TEAMS TO CASH IN ON GAMES LIVE-STREAMING

MBABANE – Every dark cloud has a silver lining.

This old adage holds true for premier league football after it emerged that clubs will benefit financially through the live-streaming of local games when they kick-off this weekend at different venues. 

For the record, fans have been banned from watching football games live due to COVID-19 restrictions and this means clubs will not be able to generate revenue through gate-takings hence the move to introduce the live-streaming of the games. It has been gathered that the Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) is now finalising the finer details with MTN Eswatini of the live-streaming sharing ratio for the parties involved including the 30 elite clubs.   

MTN Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Wandile Mtsali announced yesterday that together with the Premier League of Eswatini (PLE), a digital platform referred to as Yello Hub had been set up to ensure that football fans were able to livestream the league games in the comfort of their homes.

ensure

He was speaking during the official launch of the 2020/2021 MTN Premier League sponsorship yesterday at the Convention Centre in Ezulwini where all football stakeholders were present.

“To ensure that soccer fans continue to watch their favourite teams in the comfort of their homes, MTN and partners will announce how games will be accessed through different digital platforms. I cannot resist the urge to highlight that MTN has a platform which houses local content. It is known as Y’ello Hub. It features different kinds of local content. I can assure you that you will find soccer-related content on this platform, now that the season is about to take off,” he said. 

Adding, the CEO stated that this was one way through which MTN is ensuring that fans remain safe, and access different forms of informative and entertaining content. 

“Our conviction is that league and team administrators will also do their best to ensure that our players and fans remain safe as we look forward to having a vaccine locally. Things may never be and feel the same because we will miss the throngs of fans in the stadiums. 

crucial

The absence of fans in stadiums will cut-off crucial revenue for clubs who have already suffered significant financial losses arising from suspending the season,” Mtsali further observed. He promised that his company will continue to work with the PLE to see how best the COVID-19 pandemic can be mitigated given the current situation in football. 

“While there will be no fans, this does not rule out the prospects of violence in the field of play. We appeal for discipline amongst the teams and the courage to accept results as they come, without resorting to violence, which gives a bad name to both the game and the sponsor. 

commitment

This is one way through which MTN, demonstrates commitment, against all the COVID-19-induced odds, to make this sponsorship work, as best as we can,” he said.

PLE Chairman Mark Carmichael confirmed that the live-streaming platform is meant to benefit all the parties involved at different percentage ratios going to equal distribution.

“Of course, we are negotiating a sharing ratio in the live-streaming of the games because this is a collective among the clubs. This is a platform for clubs to be able to market themselves to their fans because a club with more reviews in the live-streaming will stand a good chance earning more in terms of sharing ratios. This is a good platform for clubs to make money without fans at stadiums under the COVID-19 situation,” he said.

The Denver Sundowns’ boss quickly pointed out though that they were discussing the finer details of the sharing ratio with the league sponsors and promised that fans will be informed of the developments soon. 

access

Under the live-streaming setup, fans will be able to purchase data, which will give them access to live-stream the games on their cellphones or using up-to-date television sets in their homes.

“It is the same as buying a ticket to watch a game for the fans, but the only difference is that this time, they are purchasing data and by extension, supporting their respective clubs. This is the most convenient way to watch local games without fans at stadiums and it is now a trend worldwide,” Carmichael said.

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