YouTube has no plans to bid for sports rights

YouTube isn’t going to bid for sports rights or make content, said Rob Pilgrim, head of sport at YouTube at Westminster Media Forum’s The future for sports broadcasting in the UK this morning.

He said what YouTube does is complementary to traditional broadcast, offering a “powerful complementary platform to reach wider audiences”.

But he was adamant that it wouldn’t become competition for sports broadcasters.

Asked by Broadcast Sport if YouTube might follow the model of YouTube Channel Eggchasers Rugby (pictured above, which gained the UK and Ireland rights to second tier of French rugby to show on YouTube) and buy sports rights itself to monetise on YouTube, Pilgrim said YouTube has no intention to do so.

He said: “YouTube doesn’t have the desire or capability to buy and broadcast sports feeds. Eggchasers are taking an opportunity where rights weren’t being broadcast and are using the YouTube platform to put it out there. It doesn’t make sense for YouTube to step into the market in that way.”