Eleven Sports UK sheds Serie A and Eredivisie rights and announces price cuts

Eleven Sports has relinquished rights to Serie A and Eredivisie, with both contests moving to rival outlet Premier Sports from the end of February.

The streaming service has already lost the rights to UFC after failing to secure a carriage deal with any of the UK’s pay-TV operators and its output will now be limited to LaLiga which it’s agreed with rights holders IMG to carry until at least the end of the season.

While the company says it will “continue to look for new rights opportunities,” the loss of Serie A and Eredivisie raises the prospect of it shedding some of its estimated 50,000 existing subscribers.

The price of a monthly subscription will be cut to £4.99 (€5.99 in Rep of Ireland) from 1 March 2019.

In a statement the firm said: “We understand our customers will have a lot of questions and we will contact them with more information, including how we plan to deal with any requests for partial refunds for annual subscribers on an individual basis.”

It hopes to sweeten the loss of Serie A and Eredivisie rights by offering subscribers “a special promotional offer for Premier Sports.”

Eleven’s statement added: “The strategic direction we have chosen allows us to focus on LaLiga which not only drives real value for us in the UK and Ireland but is also a property which we continue to have a valued partnership with in five markets globally.”

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