Such was the hype surrounding big tech’s supposed interest in acquiring live Premier League broadcast rights that YouTube’s name was inevitably thrown into the mix alongside Sky and BT as a potential bidder in the current auction.
Yet Google’s online video behemoth was never interested. Why would they be? As demonstrated by Manchester United’s migration to the site, which was announced today, rights holders, governing bodies, leagues and clubs are flocking to YouTube, not the other way around.
United, the world’s richest football club according to Deloitte, have joined just about every other top sports brand in the world in creating a channel on the platform for showcasing highlights, behind-the-scenes documentaries, archive footage and all club-related video content.
Their arrival on YouTube may seem surprisingly tardy for such a commercially-orientated club but, just as with their Twitter account, which was not launched until 2013, expect the late adoption to be followed by quick dominance. Even in the absence of an official channel, none of United’s domestic rivals have been able to match their popularity on YouTube: United-related content has had 843m views since the start of the current season, more than any other Premier League club.
Unlike Amazon now or BT before 2013, YouTube is already a destination for football content. BT Sport paid £900m for Champions League rights in 2013. If you want to revisit Chelsea’s draw with Barcelona or David de Gea’s heroics in Sevilla from the last week then you already can for free on YouTube, where BT have uploaded highlights to their channel.
“That’s not our game,” YouTube head of sport for EMEA Tomos Grace tells City A.M., when asked if the site was interested in acquiring exclusive live rights.
“We want to work with rights holders, we want to work with broadcasters, we want to work with clubs to help them amplify the reach that they have and amplify the rights that they have.
“And people want to work with YouTube. One, because it’s a big platform and they get big audiences. Two, because you get to engage with global fanbases. And three, because it can make them money. That is now an established, proven model.
Supporter-led channels such as Arsenal Fan TV have entered mainstream football culture (Source: Getty)
"Sure, it doesn’t yet compete with what people are making from TV and broadcasting deals, but there is a source of money there for clubs and I think that’s another reason for working with us.”
Global sporting mega-brands like United may also look at YouTube and take notice of its emerging stars who are often outflanking them when it comes to fan engagement, loyalty and even attention.
YouTube creators KSI and Joe Weller built their followings by playing the FIFA video game and now have more subscribers than Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool put together. When they fought each other in a white collar boxing match earlier this month, the bout attracted over 1m live viewers and sold out the ExCel Arena. Meanwhile entire football clubs have been set up by popular YouTubers, with matches played at Wembley in front of tens of thousands of fans.
Elsewhere, the rise of supporter channels such as Arsenal Fan TV have forced their way into mainstream conversation and onto the radar of footballers themselves. Professional sport and fan-led platforms are increasingly intertwined in competition and symbiosis with each other. “Robbie Reacts To Hector Bellerin’s Oxford Union Comments On Arsenal Fan TV” has over 180,000 more views than BT Sport’s highlights of Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Ostersunds, posted online on the same day.
| Club | YouTube subscribers |
| Barcelona | 3,700,000 |
| Real Madrid | 2,700,000 |
| Manchester City | 1,000,000 |
| Bayern Munich | 821,000 |
| Liverpool | 819,000 |
“I think that the interesting thing is not only how massive they [KSI and Joe Weller] are but how surprised I think many people in the industry were by how successful that fight was,” says Grace.
“It’s surprising that they were surprised, because these guys are huge. It will be interesting to see how traditional and new sports stars on YouTube will coexist. One of the things that’s great about the Manchester United channel is they’re already talking about the kinds of collaborations that they want to do with YouTube creators. And we know that works because they [creators] bring a different audience to the official club channel.”
YouTube is still a happy host of traditional live sport should rights holders be interested — BT Sport have streamed last year’s Champions League final — but is not so much interested in becoming the rights holder itself. After all, a football match only lasts just under two hours in a football fan’s day. YouTube can cover the other 22.
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