International subscription broadcaster Eleven Sports has unveiled details of a rebrand and three new programming verticals that will sit underneath the Eleven umbrella name.
The rebrand was announced today (Monday) alongside the Aser Ventures-owned broadcaster’s ‘2.0 strategy’ that Eleven said would “expand its offering with a host of new content streams and plans to grow its digital ecosystem with the aim of democratising sports content for fans across the world”.
This comes with “ambitious content plans to secure more premium rights” across Eleven’s key markets in the months ahead, the broadcaster said.
The 2.0 launch will initially focus on the broadcaster’s operations in Belgium, Italy and Portugal, before being rolled out in further territories early next year. In addition to the regional platforms, a new digital global hub will be launched later this year.
The three new verticals will showcase women’s sport, local sports content that has previously struggled for exposure and esports.
Recently-acquired rights to the Belgian Women’s First Division will feature on ‘Eleven Women’ and a “wider programme of global rights” is already in development, according to the broadcaster.
The ‘Eleven Next’ vertical will “shine a light on more local sport, delivering for dedicated communities of fans around the world”. The broadcaster said: “This builds on the group’s longtail strategy in Italy, where Eleven Sports is streaming all the action from Serie C and Serie D to fans for the first time.”
The ‘Eleven Esports’ platform represents a doubling down on esports content by Eleven after it steamed over 200 esports events to fans during the Covid-19 shutdown.
Luis Vicente, Eleven Sports’ chief executive, said: “With our new Eleven 2.0 strategy, we’re going to accelerate our journey with thousands of hours of additional live content every year, an innovative digital first and data led approach and continuous investment in premium rights alongside new investment in longtail and newtail rights in virtual and traditional sports.
“We are convinced about the massive untapped potential in the new brand verticals we’ve announced and we are excited about the opportunities we can deliver for more sports, athletes and fans around the world, in a true spirit of co-creation and joint venture.”
In addition to Belgium, Italy and Portugal, Eleven is also present in Poland, Luxembourg, Japan, Taiwan and Myanmar. The broadcaster was established in 2015 and launched first in Belgium, Luxembourg and Poland. Attempts to break into the UK and Ireland failed as Eleven struggled to negotiate carriage deals in a market dominated by Sky and BT.