Global sports streaming service, DAZN, has announced that it will lift its paywall for all women’s football content in the UK through the remainder of the 2023-24 season. This move is part of a broader campaign called 'New Deal', aimed at ensuring a commercially robust future for women’s football.
The decision by DAZN means that action from a wide range of women's football leagues will be available free of charge. This includes games from top leagues in Spain, Germany, France, and Italy as well as matches from the Women’s Saudi Premier League.
Most notably, DAZN holds global rights to European football’s UEFA Women’s Champions League matches. As such, all games from this prestigious tournament's 2023-24 season will also be aired without any charges.
Hannah Brown, co-chief executive of women’s sport at DAZN, has said:
"What we see in women’s football is if you put a paywall up, there is a small proportion of people that are prepared to pay for it. But women’s football fans don’t exhibit those strong pay‑TV characteristics that we’ve seen around premium football in domestic markets, where you see customers make a real pay choice to interact with something. Women’s football fans are just not there yet.”
Deal will include games from UWCL, Frauen Bundesliga, and more
In total, there will be 209 women's football matches available for free on DAZN between now and the end of the season.
DAZN has held global UWCL rights since 2021 and had previously announced plans to keep its group-stage coverage of the UWCL free. This latest move extends this commitment further, ensuring free coverage until the end of the 2023-24 season.
Hannah Brown, added:
“The decision marries with the broader commitment to the launch of free. So, we announced this year what we’re going to be doing around ‘freemium’ content, and women’s football sits as part of that strategy. For us as a business, it’s the growth of a really important asset and about building a first-party relationship with customers on a global basis.”
The lifting of the paywall is part of a campaign DAZN is launching, known as 'New Deal'. The campaign aims to ensure a commercially robust future for women’s football by calling for action from clubs, sponsors, media, and rightsholders. These parties are encouraged to work together to deliver consistently high-quality experiences wherever and however fans enjoy the game.
Next up for DAZN is their freeium tier
In addition to lifting its paywall in the UK, DAZN is also launching a free tier globally early this year. Each week, a selection of live matches from DAZN’s portfolio will be made available for free to registered users on both DAZN platform and partner channels.
This includes top-tier domestic football leagues in J.League, LaLIga, and Serie A matches.
Registered users will also gain access to non-live content including documentaries and highlights as well as integrated products such as news updates, data statistics, games quizzes betting options and podcasts.
Women football viewership is on the rise
Last season saw impressive viewership figures for women's football on DAZN. The service’s UWCL coverage secured 55.2 million views on their Women’s Football YouTube channel - an increase of 19% from 2021-22 season. Furthermore,the competition final attracted a live viewing figure totaling over five million - marking an impressive year-on-year increase by 40%.
This significant growth in viewership underscores not only the growing popularity of women's football but also the potential for streaming platforms like DAZN to reach a wider audience by offering free access to high-quality sports content.
