Radical turn in the streaming market! The platforms are beginning to understand the need to have live sports and Disney+ jumps into the ring by acquiring two European football competitions. And they are not exactly two unknowns, given that many LaLiga EA Sports teams participate in them. The platform will have the rights until 2027.
For some time now we have clearly seen that streaming services had to get into the sports sector in order to strengthen their proposals and content. Netflix is ​​already preparing various events and, in the case of Disney+, it has just been announced that they have set their sights on football. But to what extent and with what tournaments?
Rights over two competitions
First of all, before getting into the matter, we will tell you that, at least for now, the countries in which the platform has obtained the broadcasting rights are Sweden and Denmark. However, the agreement has been reached directly with UEFA, so it would not be surprising if, sooner or later, the number of countries where the broadcasting license will be replicated increases.
That said, we can now confirm that the competitions for which it has obtained the rights are both the UEFA Europa League and the Europa Conference League. In the absence of acquiring the rights to broadcast the Champions League, for which they may have had to pay a really high amount, it can be said that Disney+ has prepared well for its debut in football.
Agreement until 2027
The contract that Disney+ has signed with UEFA applies to the broadcast of matches from both competitions for the 2024-2025, 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 seasons, so they are guaranteed three seasons of high-level European football. And the most interesting of all is that the competitions will be broadcast in their entirety, so each season there will be more than 340 matches to enjoy on the platform.
Until now, the rights to broadcast these competitions were held by the television network TV2 in Denmark and the streaming platform Viaplay in Sweden. No very exhaustive details of the operation have been revealed and we would like to know what would be the possible exclusivity that Disney+ would have over the rights. In any case, from the comments that come from the local press, we could understand that the rights operation has been carried out exclusively. This will mean a major change in the way football reaches viewers in these countries.
From Disney they mention that they are satisfied with the operation they have carried out and with the way in which they will be able to offer good content to soccer fans. They also believe that, thanks to their platform, they will have the ability to present these important European tournaments to a new audience that may not have followed the matches previously.
What does this mean for Disney+ globally? The first of all is the confirmation that the company is very clear that sport is one of the ways of expansion and consolidation that they need for the immediate future. In addition, we already know that Disney has been involved for some time in the launch of a new streaming platform that, in collaboration with other partners, will be entirely dedicated to sports. Therefore, there is no doubt that football will play a fundamental part in the future of the platforms and their survival.
Can we expect Disney+ to also take over the rights to these two competitions in Spain and other countries? It may be a bit complicated, especially if we talk about exclusivity. But we must not rule out that alliances will begin to be seen that allow Disney+ subscribers to also watch live football matches.
