With Manchester City inching towards a possible UEFA Champions League Final, they could be the first English team in four years to feature in the final.
Yet the broadcasting corporation that holds the rights to the final in the United Kingdom has come under heavy criticism, as they are pulling a viewership that is about five times less than that of ITV, who held the rights to the UEFA Champions League the last time an English team made it to the final.
In an attempt to save the sinking numbers, UK media giant BT Sport is looking to live stream the UEFA Champion’s League final on YouTube where anyone could watch it for free.
BT Sport’s lackluster viewership this season is two-fold.
The biggest reason for the low numbers of Champions League watchers is that BT Sport is an extra package that viewers must purchase for around £19.99 (around $30). People are just not buying the program, and ITV benefitted from being a part of regular broadcast television.
This may also have something to do with the increased presence of live streaming, and the new generation of “cord-cutters,” who do not even have a cable package at all. ITV did not have to deal with this as much, as the issue has become exacerbated in more recent years.
Even sports broadcasters in the United States have been feeling this hit—ESPN has lost 7 million subscribers since 2013. But live streaming numbers have steadily been going up, and more leagues are turning towards selling the rights of games to digital media groups. The NFL just made a deal with Twitter to stream Thursday Night Football games, and Yahoo is streaming an MLB game every day.
If BT Sport pulls through with this live stream, this will surely be the biggest sporting event to ever be broadcast digitally. They are sure to get a big draw to the match and should gain quite a bit of favor in the UK.
