Concacaf Nations League deal tightens OneSoccer’s grip on Canadian soccer

OneSoccer, Mediapro’s OTT sports streaming service in Canada, has secured rights to the Concacaf Nations League, including Canada’s matches in the new international tournament featuring sides from North and Central America and the Caribbean.

Mediapro announced today (Tuesday) that it has acquired rights to the 102 group-stage matches, the two semi-finals, the third-placed match and the final.

Canada’s two home and two away fixtures in Group A will be shown by OneSoccer, beginning with the Canada-Cuba game on September 7 and ending with the USA-Canada clash on November 15.

The coverage of the quartet of Canada group-stage games will include live pre-match, half-time and post-match studio programming, along with interviews and features.

The deal with the IMG agency tightens OneSoccer’s grip on Canadian soccer given it already holds rights to the home matches of the men’s and women’s national teams, the Canadian Premier League and the Canadian Championship. In February, Mediapro announced a 10-year agreement with Canadian Soccer Business, the body set up to represent club and national team commercial rights.

Mediapro launched OneSoccer in April after it picked up the global CPL rights over the next decade. The OTT platform is priced at C$9.99 (€6.76/$7.50) per month or C$74.99 per year.

OneSoccer’s Concacaf Nations League coverage will begin on September 5 as the US Virgin Islands take on the Cayman Islands. The winners of each of the four groups will progress to the Final Championship in June next year.

OTT subscription platform FloSports holds exclusive English-language rights in neighbouring USA to the Concacaf Nations League (until 2022). However, that agreement excludes the matches of the US national team as they will be aired on ESPN and Fox Sports under the broadcasters’ agreement with the US Soccer Federation.