Eleven Acquires Streaming Platform Mycujoo

Global broadcaster ELEVEN has acquired live streaming company MyCujoo along with its MyCujoo Live Services (MCLS) streaming technology.

The broadcaster, founded by Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani, says the acquisition lays the foundations for a new global ELEVEN service and adds a ‘transformative and scalable’ new technology to the group. 

The MyCujoo’s platform will be folded into ELEVEN to create an enhanced global platform for the broadcaster,  while ELEVEN’s immersive viewing features will be integrated into the offering. MyCujoo’s tech stack, meanwhile, will power the new ELEVEN service, which was organised into the three verticals unveiled in the company’s ELEVEN 2.0 rebrand in August – ELEVEN NEXT, ELEVEN WOMEN and ELEVEN ESPORTS. 

ELEVEN says the platform will be operational in 2021.

MyCujoo’s recently launched MCLS, which has already delivered broadcasts for an array of content such as from Brazil’s Brasileiro Série A, will remain a separate entity within the ELEVEN Group.

“We’re delighted to welcome MyCujoo into the ELEVEN family,” said Luis Vicente, CEO, ELEVEN.

“We will be coming together to give federations, teams and players a new and improved home to showcase their talent. We aim to serve dedicated communities of supporters everywhere with a first-class global sports destination and thousands of hours of live sport.

“MyCujoo has proved itself to be a leading destination for longtail content over the past five years. We look forward to building on that incredible legacy and taking the offering to the next level. By bringing our technology, content and expertise together we are committed to building a world leading destination for fans and content creators.”

“This is a milestone moment in the ELEVEN journey. Over the next few months we will become the home for sports democratisation – premium, professional, semi-professional, amateur, long-tail, new-tail, real and virtual. Our platform will provide access for every sport, athlete, player, content creator and fan. More than ever we stand ‘By the Fans. For the Fans’.”

Pedro and João Presa, who co-founded MyCujoo in 2015, added: “MyCujoo was founded with a single mission – to provide accessible but powerful technology for football’s non-elite to live stream, showcase and realise the value in their content. That mission has seen millions of fans worldwide engaging with their clubs more closely than ever before. 

“With MyCujoo Live Services we’ve taken that one step further by opening up our technology to rights holders who need a flexible, powerful solution that enables them to deliver world-class live experiences in a matter of minutes wherever their fans are located, on platforms of their own choosing. In ELEVEN, we’ve found a partner that not only shares our commitment to celebrating local and grassroots sport, but also accelerating untapped broadcast potential in live video for organisations worldwide.

MyCujoo’s investors, meanwhile, who include Go4it Capital, Sapphire Sport, and Carsten Thoma, have backed the acquisition and will see their investment retained in the ELEVEN group.