Some days ago, we reported that YouTube had gone back on its plans to introduce sports live-streaming for South African subscribers just a day after releasing a statement sharing the plans.
YouTube has now issued a statement (see below) to clarify its stance on its sports content offering
YouTube would like to clarify earlier statements regarding its sports content offering, which were inaccurately portrayed in the press.
YouTube works closely with broadcasters and rights holders in order to distribute their sporting events on the YouTube platform. In Sub-Saharan Africa, YouTube works with partners including SuperSport, which owns the exclusive regional broadcast rights to the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, FIFA Women’s World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations, among other franchises.
SuperSport’s YouTube channel, which recently hit one million subscribers, publishes select video-on-demand highlights packages where permitted – which means fans across Africa can watch edited highlights of selected games after they have first aired live on SuperSport.
“SuperSport uses YouTube to grow sport fandom and reach digital audiences that are searching for sports content in Sub-Saharan Africa,” says Gideon Khobane, CEO of SuperSport.
“All content curated and published on YouTube is fully in SuperSport’s editorial control and in accordance with their broadcast and transmission rights agreements with rights holders.”
Live streaming is different from uploading highlights to stream on demand, and SuperSport has made no current agreement for live distribution of global or local sports franchises on YouTube.
YouTube does not own or license any of the underlying broadcast rights, and SuperSport publishes clips, highlights and ancillary sport content to YouTube at its complete discretion.
“We know audiences are excited about sports content on YouTube and we are pleased to help fans discover more of the sports they love, in collaboration with our global and local partners,” says YouTube content partnerships lead Dayo Olopade. “We apologise for any confusion caused.”
