Eleven Sports has added the rights to broadcast live coverage of top flight domestic football from the Netherlands, China and Sweden.
The emerging sports broadcaster will take over from Sky Sports as the UK home of both the Dutch Eredivisie from the 2018/19 season and the Chinese Super League from next year, while coverage of Sweden’s Allsvenskan will start when Eleven Sports’ UK channels launch in August.
Eleven’s addition of the three top-flight leagues, all on three-year deals, bolsters its offering following the platform’s entry into the UK sports rights market with exclusive live rights to show Spain’s La Liga and Italy’s Serie A.
Eleven Sports will launch two channels via an online streaming platform in August, ahead of the start of the new La Liga and Serie A seasons, with the network indicating that “more premium rights” will be added to its portfolio in due course.
Eleven Sports 1 will be solely dedicated to football, while Eleven Sports 2 will provide live coverage of premium fight sports, Esports and extreme sports for dedicated fans, as well as additional live football coverage.
The new services will be available on Eleven Sports’ soon-to-be-launched online streaming platform, which the platform says will be “easily accessible for every dedicated fan across the country without the need for set top boxes, bundled packages or contracts”.
Pricing for the digital subscription service will be announced shortly, though it is expected that annual subscriptions and monthly passes will be made available.
Commenting on the new deals, Danny Menken, Group Managing Director, Eleven Sports, said:
“With Eredivisie, Chinese Super League and Allsvenskan joining La Liga and Serie A, Eleven Sports is delivering on the promise to become the go-to destination for football fans.
“We will cooperate very closely with the leagues to deliver an outstanding all-round service that ensures the fans live every moment from some of the world’s best sports leagues and competitions.
“We are looking forward to announcing more premium football and non-football rights soon to add to our growing portfolio.”
Eleven Sports is producing its coverage together with IMG, which will hold a minority stake holder in the channels, from its base at Stockley Park.
Eleven is also in discussions with other major platforms in the UK to offer the widest possible access to the premium action available on the service.
The Eredivisie offers fans the chance to watch all the action featuring European giants Ajax, PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord.
The premier Dutch league also has a reputation for nurturing some of best talents in the game with graduates including; Denis Bergkamp, Luis Suarez, Robin van Persie, Christian Eriksen, Virgil Van Dijk and most recently, Justin Kluivert, who signed for Serie A side AS Roma in June.
Former Premier League players Ramires, Graziano Pellè, Jose Fonte, Javier Mascherano, Oscar and John Obi Mikel all ply their trade in the Chinese Super League alongside Belgium’s FIFA World Cup Semi-Finalists Axel Witsel and Yann Carrasco.
Former Wales manager Chris Coleman, who steered his nation to the Semi-Finals of Euro 2016, has also recently taken over as head coach at Hebei China Fortune.
All the action, including Cristiano Ronaldo’s debut season with Juventus and much more which is still to be announced, will be available on Eleven’s soon-to-be-launched online streaming platform.
For more information about Eleven Sports, visit the official website – elevensports.com – where viewers can register for free to receive the latest updates and information about the new service ahead of its launch in August 2018.
