As part of its sponsorship of the 2016 Copa América Centenario, Sprint will offer free access on its LTE plus network (with no mobile data charges) to every live match in partnership with fuboTV, the “sports-first” virtual MVPD.
The 2016 tournament, to span 16 teams and 32 matches in ten U.S. cities, gets underway June 3. It marks the first time the tournament, which pits teams from the Conmebol and Concacaf confederations, has been hosted outside of South America.
Under the deal, fuboTV will stream the Spanish-language broadcasts via Univision for all tournament matches. Additionally, Sprint, Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile USA customers will have exclusive, temporary free access to a fuboTV subscription on their smartphones. Following a free 60-day trial for Sprint customers, and 30-day trial for Boost and Virgin, customers can keep fuboTV for $9.99 per month (Sprint subs who keep the service will be able to pay for fuboTV on their regular wireless bill). The fuboTV app will also be “virtually pre-loaded” on new Boost, Virgin and Sprint Android mobile devices.
Sprint’s sponsorship also includes giveaways and prizes, including a signed David Beckham soccer ball, Copa America Nike soccer balls and hats, Samsung Galaxy S7s, TVs and tablets, and a chance for a trip to the final match on June 23. Sprint is also hosting “fan experiences” at match locations, and will be conducting 5G demos on June 3 and June 6 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, and on June 9, 11 and 14 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
“This is the first time the tournament is being held in the United States,” said Marcelo Claure, Sprint president and CEO, in a statement. “We’re celebrating by giving our customers free access to watch every match of 2016 Copa América Centenario. With fuboTV, customers can use their Sprint smartphone anytime, anywhere on our fastest and most reliable network ever to watch the tournament.”
“Copa America kicks off our new relationship with Sprint, a leading provider of wireless broadband services,” added David Gandler, fuboTV co-founder and CEO. ”For fuboTV, this marks yet another major step forward in its pursuit to deliver unparalleled value to sports fans nationwide.”
FuboTV recently surpassed 50,000 subscribers and supports several platforms, including Web browsers, iOS and Android mobile devices, Amazon Fire TV, Roku players and Roku TVs, Google’s Chromecast adapter, and the new Apple TV.
