Endeavor Streaming and Sky New Zealand have expanded their partnership with a multi-year deal that includes a range of user experience enhancements, personalization features and advanced advertising capabilities, designed to elevate the viewing experience and unlock new revenue streams for the premium sports streaming platform, Sky Sport Now.
Endeavor Streaming first partnered with Sky in 2014 to deliver an end-to-end streaming solution for Sky Sport Now, which offers viewers access to 12 linear channels, giving customers access to live and on-demand programming, full match replays and original content series.
The extended partnership will enable Sky to expand media partnerships and diversify revenue through server-side advertising for live events across web, mobile, and connected TV devices.
The partnership has delivered impressive growth over the past 10 years to cater for an increasingly engaged customer base and a growing portfolio of sports content. In FY24 alone, Sky Sport Now’s customer base grew by 12% compared to the previous year, and the service achieved 33% growth in revenue.
Sky Sport Now is the premium home of sport in New Zealand, featuring coverage of The All Blacks, The Premier League, National Basketball Association (NBA), Formula 1, The Rugby Championship, National Rugby League (NRL), ANZ Premiership Netball, and the PGA and LPGA Tour, among others. Sky Sport Now is available for viewers to watch on web, iOS and Android, Smart TV (Samsung, Panasonic and Sony) and connected TV devices.
Lauren Quaintance, Sky’s Chief Media and Data Officer, said: “We’re proud to expand our partnership with Endeavor Streaming to offer advertisers a golden opportunity to engage audiences with data-driven targeting and optimised campaigns, maintained within a premium environment. With all the live sport that Kiwis love in one place and scalable live sport audiences finally available to local digital advertisers, we’ve already seen strong interest from clients eager to get involved, and we’re incredibly grateful for the support from agencies, advertisers and our technology partners.”
Fred Santarpia, President of Endeavor Streaming, said: “Media properties are increasingly looking to diversify their monetization strategies and provide consumers with flexible viewing options. We’re proud to continue our partnership with Sky to grow Sky Sport Now in New Zealand with the integration of advertising capabilities to directly impact revenue and grow their business.”
Sky Sport Now is powered by Endeavor Streaming’s Vesper Platform, a complete end-to-end streaming solution that enables media properties to build upon and deliver memorable direct-to-consumer streaming experiences for their fans.
The collaboration leverages Endeavor Streaming’s experience in delivering innovative direct-to-consumer streaming offerings for some of the world’s biggest sport, media and entertainment properties, including New York Fashion Week, Barrett-Jackson and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).