Startup OTT streaming platform Begin has secured the Pakistani streaming video-on-demand (SVOD) rights to broadcast English soccer’s elite tier Premier League (EPL) for its already-underway 2024-25 season.
Begin, a UAE-based service, becomes the Premier League’s exclusive SVOD broadcaster deal in Pakistan for 2024-25 through a sublicensing deal with state broadcaster (and EPL rightsholder) PTV (which has also sublicensed the advertising-based video-on-demand rights to platform Myco), Sportcal (GlobalData) has been told.
PTV itself struck a deal to cover EPL action in Pakistan for the 2022-25 cycle with Star India, the heavyweight broadcaster that holds the main package of subcontinental rights (as was unveiled in early 2022). The Star-EPL deal agreement has been valued as worth $51 million over the three seasons in total.
Begin will broadcast every match of the 2024-25 season in the country and Jonathan Mark, Begin’s founding chief executive, has now told Sportcal that despite the popularity of cricket in the country, the EPL has a huge fan base in Pakistan, one that can move the needle for the service.
While this is an especially difficult task in Pakistan giving the prevalence of piracy and illegal streaming, Mark stated that Begin has been working with major international broadcasters in order to clamp down on the phenomenon and secure its share of legal viewership.
He said these broadcasters "are being very helpful in providing us with the relevant notes to bring to the regulators. It’s in their interest.”
While many may not have chosen to enter such a widely pirated industry such as elite sport, Mark says there had been a gap in the Pakistan market after previous sublicensees backed out that the service is now looking to exploit and, coupled with a crackdown on piracy, will help the service’s user base grow.
He explained that for the 2023-24 EPL season, there "was no other [legal on demand] outlet than maybe Myco last year, but the Myco deal happened much later in the [league season], It wasn't day one, so there was a huge void.
“When you take care of piracy, so there is no [illegal] visibility, all of this effort is obviously targeted to one goal in growing our subscriber base exponentially, because the EPL has a huge following in this part of the world.
“We are a one-stop solution where we’re providing all the games at a very nominal cost as opposed to what you might have to pay [through illegal streaming services] or to access sites through a VPN, so the numbers are very promising.”
The 2024-25 Premier League season began on August 16 and will run through May, with 380 matches taking place in total, and Mark confirmed that Begin is already looking into avenues for ancillary content, shoulder programming, and team-specific highlights packages.
He has stated: “We’re trying to tap into the Gen Z market. We’re going to be adding a lot of wraparound programming, and we’re talking to some international influencers with huge numbers to be doing pre-match, halftime, and post-match analysis."
Alongside the freshly secured Premier League rights, Begin also streams professional wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling, and holds the exclusive Pakistani rights to golf’s elite PGA Tour and DP World Tour competitions.
Begin is backed by investment vehicle Z2C Limited, and launched in June 2024, initially securing licensing rights for non-sports entertainment content from the NBCUniversal and Sony Pictures Entertainment media giants.
In terms of other recent EPL rights deals, meanwhile, earlier this month new agreements were unveiled in Mexico.
