YouTube TV reached a multi-year agreement with the expansion MLS organization, Los Angeles Football Club, as their exclusive broadcast rights holder. LAFC is the first professional sports franchise in North America to have its games exclusively presented on a streaming platform.
Terms of the agreement between YouTube TV and LAFC were not released, but according to the LA Times, the deal is thought to be worth $18 million for three years.
“We have a partner in YouTube TV that is willing to do innovative things in the way of doing augmented content,” said Tom Penn, president and co-owner of LAFC. “They are pushing the envelope all the time in the ways content is delivered to fans.” The LAFC’s ownership group also includes Peter Guber, Magic Johnson and Will Ferrell.
30 of the LAFC’s 34 games during the upcoming season will be available on YouTube TV, with about half of them being exclusive. Some of the games are nationally televised on ESPN or Fox Sports 1, both of which are channels already carried by YouTube TV. Subscribers pay $35 per month for YouTube TV and will incur no additional cost to watch the LAFC games.
“When we talk about innovation, it goes beyond a traditional distribution deal and really looking at programming for LAFC fans both on and off the field,” said Angela Courtin, global head of marketing at YouTube TV and YouTube Originals. “We think it’s going to be groundbreaking.”
Many professional leagues have experimented with digital streaming on different platforms, creating new competition and opportunity for teams. While Major League Soccer is not in the realm of the four major professional North American sports, LAFC is still the first professional franchise to have an exclusive broadcast partnership with a digital company. The MLS’ Los Angeles Galaxy are seven seasons into their record 10-year $55 million contract with Spectrum SportsNet and averaged just 9,000 viewers per game last season.
Since launching last year, YouTube TV has already acquired 50 TV networks. Recognizing the value of sports coverage and advertising, the Google owned property partnered with Major League Baseball as the presenting sponsor of the 2017 World Series. Digital rights for “Thursday Night Football” are still up for bid and it will be interesting to see if YouTube TV makes a push for the “TNF” package which cost Amazon $50 million last year.
Brandon Contes is a freelance writer for BSM. He can be found on Twitter @BrandonContes. To reach him by email click here.
