beIN wins gold in the ‘Best Use of Digital and Social in Sports’ for its exceptional coverage of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 at the Sports Industry Awards 2023
The final round of matches in France’s Ligue 1 and Spain’s La Liga marked the end of another exhilarating season of domestic European football action on beIN SPORTS. Yet what has been an unforgettable, award-winning year for the Middle East and North Africa’s leading broadcaster is not over yet – there are still some huge matches to come in the weeks and months ahead.
Starting on 5 August 2022, beIN provided live and exclusive coverage of more than 1,400 games across Ligue 1, La Liga, the German Bundesliga, and the English Premier League, with each of Europe’s top four leagues enduring an extended season to accommodate a historical, mid-season FIFA World Cup. beIN also broadcast a huge selection of matches from domestic cups, including the Coupe de France, Coupe de la Ligue, Copa del Rey, DFB Pokal, FA Cup and Carabao Cup.
And while all four leagues provided incredible moments of creative quality and tangible tension, nothing compared to the drama of the month-long FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022TM. beIN’s coverage raised the bar on how a broadcaster can cover a major sporting event, complementing its existing channels with six new World Cup dedicated channels, broadcasting all 64 matches and more than 70 hours of in-house content, and calling on a talent roster of more than 120 globally recognised presenters, reporters, commentators, and analysts, including Kaka, Arsene Wenger, Gary Neville, and Gabriel Batistuta.
By the time the final whistle blew on 18 December to crown Lionel Messi and Argentina three-time world champions, more than 5.4 billion viewers had tuned in to beIN coverage, with 242.8 million watching the final – equivalent to 68 per cent of MENA’s adult population. beIN’s OTT platform beIN CONNECT logged 1.4 million unique users and 10 million unique visits, while its social channels generated 5.5 billion impressions and more than half a billion engagements. Such was the success of the online coverage, beIN was awarded Gold for ‘Best Use of Digital and Social in Sports’ at the Sports Industry Awards 2023.
“This season has been a year like no other,” said Mohammed Al-Bader, Managing Director of beIN Channels – MENA. “beIN has broadcast close to 1,500 matches from Europe’s top leagues spread across nine months, a host of domestic cups, European competitions, international friendlies, age-group tournaments, and provided award-winning coverage of the first FIFA World Cup held in the Arab World. It has been an unrelenting, unforgettable season and beIN has covered every kick.”
Building upon its World Cup coverage, beIN SPORTS is promising subscribers an unparalleled Champions League viewing experience where Manchester City and Internazionale Milano do battle in an unmissable finale on Saturday, 10 June. Expert studio analysis will be provided by football legends Arsene Wenger, Ruud Gullit, Marcel Desailly, Mohamed Aboutrika, Youssef Chippo, and Yasser Al-Qahtani, complimented by on-the-ground reporting delivering exclusive updates from inside Istanbul’s Ataturk Olympic Stadium of what promises to be a monumental event. Tune in to a full day of programming leading up to the opening whistle at 22:00 MECCA with pre- and post-match studio analysis on beIN SPORTS 1 PREMIUM and beIN 4K in Arabic, and on beIN SPORTS 1 ENGLISH for English language coverage.
Less than 24 hours after Europe’s new kings are crowned, beIN will continue to broadcast more finals. The second leg of the CAF Champions League final between defending champions Wydad of Morocco and Egypt’s 10-time winners Al Ahly will take place on 11 June at the Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca. Al Ahly hold a narrow lead following their 2-1 first leg win in Cairo on Sunday, and fans can watch live studio Arabic coverage before the match kicks off at 20:30 MECCA, leading right up to the start of the decisive match on beIN SPORTS 4 at 22:00 MECCA.
The glittering CAF Champions League showpiece is followed almost immediately by the final of the ongoing FIFA Under-20 World Cup Argentina 2023 in Buenos Aires. The tournament has already provided early glimpses of some of the stars of tomorrow such as Italy’s Cesare Casadei, Brazil’s Marcos Leonardo, and England’s Alfie Devine, and the 12 June final brings with it plenty promise. Viewers can tune in to watch the live coverage of the final match with English and Arabic commentary, on beIN SPORTS 2 PREMIUM and beIN’s free-to-air channel, beIN SPORTS at 00:00 MECCA.
