When beIN SPORTS first emerged four years ago into the Ad Sales community it faced a difficult challenge. “Not many buyers were familiar with the network, and there was not sufficient research to show potential buyers the value of advertising on the network. Aside from a few launch partners, most of the network’s business came in the scatter marketplace as a way to test the network’s profitability. Today, beIN SPORTS has converted a number of the aforementioned test brands into Upfront partners and has continued to add more top brands into its portfolio. One of the main reasons for this conversion is that beIN SPORTS prides itself in providing brands with incremental reach. beIN SPORTS’ passionate viewers are very diverse and rank high among household income. The industry has also shifted with stronger demand for live sports content, and is one of the few areas that is DVR/VOD proof, allowing brands to reach a live audience,” explains Roberto Velez, Head of Sales, beIN SPORTS.
The network’s core programming includes exclusive rights to the best soccer leagues and tournaments in the world, such as LaLiga, Ligue 1, French Cup, Copa del Rey, African Nations Cup, and more. Outside of soccer, beIN SPORTS delivers the best Mexican and International boxing coverage through its partners at Zanfer boxing. The network also offers live Motorsports coverage, such as MotoGP and MotoAmerica.
“Advertisers today are looking to make their ad dollars work smarter than ever before, while buyers are looking for more flexibility in shifting dollars between mediums in order to optimize their spend. By understanding this dynamic, beIN SPORTS is able to be more flexible with its partners in order to meet their business objectives,” commented Velez.
“beIN SPORTS was one of the early adopters of the OTT space, understanding the value that streaming services bring for beIN SPORTS viewers and the growing demand for this type of service. Since adopting these types of services, beIN SPORTS has continued working with multiple partners in this space and expanding the breadth of content available via streaming, online, on beIN SPORTS CONNECT and via social platforms such as our YouTube page,” he highlights.
The network works with all six major holding companies: Publicis, Omnicom, Horizon, WPP, Magna, and Dentsu Aegis.
“Automotive, Telecommunications and the Beverage Industry have been beIN SPORTS’ top categories for the past few years. Additionally, this past year the network has seen more advertising activity coming from Banking, QSR, and Tech companies. Most recently, beIN SPORTS secured ad partnerships with Netflix, Google, Microsoft, Wells Fargo and Chase,” he said.