Global sports streaming platform, DAZN, has announced a multi-faceted partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) to cover soccer’s 2025 FIFA Club World Cup (CWC) club competition in the United States.
Under this sub-licensing agreement, WBD's TNT Sports, TBS, and truTV networks will broadcast 24 of the 63 Club World Cup matches across the US. The collaboration will provide live coverage of action from various stages of the tournament including group stage, knockout stages and final.
In addition to live match coverage, DAZN and TNT Sports will offer English-language studio programming along with other ancillary programming throughout the tournament. Digital platforms under TNT Sports such as Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and B/R Football are set to produce content that they'll share across their social channels.
Cross-Promotion collaboration
The partnership between WBD and DAZN extends beyond broadcasting rights; it also includes collaboration on cross-promotion efforts as well as marketing and advertising sales. DAZN had secured exclusive global rights to CWC last December for around $1 billion. This deal with TNT is not their first sub-licensing agreement for CWC in the US; they previously reached an agreement with Spanish language media group TelevisaUnivision to show 18 matches across Univision, UniMás, and TUDN.
Luis Silberwasser, chairman and CEO of TNT Sports, said:
“Partnering with DAZN to present the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 further bolsters our sports portfolio this summer and brings another world-class event to our TNT Sports portfolio.
Other recent deals include an Egyptian sub-licensing deal agreed upon with MBC Group - a Saudi-owned FTA broadcaster - last month. In late February Iris Sport Media agency secured distribution rights across sub-Saharan Africa for broadcast coverage of CWC.
Competition details
The CWC is set to kick off on June 14 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. The tournament will feature the top 32 clubs in the world, playing 63 matches over a span of 29 days. Two US sides - Seattle Sounders and Inter Miami - are among the teams participating.
Before DAZN stepped in, FIFA had struggled to secure a broadcast partner as many traditional media giants were unwilling to pick up the rights due to controversies surrounding the competition. Clubs and players expressed dissatisfaction about additional games and workload, leading to formal complaints and legal action by players' union FIFPRO last year.
The revamped CWC will introduce a new format where continental governing bodies, apart from Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), receive multiple team slots. Europe’s UEFA will have most teams with 12 entries including Chelsea, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, PSG, Inter Milan among others.
