A new OTT sports streaming platform has launched in the Latin America market, with a focus on football content.
Chile-based Fanatiz has said it will offer live coverage of the top-tier football leagues in Argentina, Mexico, Peru and Chile, in addition to the Copa Argentina and Copa Chile competitions.
Fanatiz claims its business model is to acquire sports rights that are not held by a broadcaster in their respective country. As a result, the Chilean Primera División won’t be available in Chile, while Mexican subscribers won’t have access to the Liga MX or Argentina’s Superliga.
“By launching this global platform, we are targeting fans of Latin American football not only in their home countries, but also across Asia and Europe,” Matías Rivera, chief executive of Fanatiz, said, according to the Rapid TV News website.
The launch of Fanatiz comes amid the recent controversy surrounding the Sportflix OTT platform. Earlier this month, pay-television operator Fox Networks Group Latin America said it was preparing to lead an industry-wide legal claim against Sportflix, amid piracy allegations levelled against the platform.
Sportflix has not launched as planned amid an investigation by the IMPI, the Mexican regulator for intellectual property. The platform, which had promised to offer coverage of hundreds of sporting events in Latin America, was scheduled to launch on August 30.
Several media companies, including Fox Networks Group Latin America, ESPN, Globo and Turner, said last month that they had not engaged with Sportflix.
The IMPI said that it was investigating Sportflix after the platform was accused of offering sports programming that is shown by broadcasters without authorisation.