Viaplay Group confirmed on Tuesday that the sale of its UK sports channel business to Premier Sports has cleared its final hurdle. Subscribers will be transferred across within days.
- Deal will complete on Thursday 4th April; channels will rebrand 9th April
- Viaplay’s film and series offer will cease to be available in May.
A short statement to investors on Tuesday confirmed the end of a chaotic 18 months for Viaplay in the UK. After a disastrous attempt to expand internationally, the Nordic broadcaster will officially hand control of its two sports channels back to Premier Sports.
Following clearance from Irish authorities in January, Dublin-based Premier Sports will take over the channels on Thursday 4th April. The channels will rebrand on Tuesday 9th April 2024.
▶ How are subscribers affected?
Viaplay sports customers will automatically transfer to Premier Sports. Or more precisely SSBL Limited, the legal entity behind the broadcaster.
The channels will continue to be broadcast on current TV platforms. So for example, if you watch on Sky, the channels will continue – albeit with Premier Sports branding – on Sky.
Will the sport content change?
Not for now. Premier Sports will inherit all of Viaplay UK’s current sporting rights until they expire.
In the medium to long term, Premier Sports will now determine which sports rights they want to pursue going forward.
What happened at Viaplay?
Premier Sports 1 and 2, plus the former FreeSports channel were sold to Viaplay in 2022. At the time, Viaplay had begun to aggressively bid for sports rights ahead of a planned UK launch. This included a number of sports rights previously held by Premier Sports. As a result, had Premier Sports continued on its own, it would have ended 2022 with a diluted sports offer.
During 2023, Viaplay’s financial situation worsened rapidly. The UK arm was put up for sale, with the company focusing on core markets in Nordic and Baltic countries. It’s only retained services in countries where it has managed to gain some traction.
A third sports channel – Viaplay Xtra (the former FreeSports) – closed in January.
Meanwhile, Premier Sports continued trading in the Republic of Ireland as normal throughout this time.
Marc Thornham
[Image: Premier Sport]
Updated 09/04/2024: The end date of Viaplay films and series is now confirmed as 22nd May. Viaplay previously published 21st May. The article has been updated accordingly.