FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, July 10th, 2017

SOCCER POWERHOUSE CLUB DEPORTIVO GUADALAJARA – CHIVAS – TAPS NBC SPORTS’ PLAYMAKER MEDIA TO POWER DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER LIVE STREAMING PRODUCT FOR CHIVAS TV

Mexican Market Live Streaming & Video Content Delivery Product Anticipates Improvement & Increased Global Distribution

STAMFORD, CONN. – July 10, 2017 – NBC Sports Group and Club Deportivo Guadalajara – better known to their legion of fans as Chivas – announced a strategic partnership today in which NBC Sports’ Playmaker Media will power the re-launch of Chivas TV, a direct-to-consumer platform that live streams matches of Mexico’s most popular team.

Starting with a friendly match against Porto, from Estadio Chivas on July 19 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, Playmaker Media will power the live streaming and direct-to-consumer support for all of Chivas’ Liga MX and Copa MX home matches on Chivas TV.  In addition, season-long live streaming will also be offered for Chivas’ Under 20 and Under 17 youth development squad games. With a Mexican-focused fan base, Chivas is also seeking to grow its brand internationally and will offer Chivas TV as a global direct-to-consumer product.

In 2016, Chivas launched Chivas TV, the club’s own channel for live games, interviews, and more.

Playmaker Media, owned by NBC Sports Group and operated by NBC Sports Digital, delivers direct-to-consumer live streaming and video-on-demand solutions for major sports leagues,
professional team franchises, regional and national sports broadcasting networks, and other premium rights holders of live-event content.

Playmaker currently provides live streaming capabilities and infrastructure for Telemundo Sports’ long-term FIFA agreement, including the 2015 Women’s World Cup, the 2017 Confederations Cup, and the 2018 FIFA World Cup-Russia. In addition, Playmaker Media provides video support for the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) global digital Olympic Channel, along with NASCAR’s global, direct-to-consumer NASCAR TrackPass, and USA Swimming Productions, a new communication venture from the USA Swimming National Governing Body.

“We are really excited to announce this partnership; Playmaker is exactly the partner ChivasTV was looking for to create an innovative, state of the art platform for all our users,” said Amaury Vergara, Director for ChivasTV. “Both teams have been working on developing the kind of product we envisioned from the beginning and I’m really sure all the Chivas Fans will really enjoy the New ChivasTV 2.0 Platform.”

“Playmaker Media is proud to provide reliable enhanced video solutions along with direct-to-consumer services globally for Club Deportivo Guadalajara and Chivas TV,” said Eric Black, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, NBC Sports Digital.  “Chivas TV, with its evolutionary approach to deliver premium content to its fans, is a perfect match for Playmaker Media and our world class technology, video platform, and growing global footprint.”

According to a recent study on football clubs by Euroamericas Sport Marketing Spain, Guadalajara/Chivas is the most popular team in Mexico, with 44.2% of supporters in the country.

The only Liga MX team to exclusively field squads composed entirely of Mexican players, Chivas has constantly emphasized home-grown players and recently won its 12th Mexican league championship. Also in 2017, Chivas captured its fourth Copa MX crown, becoming the first Mexican team in 22 years to claim both the league title and cup championship in the same year.

For the U.S. and Puerto Rico, Chivas TV will provide differentiated content, including live commentary and statistics along with post-game, video-on-demand highlights for Chivas Liga MX and Copa MX home matches.  The platform will also offer full match coverage for its home games of Chivas’ Under 20 and Under 17 youth teams.

About Playmaker Media

A company owned by NBC Sports Group and operated by NBC Sports Digital, Playmaker Media launched in May 2016 to provide end-to-end video support service for companies in need of best-in-class live streaming and VOD solutions. Since its launch, Playmaker Media has streamed tens of thousands of events that air across NBC, NBCSN, Golf Channel, Telemundo, NBCUniverso and six NBC Sports Regional Networks, including the record-setting Rio Olympics. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) signed on as Playmaker Media’s first client, with Playmaker providing live streaming video support for the IOC’s Olympic Channel, a global digital initiative. Playmaker provided streaming support for NBC News’ 2016 election coverage and also powers NASCAR’s global direct-to-consumers NASCAR TrackPass product that provides live, season-long coverage of NASCAR to 120 different nations. Playmaker will also provide the video platform for Telemundo’s extensive, Spanish-language streaming of FIFA 2018 World Cup from Russia.

–NBC SPORTS DIGITAL–