Platform Telecracy: Soccer, Capital, and Media After Galeano

This article builds on on Eduardo Galeano's concept of "telecracy" to theorize "platform telecracy," an updated framework for analyzing the relationship between soccer, media infrastructure, and capital in the era of digital platforms. The article argues that the transition from broadcast television to online platforms has fundamentally transformed how soccer media is produced, circulated, and monetized. Where Galeano's broadcast telecracy (Telecracy 1.0) commodified the live match broadcast, platform telecracy (Telecracy 2.0) assetizes match footage, enabling its endless fragmentation and recirculation across digital platforms as a source of continuous advertising and subscription revenue.