The world’s biggest soccer clubs are "looking outside Facebook to host their live streams after the social network stopped paying them to produce live videos earlier this year," according to Seb Joseph of DIGIDAY. Many teams previously on Facebook, such as La Liga clubs Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, and EPL club Manchester United, are "pondering greater investments on YouTube, Instagram and even in-house channels." Sources said that teams’ contracts with Facebook "varied in length from between a month to a year, but none were renewed by the social network." Low engagement with the live videos "led Facebook to scrap the cash incentives," which allowed Barcelona to pocket $1M for 10 months. Now, Facebook would rather "buy longer-form premium content from clubs, such as documentaries about fan culture, a move that aligns with the social network’s wider plans to root its video offering in original content it owns." Going down this path for Facebook Live "paves the way for its mid-roll videos." Some clubs are starting to "question whether Facebook Live’s long-term ROI justifies the extra investment." To date, Facebook has "failed to show" soccer marketers how to "monetize the engagement they’re bringing to the platform." However, as clubs attempt to commercialize their own brands, Facebook’s reach is "hard to ignore" (DIGIDAY.com, 7/27).
LAW & ORDER: CABLEFAX DAILY's Amy Maclean reports Dish has taken Univision to court following the programmer's announcement in February to "stream all 46 matches of the Liga MX season via Facebook Live." Dish "believes its affiliate agreement with Univision expressly prohibits the programmer from 'allowing linear services to be distributed for free via the Internet or a wireless cellular provider.'" A key "difference between the Facebook Live broadcasts and what’s on linear network Univision Deportes is that the social media streams are in English" (CABLEFAX.com, 7/28).
