Yahoo! has unveiled a new online highlights service for Barclays Premier League football matches, in a move which could indicate company’s current strategy of focusing on content marketing revenue rather than search.
The launch of the new service comes after Yahoo! signed a multi-million pound deal with the Football Association in April, allowing the company to show five-minute long highlights videos of every Premier League match until 2013.
BBC News report that Yahoo’s new service will feature video advertising from major firms including Sony Pictures, Heineken, BT and Adidas. ITProPortal add that the new product will be backed by a big-budget marketing campaign with the tagline: “Miss a game? We didn’t’.”
A Yahoo! press release explains that weekend match highlights will be available from midnight every Monday morning, with highlights from mid-week games uploaded at midnight the following day.
Users will have the chance to share links to the highlights via social networks including Facebook and Twitter. They will also have access to a range of interactive features, as well as a number of ‘best-of’ packages including ‘Best Goals’, ‘Best Save’ and ‘Team of the Week’.
Richard Scudamore, Chief Executive of the Premier League, explained that Yahoo’s new service reflects the ever-evolving viewing habits of the modern football fan. “The way fans access Barclays Premier League action is growing ever more divers and sophisticated,” Market Watch quoted him as saying.
“The online highlights package is an important medium for supporters of all our clubs to be able to follow match action,” he added.
Yahoo! UK’s managing director, Mark Rabe, has high hopes for the new highlights service and believes that Yahoo! could soon become the first port of call for both football fans and internet marketers alike.
“Our ambition for Barclays Premier League coverage is for Yahoo! to become your home for football online – whether you’re a user or an advertiser,” he said in the official press release.
