As the streaming giant moves to buy BT Sport, UK fans could be seeing an increase in costs too
Dubbed the "Netflix of Sports" DAZN boasts a healthy football broadcast rights portfolio from countries across Europe including the UK, Italy and Germany. They have the right to live stream games from many of the world's most elite football competitions in various countries on the continent. Last year they shocked the world by becoming the sole place to watch Serie A in Italy after winning their domestic broadcasting rights. The platform is said to be on the cusp of completing a well publicised deal to buy BT Sport and all of its domestic UK rights. The business is growing at a fast pace.
However, until that deal is done, DAZN will remain just a platform for watching boxing in the UK. It doesn't possess the same domestic football rights for the Premier League that it does for Serie A in Italy or the Bundesliga in Germany. At current prices, German football fans can enjoy action from the Bundesliga, Champions League and a whole host of other competitions from around Europe all for €14.99. Compared to a subscription for BT or Sky in the UK, they offer a very competitive price.
However, according to German news outlet Kicker, new and returning customers in Germany will now be charged a monthly subscription of €29.99 starting February 1. That represents a 100% increase in cost for consumers. This change has prompted some concern among British and Irish football fans who, hearing about the apparently imminent takeover of BT by DAZN, foresee a potential hike in their prices too.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, DAZN executive vice president Joe Markowski justified a previous increase in the subscription cost in the UK and Ireland, saying: "We've significantly increased our live sport and original content offer in the UK and Ireland, relative to when we launched in December,” He went on to say: “We founded DAZN five or six years ago on the principle of making premium sport content more accessible for fans."
If and when the DAZN takeover of BT is complete we will know more about how they will value their product with all of its new assets. UK football fans can still expect the price to be competitive when compared to existing providers but perhaps this move in Germany signals a different route which the company plans to take in the coming months and years.
UK football fans can watch matches from across some of the world's biggest leagues including the Bundesliga, Serie A, La Liga and Ligue 1 via live streaming with Bet 365. Just open an account, deposit the minimum amount required and click on the small video icon next to the match of your choice to start live streaming.
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