Major League Soccer expansion franchise Los Angeles Football Club has signed a landmark media rights and jersey sponsorship deal with YouTube TV, the cable-free live television service of video-sharing company YouTube.
Under the multi-year partnership, which will commence when LAFC makes its MLS debut in March, YouTube TV will serve as the official live television partner and official video partner of the team, becoming the exclusive home to watch all locally televised English-language LAFC matches. YouTube TV will also carry all nationally televised LAFC matches on ESPN, Fox and FS1.
The landmark deal will also see the YouTube TV logo prominently displayed on the LAFC jersey, with the club hailing it as the first partnership of its kind in North American professional sports where all locally televised matches are on a live television streaming provider.
LAFC has a league-high 16 matches broadcast nationally on ESPN, Fox, FS1 and Univision in 2018, and said it will soon announce a comprehensive broadcast package featuring a local, over-the-air Spanish-language broadcast partner.
As part of the partnership, all locally televised LAFC matches will be featured on a designated YouTube TV channel in the service, in addition to original LAFC programming and content. The YouTube TV broadcasts will feature a 30-minute pre and post-game show from the YouTube TV Studio set at LAFC’s Banc of California Stadium.
Locally televised LAFC matches will be geo-fenced and available only in the Los Angeles market on YouTube TV. Together with additional matches broadcast nationally on ESPN, Fox and FS1, YouTube TV will be the home for 30 of LAFC’s 34 English-language matches, the most across any distribution provider.
“LAFC is reimagining the sports landscape in the same innovative way we strive to reimagine the live TV experience,” YouTube director of sports partnerships for the Americas, Tim Katz, said. “We couldn’t be more excited to partner with LAFC to be the exclusive home for all locally televised matches and to share our name on the front of their jerseys.”
LAFC owner and president, Tom Penn, added: “We are at the forefront in engaging our fans on a digital, cable-free platform such as YouTube. We are also committed to making our matches accessible to everyone throughout Los Angeles, and our upcoming broadcast announcements will provide comprehensive coverage of our club all over Southern California.”
YouTube TV launched in April in the United States’ largest metro areas – New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay, Chicago and Philadelphia – and has since expanded to over 80 areas. For $35 (€29) a month, YouTube TV includes access to nearly 50 networks.