A sports unit of Le Holdings (Beijing) Co, an operator of domestic leading online video service, said on Tuesday that it obtained the exclusive digital broadcasting rights for the English Premier League (EPL) in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, a development it hopes will help further its overseas expansion.
Letv Sports was awarded exclusive rights for three years, starting from next season, which begins in 2016, CEO Lei Zhenjian told a news conference in Hong Kong.
The value of the deal was not disclosed, but according to previous media reports, the deal is expected to be worth more than $400 million, which is more than double what current rights holder Now TV, a pay-TV service provider operated by Hong Kong-based PCCW Media, paid for a similar deal.
The increase follows big rises for soccer broadcasting rights in the U.S., where the NBC network beat two competitors in early August to win a new 6-year contract for around $1 billion in total.
Letv Sports is also an EPL partner in the Chinese mainland "and we want to extend the cooperation to Hong Kong," Lei said. "Hong Kong is a mature sports market in comparison with the mainland. That's a major factor attracting us."
Tao Zheng, a 25-year-old white-collar worker in Hong Kong, told the Global Times on Tuesday that Hong Kong consumers, mainly aged from 20 to 40, "are very keen" on the EPL. Tao, who said he is a typical Hong Kong sports fan, is also used to paying to watch certain programs.
Because Hong Kong has many EPL lovers, the deal will bring Le Holdings' online video site more users, Zhang Qing, CEO of Beijing Key-Solution Sports Consulting Co, told the Global Times Tuesday. Le Holdings, which is making sports content its core business, saw its video site receive an average of about 53 million daily visits as of June, according to the half-year financial report of its listed unit Leshi Internet Information and Technology Corp.
However, local viewers' willingness to pay for online content does not mean that the deal can yield a fortune for Le Holdings, as Hong Kong is not a very big market in comparison with the mainland, said Zhang. "Hong Kong is more likely considered as a good springboard by Le Holdings to jump into wider overseas markets."
Setting up a U.S. headquarters in California and an office in Los Angeles, Le Holdings reportedly said in April that it plans to introduce its smart devices and online video-streaming services to the U.S. later this year.
Le Holdings, which made its debut in the Hong Kong market in August 2014 with its TV products, has yet to become a household name in the city, according to Tao. "The company needs to make more effort to tell local residents what it does," said Tao, noting that "if EPL games are exclusively streamed via Le Holdings' hardware products," there may be a surge in the sales of its TVs or handsets. At the press conference, Lei announced the appointment of Cheng Yizhong, former editor-in-chief of Nanfang Metropolis Daily, as the CEO of Le Sports HK, responsible for sports business in Hong Kong.
Cheng, with his media background, can further help innovate and promote the company's online content business, said Zhang.
As for the mainland market, Letv Sports is also striving to increase its popularity among sports fans. On July 30, the company announced that it had acquired the exclusive digital broadcasting rights for the Italian soccer league's Serie A in the mainland during the next three seasons, starting with the 2015-16 season.
Letv Sports seems to have built up a loyal base of viewers such as a Beijing-based sports fan surnamed Wang who said the company offers faster and clearer images in comparison with services from other Internet giants including Tencent Holdings and Sina Corp.
