Launched by Fedcom Médias, the “OTT” platform has established itself as the sole broadcaster in France of the European basketball cups. While sport is becoming more fashionable every year, especially among young people, Skweek’s economic and editorial model opens up many prospects for it.
Author: Member of the Sport Business Observatory, Max Lechner is a multidisciplinary journalist with a particular appetite for sport in all its dimensions.
The NBA League Pass is no longer alone in the world. The famous American-style digital subscription to follow the best basketball competition in the world now has its European bent: Skweek. A name chosen after the screeching of sneakers on the floors. A name that wants to resonate in the minds of orange ball lovers as a must. Because Skweek has understood that there are many other competitions just as exciting as the sacrosanct American league.
Acquired by the Russian fertilizer giant Fedcom – known for having long been the sponsor of AS Monaco in football -, placed under the aegis of the Fedcom Media branch, the OTT platform has decided to bet on the European Cups of basketball: the Euroleague and its little sister, the Eurocup.
David Cozette (right) is full of praise for Skweek’s editorial development. Skweek
For the modest sum of €7.99, you could follow the entire European regular season and take advantage of summaries, replay matches, and of course pre-match and post-match debriefings offered by the teams on the channel. With in particular the experienced commentator David Cozette, who is full of praise for the editorial development of Skweek: “I had never had such means of production and editorials in my career. It’s amazing to know that anything is possible, when it’s editorially justified, because our bosses want the best possible product.»
Editorial treatment at the service of the business model
The chain wants to put the small dishes in the big ones. And don’t look at the expense to impose your paw in the landscape of televised basketball in France. But Fedcom Media CEO Oleg Petrov is clear: Skweek is only at the beginning of the journey. “Our business model has several directions, he explains. The basis is the broadcast of Euroleague matches live. We also have an interest in adding other competitions, the French championship for example. But we think that to be economically competitive, we have to develop something more, apart from the broadcasting of matches. Be more creative, make yourself more interesting to the public, especially the youth. We need to expand our spectrum to be a mainstream platform.»
Attracting the public, increasing the ratings to generate economic added value, such is the objective of Skweek, which has linked up with the L’Équipe channel for this purpose. The partnership enabled 23 Euroleague matches to be broadcast unencrypted during the season. A great showcase for the work of the teams of editor-in-chief Cyril Méjane.
Ambition 2024 !
A job that should bring Skweek into another dimension, the one described by Oleg Petrov. As of next season, a “ Skweek 2.0 with more content, including documentaries, reports and investigative formats. “ We are in contact with basketball sites, explains Mr. Petrov, to negotiate their takeover and add content related to the culture of rap, dance, fashion and gaming to our platform. OTT platforms exist, he adds, lifestyle platforms exist, but there is no platform that brings it all together. For basketball, France is the No. 1 market, that’s why the NBA comes to Paris. »
Before that, Skweek is already promising a frenzied end to the season, with the launch of the “Money Time Pass» at €9.99 to follow all the European play-offs in full. Audiences, editorial line, creativity: the objectives are clear for the economic development of the platform.
Oleg Petrov and Tony Parker. Panoramic
But then, when does it plan to enter its profitability phase? According to Oleg Petrov, some points still need to be tweaked: “ I don’t have a date in mind for profitability, because there is an evolution to follow. When the project was launched, we had during the first months a perception of the development which made us evolve towards more ideas and considered opportunities. If we had stuck to the broadcast of the matches, I could have given a schedule in relation to profitability, but given how the project is evolving, it now depends on a lot of things. Betclic Élite, Basket 3×3, reports and surveys: the Skweek catalog will in any case be enriched from next season. With content that is as exciting as it is ambitious.
