Pele controls a lobbed pass on his chest, lifts the ball over a defender and volleys it into the goal. It was Brazil’s third goal in a 5-2 win over hosts Sweden in the final of the 1958 FIFA World Cup. It was a goal I had seen many times (and even tried to emulate, unsuccessfully, on a few occasions). But, seeing it on the FIFA+ app still brought a smile to my face.
The free streaming service is FIFA’s latest initiative to “democratise football” and is, well and truly, a game-changer. Launched on April 12, FIFA+ already streams more than 1,000 live matches a month; this is set to rise rapidly to around 40,000 matches a year. But, the highlight, for me, is the archive. At launch, it had more 2,500 videos dating back to the 1950s. It will eventually have every World Cup match recorded on camera (both men’s and women’s editions).
That means no more scraping the internet for footage of the old classics. Bring it on, I thought, as I excitedly opened the app. It did not open—my data plan seemed to be struggling to cope with the demands of the app. After a lot of waiting and cajoling, it finally opened to show me Ronaldinho taking a bow in front of a packed stadium. It was a clip from The Happiest Man in the World, a documentary on the Brazil legend. Preoccupied as I was with the archive, I had forgotten that FIFA+ was, after all, a streaming service. And the home page was engaging—arguably as good as popular streaming platforms.
The FIFA+ originals (documentaries, docu-series, talk shows and shorts) are suitably highlighted. So is the content on the women’s game. The best of the rest can be found on scrolling down and is also sorted into sections. I went straight to the archive, only to find that it was still ‘under construction’. And, the matches which had already been uploaded were ordered haphazardly. This is irritating, as it could not have been that difficult to put things in chronological order. Hopefully, this will be sorted out once the entire content library is uploaded.
There are also dedicated sections for news and football statistics. These sections may seem odd on a streaming platform, but they add to the immersive experience. There will also be interactive content like votes and quizzes. In short, FIFA has created a unique offering, which combines the interaction and news aspects of YouTube with the premium original content of streaming apps and the rare footage in its archives. FIFA+ is available across all web and mobile devices—in English, Spanish, French, Dutch and Portuguese, with six languages to be added in June.
The launch of FIFA+ may have shown the way forward for other sports bodies. Let us hope that the ICC/BCCI is paying attention.