Stan Sport are reaping the rewards of UEFA Champions League coverage in Australia ahead of the thrilling final
When Stan Sport acquired UEFA broadcasting rights in Australia last June, football fans weren’t too happy with another streaming service joining the mix.
But if we fast forward just under 12 months, they have proven their football potential by providing quality coverage to the competition.
A high-profile panel of Max Rushden, Craig Foster and Mark Bosnich have helped Stan create his own distinctive footprint at club football’s biggest tournaments.
While they encountered the same issues as most with their initial coverage, Stan quickly ironed out the mistakes and was rewarded with a massive boost in audience engagement.
Stan Sport’s YouTube channel has surpassed 100,000 subscribers in the wake of the UEFA deal, with their most-watched video incidentally being a highlights package from a Champions League match.
With Stan already owning rights to rugby, tennis and boxing, adding football to Stan’s library proved a smart move.
“We started a business, we want to grow and having a product like the UEFA Champions League means we have quality content alongside all our other sports,” said Ben Kimber, Stan’s sporting director The sports news.
“That brought in new fans and from a business perspective we definitely brought a very strong audience to Stan Sport’s platform.
“As part of Nine Entertainment, we don’t just broadcast one sport, we expand sport across all of our channels. So not only have we grown our business, but also the Champions League as a competition and awareness of it in Australia.
“We have definitely seen an increase in viewership and awareness for the Champions League. We believe our combination with such a great product has led to this.”
The 2021-22 UEFA Champions League season concludes on Sunday morning (5am AEST) when Liverpool take on Real Madrid in the final.
This match will be shown on free-to-air TV in Australia via 9Gem along with the usual 4K coverage on Stan Sport.
It is the third final in five years for the Reds. That’s how they did it 👀
↳ UCL FINALS – Liverpool v Real Madrid LIVE Sunday from 4:30pm AEST, on Stan Sport in 4K UHD.#StanSportAU | #UCLFinal | #LIVRMA pic.twitter.com/NHuCFkSy8m
— Stan Sport Football (@StanSportFC) May 25, 2022
The UEFA Champions League remains the pinnacle of club football around the world and Kimber believes her decision to start her football coverage at the deep end was the right decision.
“Going straight into football with the biggest club competition in the world has really shown our intention, after rugby, that we are serious about broadcasting great sport,” said Kimber.
“I think the first challenge for us in moving from rugby to football was the breadth of content – when you have numerous simultaneous games at once it was a big shift for us as a broadcaster.
“But if you look at it now, there’s a lot of feedback about how well we’ve done our job. I think people are willing to pay for a quality product and that’s what we offer.”
Stan’s library of sports content continues to grow and building on her initial Champions League success, Kimber has left the door open for more football content in the future.
“There’s always room for the right additions,” he said.
“We’re looking very closely at what’s available in the market, and we’re calling if we think it adds to the experience we’re offering.”
Comments are closed.