Hot Off the Press Release: Spark Sport Kicks Off Matchday Live
September 24, 2020 
3 Comments
Spark Sport is adding Matchday Live to its Premier League coverage from Saturday.
Here’s the media release:
Spark Sport Premier League coverage gets even better with the arrival of Matchday Live
From this weekend, Premier League fans will be able to tune into the full matchday studio programme, ‘Matchday Live’ on Spark Sport, wrapping each Premier League match in pre-game, half-time and post-game analysis.
Hosted by multiple presenters and headlined by Steve Bower and Seema Jaswal, the programme features a rotating list of guests including Michael Owen, Alan Shearer, Ian Wright, Steve McManaman, Ryan Giggs and a whole lot more. The programme will cover entire Saturday, Sunday and Monday matchdays where multiple kick-offs occur.
The show’s debut on Spark Sport will kick off at 10.30pm on Saturday, with the early fixture between Brighton & Hove Albion v Manchester United, followed by Kiwi Chris Wood’s side, Burnley, hosting Southampton at 8am on Sunday NZT (with daylight saving factored in).
Sunday’s matchday programme, which begins late Sunday night (NZT) will also cover four back-to-back Premier League fixtures, while Monday’s matchday programme will include Fulham and Aston Villa followed by current Champions Liverpool hosting Arsenal on Tuesday morning (NZT).
The show is yet another addition to an already rich Premier League offering showcased by Spark Sport, with all 380 games available live and on demand, up to 7 weekly magazine shows and a plethora of highlights and press conferences available weekly.
Head of Spark Sport, Jeff Latch says, “We absolutely understand how important professional commentary and analysis is to football fans and we’re proud to be working with the Premier League to deliver this programme to New Zealand.
“Having delivered a great first season of the Premier League including 11 concurrent live Premier League events on the final day, we’re very pleased to be able to expand our offering in this way.
“With Liverpool winning the league last season and with the arrival of more big names like the return of Gareth Bale this season, the analysis offered in Matchday Live will further enrich the Premier League experience on Spark Sport.”
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September 24, 2020 at 1:58 pm
That’s great but with Spark Sport highlighted as a key plank for growth at Spark’s Investor Day, when are investors going to get an idea of how well Spark Sport is travelling? Lightbox had no financial information for 3 years but, in the 5 months after sale, it seems Lightbox has $25m in annualised revenue but $35m in costs! Three years ago Lightbox was a growth prospect for Spark. Instead it barely turned the earnings dial – and never in a positive growth way.
Great points, Mike. But you need deep pockets for any streaming service, especially as the new kid-vid on the block. And Spark never had the commitment or buying power to compete with TVNZ OnDemand, let alone the likes of Netflix or Disney+.
As a Premier League fan, this has been great news. Much missed over the last season when they didn’t have it (BeIn took the MatchDay programming suite when they had the rights here). Watched a bit of the build-up on Saturday night and fell asleep before the games actually kicked off. Never mind haha.