We are witnessing live how streaming is getting stronger and stronger in football. We have already seen how LaLiga Pass has begun to make its way in some countries, and Movistar+ has become the application that will allow us to watch all the matches for the next five years. Now, FIFA has announced the launch of FIFA+, its own free and ad-supported OTT focused on the beautiful game.
FIFA presents its new service as a digital platform where we can watch live matches from leagues around the world, match statistics, original content and “the most complete international football archive”. We can access it completely free of charge through the browser or the applications for iOS or Android.
The FIFA application to watch football for free
The biggest football archive: through the app we will also be able to access all the men’s and women’s World Cup matches that have been recorded throughout history. It is about more than 2,000 hours of archive images, which, for the first time, will be available free of charge to the public. At the moment there are 2,500 videos, but FIFA promises to add more over time.
original productions: as if it were a Netflix of sports, in the application we will be able to find documentaries, docuseries, debate programs and short films translated into eleven languages. FIFA says that these contents will feature “the presence of football stars of yesterday and today, from more than 40 countries.”
The launch catalog includes: ‘Ronaldinho: The Happiest Man in the World’, ‘Captains’, ‘Croatia: Defining a Nation’, ‘HD Cutz’, ‘Dani Crazy Dream’, ‘Golden Boot’, ‘Icons’ and ‘ Academies’. Like the rest of the content, they ensure that it will grow over time.
live matches: FIFA+ promises to broadcast 40,000 live matches per year from 100 member associations of the six confederations. This includes men’s, women’s and junior competitions. At the time of launch, 1,400 games per month will be broadcast, a figure that according to the governing body of football will increase over time.
It should be noted that The 2022 World Cup will not be broadcast live on FIFA+. “There are no plans to have live premium rights to the World Cup on the platform today,” said Charlotte Burr, platform leader at today’s launch event, according to Variety.
This will also be replicated in other scenarios where the transmission rights are in the hands of companies that use them to feed their payment services. In this sense, FIFA + takes its first steps completely free of charge (and with ads). However, according to Burr, in the future there could be a subscription fee, which would open the door to other types of content.
In Xataka | DAZN is here to change the way we watch football. In the end, everything will continue to happen through Movistar +
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism