Sports TV giant K+ stops operating: Was the ending foretold?

Recently, Saigontourist Cable Television Company (SCTV) confirmed that its partner VSTV will stop providing K+ channel packages on its infrastructure from January 1, 2026. This information quickly received public attention, especially from passionate football fans.

K+ TV appears

Launched in 2009, K+ created a big buzz as the pioneer in repositioning the pay TV market in our country. With its "specialty" being the top matches in the top European tournaments, K+ is considered the number one media platform in Vietnam in the field of sports .

Sự sụp đổ của — SCTV announced that it will stop providing the 5-channel K+ package from January 1, 2026 - Photo: SCTV

In its heyday, with exclusive rights to broadcast a diverse sports ecosystem, from top national championships, Champions League, UFC to Formula 1 racing, Australian Open tennis, LIV Golf..., this platform received the support of a large number of users.

In addition, when the trend of price competition to attract new customers is almost saturated, K+ focuses on content quality with a series of programs providing in-depth information and analysis on sports such as My Picks, Speed+, Tennis+...

However, K+'s initial success in changing the audience's habit of enjoying free sports could not help this platform survive.

In fact, information about K+ closing down in the Vietnamese market has appeared since last July. Accordingly, in an interview on the international news site decodeTV, the CEO of Canal+ Group, Mr. Maxime Saada, a major shareholder from France in the K+ joint venture, frankly shared about the business situation in Vietnam of this unit: "We are at a stage where the loss in Vietnam is large enough and no feasible solution can be found."

“Canal+ could make a decision to either significantly restructure its operations or even exit the market,” he added.

In Canal+’s global first-half results report, the European market showed “more dynamic than expected” growth, while the Asia- Pacific (APAC) region recorded “negative” results. This shows that the parent group is willing to abandon underperforming divisions to focus on more profitable markets.

The position of the "giant" K+, especially in the Vietnamese sports television market, has gradually declined due to the slow digital transformation process when the Internet and OTT platforms have developed strongly. Platforms such as FPT Play, TV360, VieON, along with the appearance of Netflix have brought many outstanding benefits to users such as flexible costs, no need for complicated installation, can be viewed on all devices including mobile phones...

This has dealt a heavy blow to K+'s revenue.

Besides, the existence of a series of illegal websites broadcasting football has also formed the habit of consuming illegal content in a segment of the audience.

Undeniably, the Premier League copyright has become the brand of K+ for many years. However, relying almost entirely on this content segment makes K+ unable to meet the needs of other groups in the family. And when illegal websites appear, even passionate football fans are no longer interested in K+ because simply watching on illegal websites does not cost money.

The common question of millions of viewers at this time is: Where will the fate of top tournaments like the Premier League or UEFA Champions League go, and who is capable of replacing K+ to quench the thirst for football of the Vietnamese people?

Audiences relieved about Champions League, still worried about Premier League

First of all, with the prestigious UEFA Champions League, fans can rest assured that the withdrawal of K+ will not affect the broadcasting of this tournament. In recent years, the copyright of tournaments under the UEFA system (including Champions League, Europa League and Conference League) has been completely in the hands of TV360. This unit owns the exclusive rights to broadcast UEFA club tournaments until the end of 2027.

Therefore, the "disappearance" of K+ does not create any disturbance for the audience of top European football fans. Everyone can still continue to fully watch the fiery matches in the early morning of the week on the TV360 ecosystem without having to switch platforms or buy new devices.

The most complicated and interesting story lies in the English Premier League, the "specialty" that has made K+ famous over the past 16 years. On paper, the VSTV joint venture (K+'s parent company) still holds the broadcasting rights of EPL in Vietnam until the end of the 2027-2028 season.

However, when this unit ceases operations at the end of 2025, transferring this expensive copyright package to another unit is mandatory to ensure the continuity of the tournament and ensure commitment to the EPL Organizing Committee in England.

According to some sources, FPT Play is emerging as the number 1 candidate to take over the legacy left by K+. Thus, users will use the two platforms TV360 and FPT Play to watch Champions League and Premier League.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/ga-khong-lo-truyen-hinh-the-thao-k-dung-hoat-dong-cai-ket-duoc-bao-truoc-196251204151230823.htm