Eurosport apologises for more Bundesliga OTT fails
September 11, 2017
Eurosport is facing criticism in Germany for technical problems during its OTT coverage of the season’s first two Friday night Bundesliga games.
Coverage of the Hamburger SV-Leipzig match on September 8th was marred by technical hitches – just two weeks after fans were frustrated by problems with the season’s first Friday night game.
The broadcaster says, “We very much regret that there were some technical difficulties.”
Deutsche Fußball-Liga (DFL), the country’s FA, has summoned a meeting with Eurosport following the repeated problems. “There were technical disturbances at several occasions during Eurosport’s live coverage. The affected fans are understandably dissatisfied, just like Eurosport itself and DFL,” the association said in a statement. “Even though the problems apparently only had a low scale according to the information currently available, DFL will jointly discuss with Eurosport at the beginning of next week how the Bundesliga’s high standard can be consistently ensured.”
Eurosport won the right to show 30 Friday night Bundesliga games this season — and five Sunday matches, five Monday night games, playoffs and the Supercup — through its online player, for which fans must pay a fee.
Hamburg coach Markus Gisdol called the broadcasting issues “a catastrophe for football. The fan has to carry the can for everything.”