Football offering Dugout launches into streaming with Fanatiz tie-up

Digital media outfit Dugout, which is owned by football clubs A.C. Milan, Arsenal, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, has struck a partnership with streaming platform, Fanatiz to enter the OTT streaming market for the first time.

Dugout’s inaugural live streaming partnership will complement Fanatiz’s current OTT offering, according to the pair. Dugout’s live, behind-the-scenes and archive footage will be distributed to Fanatiz’s audience throughout North, South and Latin America via its embedded player.

The recently launched Dugout Live streaming service will provide Fanatiz with streaming opportunities from major football clubs on desktops, mobiles and on Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast and Amazon Fire TV.

Since launching in 2016, Fanatiz has provided its Ffeemium and pay-to-view members in the US and Latin America with a catalogue of some 15 sports leagues and 10 channels.

Fanatiz’s existing rights portfolio includes La Liga, Superliga Argentina, Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana and Copa Argentina, among others, and has recently acquired rights to Brasileirão – the Brazilian top-flight league.

Users of the service will now have access to Dugout’s portfolio on both the free and paid-for platforms to complement the streaming platform’s live and on-demand offering.

The new partnership follows Dugout’s growth in the Americas through partnerships with media publishers and clubs including Sports Illustrated, Mexican powerhouse Tigres UANL, iconic Brazilian side Flamengo, as well as ties with the MLS and NWSL.

“Signing our first OTT partner is a landmark moment for Dugout and its embed player, as this represents a unique opportunity to deliver international football content via the Dugout’s VOD and LIVE product. We have seen substantial interest in all of our products over recent months and driving growth to gain a foothold in the OTT market will be a key strategic focus ahead of the new season starting,” said Elliot Richardson, chairman and co-founder of Dugout.

“Fanatiz are an innovative and dynamic OTT platform and through our future close working relationship we will continue to grow our audiences in North, South and Latin America. This new collaboration will benefit both our partner clubs and football fans throughout the Americas.”

Fanatiz founder and CEO, Matias Rivera, said: “We are delighted to partner with Dugout and bring our audiences closer to the world’s best teams through live, behind-the-scenes and archive content. This partnership will enable us to substantially grow our content offering and we look forward to working together to offer a new dimension to our OTT platform through new live streaming opportunities.”