and monetize their content directly on our platforms.
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I want to be clear: Live sports are not going to disappear from Facebook. We strongly believe that sports broadcasts can and should have a home on the platform. Our new approach aims to expand the range of sports content and formats available on Facebook so that we can help fans connect and engage, and businesses generate income through our monetization tools.
We saw the Libertadores and the Champions League connecting sponsors and audiences in innovative ways, including Messenger bots and interactive live polls. However, content creators, clubs, leagues and broadcasters can do much more to reach new audiences and create business opportunities from revenue streams on Facebook, from paid online events to fan subscriptions, sale of products, brand content associations and videos. advertisements.
Although our approach to acquiring sports rights is changing globally, our commitment to sports is not. We will continue to work to bring innovations and new experiences for sports fans to cheer, connect, engage in conversations and be part of the communities around the championships, sports and athletes they love, no matter where they are. “
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