Starzplay, the MENA region’s fastest growing subscription video on demand (SVOD) service, has reported a five-fold increase in its number of monthly subscribers, driven by the addition of new sports content.
Average revenue per user has also increased by 30 percent as subscriptions to more sports packages, particularly Premier Sports League (live rugby) and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021, take off.
The sporting leagues created an influx of organic demand leading to a 41 percent reduction in the cost of acquiring subscriptions, Starzplay said in a statement.
The platform reported a 479 percent jump in overall subscriptions from the same time last year and a 161 percent increase from the highest growth achieved during the lockdown peak in 2020.
Maaz Sheikh, CEO, said: “Live sports have the power to bring people together. We saw an untapped opportunity to invest in live sports, which has tremendously benefitted our business as well as helped transform the OTT landscape.
“We launched our first live sports channel in 2021 and our recent study shows that the sports category on our platform has witnessed stupendous growth, which is a testament to the growing demand for exclusive and live sports content.
“Our study shows that Starzplay has truly evolved as the streaming platform of choice for sports lovers, and we will continue to innovate in this niche sector to drive our growth and leadership in the region,” he added.
The UAE continues to be the largest growth market for Starzplay with the highest percentage increase in sign-ups, followed by Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Cricket dominated the demand for sporting events particularly the ICC T20 event with a significant 968 percent increase in the volume of subscriptions in the UAE in October compared to the pre-cricket monthly average in the same period last year.
Qatar witnessed an 870 percent increase and Saudi Arabia saw a 49 percent increase.
Starzplay won the exclusive rights to live stream the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup and the data showed significant gains in terms of daily sign-ups, consumption and play time in minutes.
The daily consumption increased by 145 percent during ICC T20 semifinal from current daily average and 17 percent from the lockdown peak in April 2020. Concurrent plays were at an all-time high of a 380 percent over increase from an average weekend.
However, the company noted that piracy affected app downloads and ranking during the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup. “Numerous illegal apps were gaining traction leading to licensed streaming service suffering millions of dollars in loss,” it said.
Starzplay is available in 20 countries across the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan.
Last year, Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) partnered with Starzplay to establish the company’s headquarters in the UAE capital.
The partnership is part of ADIO’s AED2 billion Innovation Programme, an initiative of the Abu Dhabi government’s Ghadan 21 accelerator programme.
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