Eleven Sports to offer free live football via Facebook

Eleven Sports has struck a partnership with Facebook that will see the social media platform become its free-to-air partner for its new UK channels.

As part of the agreement, at least one match per week from both La Liga and Serie A will be shown live and free of charge on Eleven Sports’ UK Facebook Page.

A selection of games from other top-flight football leagues will also be shown via Facebook across the season, including Dutch Eredivisie and Swedish football.

Selected matches shown on Facebook will include those featuring the world’s biggest clubs such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus and Napoli, and some of best players world football, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann.

Ronaldo’s eagerly anticipated Juventus debut is one of the opening games selected for live streaming on Facebook.

The games to be shown LIVE on Eleven Sports’ UK Facebook Page across the first two weekends of the La Liga and Serie A seasons are listed below.

In-game highlights and clips, weekly review shows and much more socially-led content will also be published on Eleven’s Facebook Page, to help drive interaction and engagement with the new channels.

Danny Menken, Group Managing Director, Eleven Sports, said:

“By making Facebook our free-to-air partner, we are giving our leading content centre stage projection, opening it up to new and diverse audiences, and confirming again our innovative leadership in the global sports media industry. In all our global markets we want to be where the fans are.

“We aim to serve fan communities and develop interaction and engagement around our content, while ensuring we are always accessible and easy to reach. Our unique free-to-air partnership with Facebook helps us to do this as part of our fresh and contemporary approach to distribution.”

Eleven Sports has previously live streamed matches via Facebook in its other markets worldwide, including Bundesliga and Ligue 1 matches.

A newcomer to the UK sports rights scene, Eleven Sports made news earlier this year when they announced that they had taken the rights for Spain’s La Liga from Sky Sports. They followed this by outbidding BT Sport for Italian Serie A rights, an investment that received a boost when Cristiano Ronaldo signed for Juventus in July. 

A full and comprehensive service, which will include the content on Facebook as well as many more leading fixtures and events throughout the year, will also be distributed via Eleven Sports’ soon-to-be-launched online streaming platform.

Rhys Beer, Facebook Live Sports Programming Lead, EMEA, added:

“We’re excited to build on our strong relationship with ELEVEN SPORTS by becoming the free-to-air home in the UK and Ireland for a selection of its live broadcasts this season. This partnership reflects our commitment to helping broadcasters reach new audiences, build their brands and deliver a great viewing experience for sports fans on Facebook.”

In addition to providing premium content and free-to-air sport on Facebook, Eleven Sports is also in discussions with other major platforms in the UK to offer the widest possible access to its new service.

As well as free live football coverage, Eleven Sports will also show the opening two rounds of golf’s US PGA Championship live on Facebook on 9-10 August as part of the channel’s launch programming.

Fans will be able to subscribe to the Eleven Sports monthly pass for £5.99 per month, through which they will gain access to live coverage from five top flight football leagues – La Liga (Spain), Serie A (Italy), Eredivisie (Netherlands), Chinese Super League and Allsvenskan (Sweden) – plus much more world-class sport still to be announced, all of which subscribers will be able to watch via all of Eleven Sports’ platforms including the app for iOS and Android devices.

A 7-day free trial will also be on offer with the Eleven Sports Monthly Pass, which means that fans will be able to watch all four days of the 2018 PGA Championship, which runs from the 9-12 August, for free on Eleven Sports.

An Eleven Sports ‘early bird annual pass’ will also be available for a one-off payment of £49.99, with this offer ending on Friday, 31 August 2018, at midnight BST. From Saturday, 1 September 2018, the price of the Annual Pass will be £59.99.

Fans can register with Eleven Sports to be the first to hear news and updates and to get a pre-register discount. Register via elevensports.com.

FREE LIVE GAMES via ELEVEN SPORTS FACEBOOK PAGE

FRIDAY 17th AUGUST

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SATURDAY 18th AUGUST

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MONDAY 20th AUGUST

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SATURDAY 25th AUGUST

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SUNDAY 26th AUGUST

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