• The match Flamengo x Boavista is now the ninth biggest YouTube live-stream in the world;
• FlaTV gained approximately 500,000 new subscribers in a single day.

Live-streaming is turning into a lucrative business for the Brazilian soccer club Flamengo: on its YouTube channel, FlaTV, Flamengo’s match against Boavista hit an audience record for the channel, says UOL. It became the sports webcast that most attracted simultaneous viewers on YouTube, with 2.1 million people watching it at the same time on the platform.

Yahoo points out that the match is now the ninth biggest YouTube live-stream in the world. FlaTV is second only to musical webcasts (most of them by Brazilian musicians): Marília Mendonça; Jorge & Mateus; Andrea Bocelli; Gusttavo Lima; Sandy & Junior; Leonardo & Eduardo Costa; BTS; and again Marília Mendonça.

Aiming to reach Liverpool’s subscribers (the soccer team with the largest subscriber basis worldwide), FlaTV gained approximately 500,000 new subscribers in a single day, and now gathers 4 million.

Brazil has been dealing with a lot of changes in the sports business since the beginning of the year, as the soaring growth of Internet access and the power of consumption by the middle-class, more smartphones and, following a world trend, the TV ratings dropping.  

Flamengo, especially, fought a duel with the largest TV broadcaster in the country, Globo, for the rights to broadcast its matches. Throughout the day of the match, Globo tried in court to prevent Flamengo from webcasting the match on FlaTV.

Counting Facebook and Twitter, that also were broadcasting the Flamengo and Boavista match, that number reached 2.2 million views. During the game, the fans also collaborated with donations of BRL 1 to BRL 500.

Now, the largest Brazilian audience from sports streaming are:

• Flamengo x Boavista: 2.3 million (1st of July)
• Grêmio x Inter: 2.1 mi (March 12)
• PSG vs Dortmund: 1.2 mi (11 March)
• Flamengo x San José: 1,054 mi (April 11, 2019)