LALIGA, Play Anywhere and Ease Live (an Evertz company), announce that they have been awarded the prestigious 2024 IBC Innovation Award in the Content Everywhere category for a LALIGA global interactive deployment.
The partnership has revolutionized LALIGA’s global sports broadcast and streaming experience by providing viewers interactive, contextual content through its broadcast and streaming partners, significantly enhancing audience engagement and unlocking new advertising opportunities. The results have been high levels of user engagement and dramatically increased viewing times.
Leveraging Play Anywhere’s groundbreaking Interactive Rights framework, the platform provides full transparency of rights to LALIGA’s rightsholders, as well as transparency of revenue allocation and disbursement throughout the LALIGA distribution ecosystem.
Ease Live’s interactive graphics platform, integrated with Play Anywhere's patented Clearinghouse and Compliance platform, has enabled LALIGA to deliver groundbreaking live interactivity for fans. The interactivity enables fans to engage in real time with instant highlights, live player and game stats, polls, quizzes, leaderboards, and other interactive features during matches. The experience has driven a 25% increase in watch time and has created fresh monetizable advertising and sponsorship inventory for LALIGA and its partners.
Jorge de la Vega, Executive General Director at LALIGA, commenting on the award, said: “Our collaboration with Play Anywhere to give viewers a truly interactive solution has provided our fans with an enhanced viewing experience while creating new revenue opportunities for our broadcast partners.”
De la Vega further explained: “By integrating interactive content into our broadcasts and OTT streams, LALIGA can offer fans a richer, more immersive experience that extends viewing times and boosts interaction. This, in turn, enhances the value of our media rights by creating new avenues for monetization.”
Play Anywhere and LALIGA first provided viewers with integrated interactive capabilities through LALIGA+, the league’s multi-device streaming platform and app. The interactive solution was used by viewers across multiple continents, with 30% of viewers interacting when given the chance.
Kjetil Horneland, Ease Live’s CEO, commented: “Winning the IBC2024 Innovation Award is a testament to the power of interactivity in driving both fan engagement and new revenue streams. Together with LALIGA and Play Anywhere, we have demonstrated that interactive experiences can transform the viewing experience while delivering significant value to broadcasters and advertisers.”
Yaacov Ben-Yaacov, CEO of Play Anywhere, added: “Our collaboration with Ease Live and LALIGA has allowed us to provide a solution that not only captivates fans but also simplifies global monetization for broadcasters. LALIGA and Play Anywhere’s Interactive Rights agreement unlocks the possibility for LALIGA’s broadcast partners to deliver interactive, contextual content that drives engagement and boosts ad inventory with minimal integration and at no licensing cost to the broadcaster.”
