Perform grabs football rights ahead of OTT launch

Digital sports media company Perform Group has grabbed Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein rights to English Premier League football from Sky Germany ahead of the launch on an OTT service next year.

The exclusive agreement hands Perform live and on-demand broadcasting rights to matches from the start of the 2016-17 season. The three-year agreement also hands Perform EPL matches in Switzerland and Luxembourg on a non-exclusive basis and clip rights in all five territories.

The matches will join content from Spain’s La Liga, Italy’s La Liga, France’s Ligue 1, NBA basketball and NFL American football on the Perform OTT service, which debuts in selected territories in 2016.

German interest in English football has increased since the arrival of high-profile players and managers into the league this season.

“The arrival of [Manchester United midfielder] Bastian Schweinsteiger and [Liverpool manager] Jurgen Klopp has further increased interest in the Premier League across the German-speaking markets, and it is an exciting addition to our already extensive portfolio of exclusive live and on-demand content on our upcoming OTT offering,” said Perform OTT chief commercial officer John Gleasure.

“We will continue to add a range of both international and local rights to the service before our 2016 launch, and look forward to announcing further acquisitions in the very near future.”

To this point, English football has been seen in Germany on Sky, the pay TV provider that’s now part of the UK-based Sky group.