Youku, a Chinese streaming site owned by e-commerce giant Alibaba, has won Chinese digital streaming rights to the 2018 World Cup, according to media reports.
The site entered into a partnership with state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV), China’s exclusive World Cup broadcaster, according to Caixin Global, a Beijing-based media site. Youku is the second online platform to win rights from CCTV to livestream the month-long tournament, and will share rights with state-owned China Mobile’s Migu Video.
The extension of the digital rights beyond just CCTV’s digital platform, CNTV, marks a break from the historical norm, where national broadcasters once held tightly to exclusivity. CCTV has the broadcast rights to FIFA games in China through 2022.
As part of the deal, Youku will stream 64 World Cup matches in addition to shows featuring match highlights and related news. The company believes that as many as one billion viewers could tune in from China to watch the World Cup, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The tournament kicks off June 14 in Russia.
Increasing coverage might signal heightened demand for soccer in the world’s most populous country, though China’s national team was not among the 32 teams to qualify for the tournament this year.
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SportTechie Takeaway
Soccer fever is heating up in China and the government is giving fans the chance to access games more easily beyond traditional TV channels. While China has not made much of a splash on the World Cup scene before—its national team appeared just once in the tournament, in 2002—Chinese brands are making their presence known in Russia.
In 2016, Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed to turn his country into a “soccer superpower.” He unveiled a 30-year plan that would position China to host a World Cup, become a consistent qualifier for the tournament, and a potential winner by 2050.