On May 18th 2016, BT Sport in the UK streamed the Europa League Final for free on its YouTube channel. The move signaled a shift in how broadcasters will provide their customers with content. The deal BT Sport struck with the Google owned online video platform provided the broadcaster with record audiences for Europe’s second biggest club competition cup. The combined numbers from BT Sport’s fee-to-air Freeview as well as its on demand pay-tv, showed that 3.5 million viewers tuned in for the match. YouTube’s share of that is believed to be in the hundreds of thousands, potentially reaching more than a million viewers.
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However, despite the success of the Europa League Final, and the anticipated success of the even more important Champions League Final on the 28th, YouTube has denied any plans to challenge leading broadcasters in the UK and bid directly for the Premier League rights in the next auction in three years.
“We are not a buyer of rights.” Stephen Nutall, YouTube’s senior director for Europe, Middle East and Africa. “We are very good at distributing content to the largest possible audience. […] That is what I expect we will continue to focus on. Our whole model is about partnering with people to allow them to make the greatest possible success out of their content” Nutall explained.
However, the online giant already has deals with 37 football league and cup competitions in place already. It’s obvious that YouTube recognizes the ability of soccer to attract viewers.
So far, YouTube has resisted the urge to begin creating its own content, focusing more on distributing content created by the traditional power players such as BT, UEFA and the BBC.
You can read more about YouTube’s business model when it comes to sports, in this 2012 interview with former Google Head of Sports Claude Ruibal which gives insight on how YouTube plans on approaching sports.