The partnership secures ELEVEN as a major broadcaster of AFC competitions for the 2021 to 2024 rights cycle in Hong Kong and multiple SEA territories
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has today announced ELEVEN as their new media partner in Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Philippines.
In 2021, ELEVEN’s rights include the remaining AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to QatarTM matches for the territories of Hong Kong and Thailand, whilst from 2022 to 2024, the deal will extend to cover broadcast rights for all AFC competitions across the six territories.
To maximise the coverage of the AFC Asian Cup China 2023TM in Southeast Asia, FMA, the AFC’s exclusive commercial partner, has retained the rights to further commercialise any AFC competition matches featuring the national teams of Thailand and Malaysia as well as the Final match of the AFC Asian Cup China 2023TM separately, with the objective of broadcasting these matches on a co-exclusive, free-to-air basis in Thailand and Malaysia.
Founded by leading sports and media entrepreneur Andrea Radrizzani in 2015, ELEVEN is an award-winning sports and entertainment media group.
ELEVEN comprises local platforms in Belgium, Italy, Japan, Luxemburg, Poland, Portugal, Chinese Taipei, the global streaming platform ElevenSports.com and the US based sports and entertainment group Team Whistle, which was acquired by ELEVEN earlier this year. ELEVEN´s mix of sport and entertainment content generates over 4 billion views a month across the Group.
ELEVEN´s acquisition of AFC competition rights in the six territories will facilitate the Group´s launch into Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. ELEVEN will build OTT platforms in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Brunei Darussalam and the Philippines by 2022, with their D2C offering complemented by local linear distribution deals. For full details of ELEVEN´s Southeast Asia plans, click here:
corporate.elevensports.com/news/eleven-acquires-exclusive-afc-rights-in-six-new-markets
Dato’ Windsor John, the AFC General Secretary, said: “The AFC is delighted to enter into this partnership with ELEVEN, which further underlines the prestige and ever-growing stature of the AFC’s world-class competitions.
“Football continues to occupy a special place in the ASEAN region and in Hong Kong and we want to thank ELEVEN for ensuring unparalleled access for our passionate fans and for believing in the future of Asian football.”
Guillaume Collard, ELEVEN Group Chief Rights Acquisitions Officer, said: “We’re delighted to be launching in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia with a compelling package of AFC rights. Our plan is to build a network of services that are local, accessible and available to fans wherever and however they want to consume their favourite sport and entertainment. Our AFC rights give us a great platform to grow from, as we work to serve audiences in the region in a fresh and dynamic way.”
Patrick Murphy, Board Member and CEO at Football Marketing Asia, said: “We are very pleased to welcome ELEVEN as the newest addition to our ever-growing family of valued AFC media partners. Like FMA, ELEVEN sees huge, continued growth potential in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong, which is underpinned by their plans to launch a dedicated OTT service bringing premium AFC football content to more fans across the region. Our teams at FMA are looking forward to start working with ELEVEN.”
About the AFC
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of Asian football and one of the six Confederations making up FIFA. Established in 1954, the AFC is headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and comprises 47 Member Associations. The AFC organises the AFC Asian Cup and the AFC Women’s Asian Cup, which are the flagship Continental national team competitions, while the AFC Champions League is the premier competition for Asian clubs, drawing millions of fans to the beautiful game across the length and breadth of the Continent and beyond.
About the ELEVEN Group
ELEVEN is an award-winning sports and entertainment media group, established in 2015.
ELEVEN’s platforms across Europe and Asia deliver fans the best live premium sport across their linear and digital channels, with a rights portfolio that includes the Premier League, Serie A, the UEFA Champions League, LaLiga, Bundesliga, F1, NBA and NFL. In Belgium, ELEVEN holds the domestic and international rights to the Belgian Pro League. Globally, Eleven’s streaming platform www.elevensports.com delivers thousands of hours of live sport to fans around the world.
ELEVEN has recently acquired the streaming platform MyCujoo and the US based sports media and entertainment company Team Whistle. The ELEVEN Group now houses 1,655 distribution channels and 665 million aggregated social media followers, generating more than 4 billion video views each month. The Group owns more than 50 original content formats and distributes over 65,000 live hours of sport each year to audiences globally.
From the world’s biggest sporting events, to the best local sport, to award winning original programming – audiences enjoy a 24/7 offering of live and non-live entertainment across ELEVEN’s global network.
About Football Marketing Asia
Football Marketing Asia (FMA) is the exclusive commercial partner of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the rights cycles 2021-2024 and 2025-2028 (excluding (i) Japan in the case of media and certain sponsorship rights; and (ii) MENA in the case of media rights). FMA is headquartered in Hong Kong S.A.R., with offices in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and China PR. FMA combines unparalleled global football experience with in-depth Asian know-how and expertise.
