Major broadcasting platform, DAZN, secures billion-dollar rights for Club World Cup football matches, yet opts to offer free streaming access.
Streaming Giants Go All In: DAZN's Plan To Dominate World Sports
In a bold move, streaming giant DAZN has snapped up the rights to this year's Club World Cup for a whopping $1 billion. Starting this weekend, you'll be able to catch all the action in 15 languages, worldwide, and best of all, it's completely free!
DAZN's global chief revenue officer, Walker Jacobs, calls this a "big bet" on making it huge in multiple parts of the globe. "We think this is going to be a game-changer for DAZN," Jacobs says, adding, "The Club World Cup is our ticket to global domination!"
Based in the UK and launched in 2016, DAZN had already predicted the future of sports streaming. With rights to premier European soccer, major boxing events, and NFL action outside the U.S., the platform now streams over 90,000 events annually across 200 countries.
For Jacobs, the Club World Cup is essential for DAZN's growth in markets such as North America and the fast-growing territories of Latin America and Japan. With a smaller presence in the U.S. following a 2000s push that saw it sign former ESPN president John Skipper and an MLB rights deal worth $300 million in 2018, DAZN has recently focused on free and ad-supported access, like streaming Women's Champions League soccer matches on YouTube.
While the Club World Cup games will be offered gratis, DAZN will reserve certain premium features for its $30-per-month (or $225-per-year) subscription tier. These extras include enhanced audio and visual quality, reduced advertising, and extended highlights and replays.
In addition to the free-to-air games, DAZN has made sublicensing deals worldwide, worth "hundreds of millions," according to DAZN's chief executive of growth markets, Pete Oliver. The platform has also secured new sponsorship deals to offset the cost paid for the rights, as well as rolling out two-box advertising that will show commercials during stoppages in play - a first in FIFA competition. There are also tie-ups for content on TikTok and X.
"Subscription-based services are at the heart of what DAZN offers," Jacobs explains. "But in every rights deal, we make sure we've got the flexibility to adapt the content to optimize our offerings and our business model."
Fun Fact: Back in 2016, DAZN was first opened for business in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, not as early as 2015 as previously thought! Since then, DAZN has been widening its horizon through strategic partnerships, content diversification, and innovative monetization strategies.
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In an effort to bolster its sports streaming services, DAZN has entered into substantial sponsorship deals, including finance from various partners, to offset the significant costs associated with securing the rights to major sports events and technology advancements. To expand its global reach, DAZN has also secured sublicensing deals in numerous territories, aiming to compete against other streaming giants in sports entertainment.
