EA Sports tests live football distribution with Juventus

Juventus and EA Sports have expanded their long-standing commercial partnership into live match broadcasting, creating a new direct-to-consumer content channel around the Serie A club’s pre-season programme.The gaming company will show two Juventus friendlies on its streaming platform, beginning with the club’s fixture against Nice at the Juventus Training Centre on July 31.EA Sports will also broadcast Juventus’ traditional first-team match against Juventus Next Gen at Allianz Stadium on August 17, giving supporters worldwide access to two stages of the club’s preparations for the 2026-27 season.Although financial terms and audience targets were not disclosed, the initiative represents the first time EA Sports has carried live Juventus matches and moves the partnership beyond its established gaming and licensing activity.The broadcasts provide EA Sports with exclusive football content capable of attracting players and supporters to its digital ecosystem, while Juventus gain additional international distribution without relying entirely on conventional television partners.Both matches will also form part of Juventus’ wider direct-to-consumer pre-season offering, with the club making their summer fixtures available free to registered users through Juventus.com and the official Juventus app.The approach allows Juventus to use live matches as an acquisition tool for registered users, creating opportunities to collect first-party audience data and promote memberships, merchandise and other digital products.EA Sports can use the fixtures to connect its gaming audience with live football while strengthening the visibility of Juventus within EA Sports FC Mobile and the wider EA Sports FC portfolio.The agreement reflects a broader shift in sports partnerships, with gaming companies increasingly operating as media and content businesses rather than limiting their involvement to intellectual property rights, in-game branding and player likenesses.Pre-season fixtures offer a lower-risk environment for testing that model because their rights are generally less restricted than competitive matches and can be distributed internationally without disrupting core domestic broadcast agreements.Audience performance from the two broadcasts will provide both companies with an early measure of whether live football can become a larger element of their partnership, potentially creating further inventory around friendlies, training content and club events.