The clash of the Europa League play-offs was broadcast live on Thursday on the content creator’s Twitch channel to 1.6 million subscribers, in partnership with the broadcaster RMC Sport. A world first on the platform.
The first leg of the Europa League between FC Barcelona and Manchester United on Thursday February 16 was marked by a world first on the Twitch platform. RMC Sport, official broadcaster of the competition in France, on subscription, shared its television rights for an evening with the streamer Domingo (1.6 million subscribers). More than 200,000 spectators thus attended the opposition between the two European giants, concluded with a score of parity (2-2), live and free of charge on the Twitch channel of the French videographer.
“It’s historic!” Domingo, accompanied in the comments by Aminematue and Wiloo, two other well-known personalities on social networks, did not fail to underline the singularity of this evening. Indeed, this collaboration between a TV rights holder and a content creator had never before seen the light of day in the world. Until then, the broadcaster was content to schedule matches on its only Twitch channel. Beyond a simple publicity stunt, the operation is proving to be a real opportunity for RMC Sport to rejuvenate its audience.
A popular platform for young people
The choice to broadcast the meeting on the Twitch platform is not trivial. Laurent Salvaudon, editorial director of RMC Sport clearly identifies its primary objective. “To consolidate our paid offer, we want to make the RMC Sport brand visible to a younger audience, which could even be one of the best in the history of Twitch in France, and perhaps even in the world” , he had estimated before the kick-off of the match.
If it did not reach the heights of Squeezie’s Grand Prix Explorer or Aminematue’s Eleven All Stars, both of which exceeded one million spectators, this sporting event broadcast live nevertheless set the new record on Domingo’s Twitch channel, with more than 200,000 people connected simultaneously.
Throughout the evening, RMC Sport put forward an exclusive offer to encourage the thousands of spectators present to subscribe to the television channel (€15 for the first month, instead of the usual 25). At the end of the meeting, the Domingo public was also invited to follow the Europa League match between Sevilla FC and PSV Eindhoven, scheduled immediately, this time directly on the official broadcaster’s Twitch channel. “At RMC Sport, we have the TV rights. have a huge Gen Z community [personnes nées entre 1997 et 2010] that we don’t have, recognizes Laurent Salvaudon. It’s a relationship of good intelligence, which could well happen again in the future.”
A way to fight against piracy
By encouraging the promotion of its channel on a platform favored by young people, RMC Sport sees the possibility of reducing, even a little, the number of pirate broadcasts of its sports competitions. Face to the cumulative prices of the subscriptions, some consumers have in fact turned to illegal streaming or to IPTV, a method of receiving channels containing pirated content. “The major danger that threatens the level of TV rights is piracyalert Pierre Maes, cinternational sports TV rights consultant. Today, illegal streaming surely has more audiences than any other service among young people.”
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To put an end to this scourge, the audiovisual regulator Arcom has announced thatan agreement to combat pirate broadcasts of sports competitions was concluded on Wednesday, January 18, between the four major Internet service providers in France and the holders of sports rights. Since the beginning of 2022, more than 1,300 illegal sites have already been blocked.