The final round of matches in France’s Ligue 1 and Spain’s La Liga marked the end of another exhilarating season of domestic European football action on beIN Sports. Yet what has been an unforgettable, award-winning year for the Middle East and North Africa’s leading broadcaster is not over yet – there are still some huge matches to come in the weeks and months ahead.
Starting on August 5, 2022, beIN provided live and exclusive coverage of more than 1,400 games across Ligue 1, La Liga, the German Bundesliga, and the English Premier League, with each of Europe’s top four leagues enduring an extended season to accommodate a historical, mid-season FIFA World Cup. beIN also broadcast a huge selection of matches from domestic cups, including the Coupe de France, Coupe de la Ligue, Copa del Rey, DFB Pokal, FA Cup and Carabao Cup.
And while all four leagues provided incredible moments of creative quality and tangible tension, nothing compared to the drama of the month-long FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022TM. beIN’s coverage raised the bar on how a broadcaster can cover a major sporting event, complementing its existing channels with six new World Cup dedicated channels, broadcasting all 64 matches and more than 70 hours of in-house content, and calling on a talent roster of more than 120 globally recognised presenters, reporters, commentators, and analysts, including Kaka, Arsene Wenger, Gary Neville, and Gabriel Batistuta.
By the time the final whistle blew on 18 December to crown Lionel Messi and Argentina three-time world champions, more than 5.4 billion viewers had tuned in to beIN coverage, with 242.8million watching the final – equivalent to 68 per cent of MENA’s adult population. beIN’s OTT platform beIN Connect logged 1.4 million unique users and 10 million unique visits, while its social channels generated 5.5 billion impressions and more than half a billion engagements. Such was the success of the online coverage, beIN was awarded Gold for ‘Best Use of Digital and Social in Sports’ at the Sports Industry Awards 2023.
“This season has been a year like no other,” said Mohammed Al Bader, Managing Director of beIN Channels – MENA. “beIN has broadcast close to 1,500 matches from Europe’s top leagues spread across nine months, a host of domestic cups, European competitions, international friendlies, age-group tournaments, and provided award-winning coverage of the first FIFA World Cup held in the Arab World. It has been an unrelenting, unforgettable season and beIN has covered every kick.”
Building upon its World Cup coverage, beIN Sports is promising subscribers an unparalleled Champions League viewing experience where Manchester City and Inter Milan battle in finale on June 10.
Expert studio analysis will be provided by football legends Arsene Wenger, Ruud Gullit,Marcel Desailly, Mohamed Aboutrika, Youssef Chippo, and Yasser Al Qahtani, complimented by on-the-ground reporting delivering exclusive updates from inside Istanbul’s Ataturk Olympic Stadium of what promises to be a monumental event.
Less than 24 hours after Europe’s new kings are crowned, beIN will continue to broadcast more finals. The second leg of the CAF Champions League final between defending champions Wydad of Morocco and Egypt’s 10-time winners Al Ahly will take place on 11 June at the Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca. The glittering CAF Champions League showpiece is followed almost immediately by the final of the ongoing FIFA Under-20 World Cup Argentina 2023 in Buenos Aires.
