Leeds United Chairman Andrea Radrizzani admitted that it was a 'mistake' to launch Sports subscription service Eleven Sports in the UK.
The Leeds chief is Chairman and founder of the company, which launched in the UK in 2018 where it offered exclusive coverage of the Ultimate Fighting Championships and La Liga a Serie A games.
However, the UK launch was not a success, with the network forced to give up its premium rights in the UK after less than a year.
And Radrizzani has admitted that trying to break into the UK market may not have been the best move.
“That is a project where I followed my instinct,” he told the TalkingSport webinar.
I was convinced that the right commercial strategy and a good proposition for BT and Sky would have provided to all platforms all the content - and cheaper for them - to enable customers [of both companies] to get the main international football.
“But in reality it was impossible, because even if I would have offered this content for free, they would have never taken it. In the end when there is a market where there are two big players with control, it is very difficult to enter.
“Unfortunately I have done the same mistake twice, same in Singapore and same in the UK, challenging a market where there is a duopoly controlling the rights.
“It was a big mistake for the second time. I was convinced that the commercial proposition would have been so good to be accepted. I was wrong, and I paid a high price.”
Despite the lack of success in the UK, Radrizzani is ready to expand Eleven Sports into different countries in the future.
“Luckily we are still on our legs, we still stand strong, and we are ready to expand again in new countries, new territories. The company is going well and we learn from that mistake," he added.
