DAZN has reached an agreement with FIFA to acquire the rights to broadcast the 2025 Club World Cup (CWC) for €1 billion.
The deal is considered unexpected and surprising: the matches will be shown at no additional cost. FIFA itself is also having trouble selling the rights to the club tournament in the United States, where Fox is believed to have offered only $10 million.
Experts believe that the move was prompted by potential Saudi investors in DAZN. However, the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund has officially denied these rumors and has not commented on reports that the CWC deal was related.
The acquisition of the Club World Cup rights underlines DAZN’s ambitions to invest heavily in global sports broadcasting. But it has also raised questions about long-term profitability, with its latest financial results showing an operating loss of more than $1 billion in 2022.
DAZN also faces a tough battle for subscribers in France. Protracted negotiations to acquire the rights to Ligue 1 have hurt all parties. According to one industry contact, “the TV rights fiasco has been a disaster for French football.”
As a result, DAZN’s offer has yet to catch on with fans, and pirated streams of matches are widespread and easily accessible.
The main reasons for this state of affairs are believed to be the high cost of subscriptions and the limited availability of matches. DAZN, for example, does not have the rights to the 5pm Saturday match.
According to a recent survey by Odoxa, of more than 1,000 French football fans, 54% said that limited access to games had reduced interest in watching Ligue 1. This, in turn, has impacted the sports betting market in France.
Ligue 1 is a key driver of betting activity, Gaming&Co notes, and DAZN’s limited reach has led to “a decline in engagement with the country’s top flight, although it has increased engagement with the English Premier League and La Liga in Spain.”
Another source confirmed that “betting on Ligue 1 has fallen, while other European leagues have seen volumes increase.” Interestingly, the French league’s radio audience has also declined.
This is believed to have been exacerbated by Kylian Mbappe’s move from Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) to Real Madrid this summer. The French star’s name and reputation have been a draw for Ligue 1 viewers.
It is worth noting that DAZN Bet has previously been reported to be launching in France, suggesting the company plans to continue integrating sports viewing and gambling, a strategy it has pursued in the UK and Germany.
DAZN’s problems are not limited to the decline in interest in Ligue 1, however. Various unofficial sources report that the company has just over 100,000 paying customers, far short of its initial target of 500,000. Recall that the company could have counted on a €50 million bonus if it had reached 1.5 million subscribers.
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