The OTT sports platform left customers outraged after technical issues disrupted their coverage of the Italian top flight
Live streaming upstarts DAZN encountered another roadblock in their relationship with Serie A last weekend when customers were left without access to matches from the league's opening gameweek.
Fans and consumers are now concerned about how the platform will perform going into this weekend's action.
Technical issues led to DAZN subscribers being unable to login to their accounts, randomly kicked from live streams and forced to jump to mobile devices in an attempt to follow their favourite teams' first forays into the new Serie A season.
The situation became so grave during certain parts of the weekend's coverage that DAZN created a special low-resolution link and directed its customers there to watch games. Not only was this emergency option of low quality, it was inaccessible on smart TVs, meaning fans had to reach for their smartphones or tablets to tune in.
While this disastrous opening weekend hasn't done DAZN any favours in the eyes of the fans and consumer base, it's also drawn negative attention from members of the Italian establishment.
Italy's Undersecretary for Sport Valentina Vezzali vowed to arrange an "urgent meeting" with officials at Serie A, the Economy Ministry and AGCOM, the country's communication industry regulator, to discuss "the serious and unacceptable problems suffered by customers unable to connect".
AGCOM said, in the aftermath of the technical issues, that they had demanded an "urgent explanation" from DAZN for the issues experienced by consumers and for answers about "how the company is working to ensure that similar issues are not repeated for the next matchday".
That next matchday starts tomorrow (Sat 20 August) and fans will be expecting a much better performance from the platform this time around.
Serie A have refused to comment further on the matter, while DAZN have promised to refund subscribers for the disruption which they described in a statement as "exceptional".
DAZN won the domestic broadcasting rights to 7 out of 10 Serie A matches per gameweek last summer, in a move which shocked the world of sports rights. The streamer also covers the other 3 matches but those can be aired on competitor Sky Italia simultaneously.
This means that during 7 out of 10 of the Serie A matches going on each weekend, fans have no alternative but to watch on DAZN. When technical difficulties occur, there is no other way to follow the action.
This isn't the first time DAZN has been in hot water over its Serie A coverage. 10 months ago, similar issues with Serie A on DAZN came up, with fans and politicians now perplexed for a second time.
It's unclear whether or not Serie A will look to renew the deal with DAZN when it expires in 2024 as pressure mounts on the live streaming platform to vastly improve its service or risk further angering Italian football fans and customers.
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