Available on computers, tablets, smartphones and connected televisions, the online video platform Sportall offers fans to follow, live and in replay, the competitions of sports not or little publicized: this ranges from canoeing to climbing via BMX and sailing. But there are also much more popular disciplines, for example athletics with the Diamond League.
One year after its launch, the CEO of the start-up draws up an initial assessment that exceeds his expectations: “We were targeting 100,000 regular users by Christmas 2021 and we have just passed 130,000! We have gathered around 30 sports, we broadcast up to 15 live events per weekend, not counting the replay, reports, interviews. We were finally attracted to competitions and more ‘premium’ rights holders than we initially imagined. We notably launched the ‘Athlé TV’ app in partnership with the French Athletics Federation , it’s a big platform that has a lot of success “, comments Thierry Boudard.
“We also launched ‘FutsalZone’, a platform dedicated to indoor football and in a few days we will have Spanish futsal.”
Thierry boudardon franceinfo
To acquire the broadcasting rights, Sportall has entered into agreements with the various sports federations, free of charge. “We do not buy the rights but we share all the income generated by the images with the beneficiary. It is a win-win model, we are there for the success of each of the offers. We are not remunerated. only if the offer works. Our income comes from advertising, sponsorship and paid subscriptions“, specifies Thierry Boudard.
Because if most of the platform is free, there are some paid events: “About 10% of users pay for certain live events: fight, athletics, but you will always find free content, for all sports. This is a big difference compared to traditional pay TV channels: the user does not subscribe to Sportall in general, we have a system of ‘pay per sport’, on demand. The user pays for a sport, between two and four euros per month. “
Sportall is not yet profitable, it is still looking for funders, and has launched a fundraiser to expand internationally. But its CEO is delighted with the profile of its users: “The average age is 34. It’s a generation younger than traditional media. Two-thirds are men, but we hope to welcome more women in the future,” concludes Thierry Boudard.