FIFA Launches Free Streaming Service to Broadcast 40,000 Live Soccer Matches in 2022

thewrap.com:

FIFA has announced an ambitious plan for its own streaming service app, a global, ad-supported platform that aims to feature up to 40,000 live matches in 2022 alone, the association announced Tuesday.Called FIFA+, the service will offer live domestic league games, match stats, a massive archive and premium original content.

Soccer’s highest governing body will not feature World Cup games on the service, however.FIFA says the streams will cover more than 29,000 men’s and 11,000 women’s matches across 100 member associations and all six global confederations.

There is currently no subscription tier, as FIFA is launching with an ad-supported format only.FIFA+ will be available across all mobile and web-connected devices in five language: English, French, German, Portuguese and Spanish.

Six more languages will come online this summer.The archive is an impressive feat: FIFA+ says it will host “every FIFA World Cup and FIFA Women’s World Cup match ever recorded on camera, totalling more than 2,000 hours of archive content,” the first time this material has been made available to fans, who can watch everything from full-match replays to goals and highlights dating back to the 1950s.“FIFA+ represents the next step in our vision to make football truly global and inclusive, and it underpins FIFA’s core mission of expanding and developing football globally,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a statement. “This project represents a cultural shift in the way different types of football fans want to connect with and explore the global game and has been a fundamental part of my Vision 2020-2023.