Abema TV, a prominent Japanese over-the-top (OTT) service, is disrupting the traditional sports broadcasting model by offering free, live streaming of all 51 matches of the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament. This bold move sets it apart in a market like Japan, where major sporting events are typically exclusively available through paid subscriptions.
This isn’t Abema TV’s first foray into free sports streaming. They previously broadcasted the 2022 FIFA World Cup and other significant sporting events like MLB and the Tour de France. Abema TV has reported substantial growth attributed to this strategy, including an 87% increase in weekly active users and a 52% surge in advertising revenue between 2021 and 2022. Building on this success, Abema TV is strategically utilizing advertising revenue to monetize its sports investments, pioneering a potentially game-changing model for offering Live Euro 2024 Free and other major sports events in Japan.
Abema TV’s Free Streaming Model: Key Factors
Several factors underpin Abema TV’s unique approach to live Euro 2024 free streaming. Firstly, a significant 90% of Abema TV’s user base, totaling 21.2 million, accesses the platform through its free tier. By making high-profile events like Euro 2024 freely available, Abema TV effectively taps into a massive audience for advertising monetization. Secondly, Abema TV benefits from its affiliation with TV Asahi, a major free-to-air broadcaster. This connection provides Abema TV with access to advanced advertising technologies and extensive advertiser networks, maximizing revenue potential from live Euro 2024 free streams. This synergy has demonstrably boosted both viewership and advertising income for the platform.
Data from Abema TV indicates that weekly active users surpassed 20 million during and after the FIFA 2022 World Cup. Furthermore, Ampere’s consumer surveys highlight Abema TV’s growing market share, with monthly viewership increasing from 11% to 15% between Q3 2022 and Q3 2023 – the most significant growth among video streaming services in Japan. Correspondingly, Abema TV’s advertising revenue witnessed a substantial 52% jump, from JPY 13.1 billion (~$120 million) in 2021 to JPY 19.9 billion (~$151 million) in 2022. These figures underscore the effectiveness of offering live Euro 2024 free and other premium sports content to drive user engagement and financial returns through advertising.
Another crucial element is the Japanese market’s strong preference for free viewing, deeply rooted in the dominance of traditional linear television. Abema TV’s strategy aligns perfectly with these ingrained viewing habits. Notably, free-to-air broadcasters in Japan account for a significantly larger share (26.6%) of sports rights spending compared to the EU Big 5 markets (10% average). This context emphasizes the strategic advantage of providing live Euro 2024 free in a market attuned to free content consumption.
Challenging the Pay-TV Paradigm
Abema TV’s free streaming model presents a direct challenge to traditional pay-TV providers like WOWOW, a satellite TV service that also secured UEFA Euro 2024 rights in Japan. WOWOW broadcasts and streams Euro 2024 games on its premium channels and WOWOW On Demand platform, requiring a subscription fee for access. To watch all Euro 2024 matches and other UEFA tournaments on WOWOW, viewers must pay a monthly fee of JPY 2,530 (~$16) or a one-time payment of JPY 14,500 (~$90). Abema TV’s offering of live Euro 2024 free provides a compelling alternative, potentially shifting consumer preferences away from paid subscriptions for major sports events, particularly for football.
If Abema TV’s live Euro 2024 free streaming proves popular, it could signify a pivotal moment in the Japanese sports streaming landscape. It suggests a future where high-profile sports events, especially football, may increasingly be available for free to Japanese audiences. The sustained monthly viewership of Abema TV, holding steady at around 14% in Q1 2024, indicates strong user retention, suggesting that offering live Euro 2024 free not only attracts viewers but also enhances engagement with Abema TV’s broader content offerings.
