FIFA Launches Streaming Service; Live Matches, Fulwell 73 Series & Ronaldinho Doc Available From Kick-Off
deadline.comAhead of the 2022 Qatar World Cup, soccer’s governing body FIFA is launching a free streaming service.The organization says FIFA+ will provide access to thousands of live and archive matches, news and tournament information and a suite of original series from the likes of Fulwell 73, Andrew and Stuart Douglas, and England striker turned broadcaster Gary Lineker’s Goalhanger Films.FIFA claims this makes it the first sports federation to offer such an extensive streaming service, with the organization’s President Gianni Infantino saying it represents “a cultural shift in the way different types of football fans want to connect with and explore the global game”.The service launches today in five languages (English, French, German, Portuguese and Spanish), with an additional six following in June.
At launch, it’ll be available on web and cellular devices, with other connected devices following.Content mixBy the end of 2022, FIFA claims the service will be streaming “the equivalent” of 40,000 live games per year from its 100 member associations around the world, comprising 29,000 men’s and 11,000 women’s matches.FIFA says this live coverage will comprise games from European leagues such as the Danish Superliga, Polish Ekstraklasa and Slovak Fortuna Liga previously unserved competitions from around the world in men’s, women’s and youth football,” according to the federation.From launch, around 1,400 matches will be streamed live, though this is will be “rising rapidly.”According to FIFA+’s Chief Content Officer James Marley, FIFA has the underlying rights to all games sanctioned through its organisation, giving it the power to stream the live games.FIFA+ will also offer every FIFA Men’s and Women’s World Cup match recorded on
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