Onefootball, the digital platform offering pay-per-view streaming of football, has added to its sales team with the recruitment of Edward Desbois in the role of head of UK sales.
Desbois recently joined Onefootball from NBCUniversal International Networks, where he held a London-based position as director of international brand partnerships.
He will report to Michael Pennington, vice-president of international sales and strategic partnerships, and is responsible for driving Onefootball’s growth and monestisation efforts in the UK by working with agencies and brands to develop media partnerships.
Onefootball has signed a string of revenue-share agreements with broadcasters to offer live football matches on a pay-per-view basis. Sportdigital Fussball, the subscription broadcaster in German-speaking countries, became the latest broadcaster to sign up earlier this month.
Desbois joined NBCUniversal International Networks in March 2018, having worked for over nine years at Yahoo in identifying and developing sales agreements in the UK and internationally.
He said: “I am exceptionally pleased to be joining Onefootball at such an exciting time for the business. With a younger audience demanding more flexibility in how they are able to consume content, the industry is primed for disruption. I believe we are ideally positioned to provide this younger football audience with what they are looking for and offer endless opportunities for brands to create a valuable ongoing dialogue with them.”
Pennington added: “We are extremely pleased to have Ed joining our international sales team. With his vast experience and network in the digital advertising space, he will be a strong asset for us in developing our business in the UK and beyond.”
Onefootball, which was founded in 2008 and employs 200 staff at its Berlin headquarters, is especially aimed at a younger target audience and promotes itself as platform on which live football can be watched “with just a few clicks”. The pay-per-view billing is handled by the Apple iTunes or Google Play store.
Having initially made its name as a provider of football news, data and statistics, Onefootball has been branching out into the live streaming sector.