Viaplay pays €2 billion for football and wants more

Viaplay has set its sights on new sports rights. That's why Swedish media company Viaplay Group once again has to dig deep into its pockets.

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It looks like the penny has dropped at Viaplay Group. Although there are dozens of high-quality Viaplay Originals, the entertainment offerings are too limited to compete with streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, HBO Max, and SkyShowtime. Viaplay can stand out from the crowd with its sports offerings, but that would require paying huge sums of money in sports rights.

English football

After Viaplay Group reportedly paid at least £2bn – equivalent to €2.3bn – last year to be able to broadcast the English Premier League football competition in Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Poland until 2028, the once Swedish media company has become a follow-up. English football broadcasting rights back. This time it's about the rights to the English Football League (EFL) Cup competition. The purchase is significant for Viaplay, which recently began offering its streaming service in the UK. The rights to broadcast the cup competition currently remain in the hands of Sky Sports. It is not unlikely that the potential purchase would also include broadcast rights for markets outside the UK where Viaplay is active.

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