Report: Al Jazeera-Owned beIN Sports Underperformed First Year

Report: Al Jazeera-Owned beIN Sports Underperformed First Year

As Al Jazeera America debuts this week, another Al Jazeera-owned station, beIN sports, is trying to get its footing after underperforming in its first year. 

The network debuted a year ago, and many thought the station would make more inroads than it has had. 

Sports Business Journal editor John Ourand thought the channel “would be more of a disruptive force over its first year than it was” and “could bring big changes to the sports media business” 

The network has underperformed, though. As Ourand notes, many thought beIN would get the rights to the English Premier League, which NBC won. 

And though the network picked up the rights to all away U.S. men’s national team soccer matches, Ourand noted that a few productions, including the U.S. men’s soccer team’s World Cup qualifier against Jamaica, “have been surprisingly less than polished” that have been marred by “technical problems and production glitches that you wouldn’t expect to see from an established TV network.”

Executives at beIN said the station will try to expand this after after establishing itself in its first year. 

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