TORONTO 鈥� Canadian TV rights for UEFA Champions League soccer are headed to the sports streaming service DAZN.
DAZN (pronounced Da Zone) says the rights deal covers three years, starting with the 2018-19 European club championship season.
鈥淚t鈥檚 exclusive broadcast rights for every single round, every single game for both the Champions League and Europa League,鈥� DAZN CEO James Rushton said from England.
鈥淲e have no intention of licensing any of it.鈥�
Champions League games in sa国际传媒 have been shown on TSN, Sportsnet and beIN Sports in recent years.
DAZN, which is available via subscription, is a live and on-demand sports service owned by British-based media company Perform Group. It currently is available in sa国际传媒, Austria, Germany, Japan and Switzerland.
DAZN launched last August here as the exclusive Canadian home of NFL Game Pass, the league鈥檚 premium digital subscription product.
鈥淲hen we launched last year, we said that the NFL relationship was only just the beginning,鈥� Rushton said. 鈥淎nd we had intentions to invest in more premium rights, especially around soccer 鈥� obviously soccer is very much at the heart, the DNA of the Perform Group business.
鈥淚 think the Champions League deal is the first sign of our intention to the rest of the market going forward. 鈥� We are looking to land and announce other big wins over the next few months.鈥�
Technical issues on the streaming platform made for a rocky opening in sa国际传媒, but such issues have since been resolved and the service has added to its content.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no denying it wasn鈥檛 the greatest of starts for us in the market,鈥� he said.
鈥淎nd there鈥檚 some lessons to be learned by DAZN 鈥� there鈥檚 also some lessons to be learned by our rights partners and our platform partners. But we learned those lessons. We鈥檝e now made the amends and made sure that our technical platform is solid.
鈥淣ow it鈥檚 about growing our brand, growing our audience and delivering on the promises I was making at the start about being a fans-first service,鈥� he added. 鈥淭o be honest, you鈥檝e got to put your money where your mouth is. You鈥檝e got to buy great rights and deliver great campaigns and grow our business.鈥�
The Canadian Champions League deal calls for 138 matches to be shown annually with another 205 Europa League matches.
Starting in 2018-19, DAZN also has Champions League rights in Germany and Austria, along with Sky Deutschland, and Japan.
DAZN adds MLS content this year, taking over in sa国际传媒 what had been the MLS Live streaming service.
While Rushton would not share numbers in sa国际传媒, he said DAZN is 鈥渂ang-on鈥� in its subscription forecasts. DAZN costs $20 a month or $150 annually.
鈥淲e are pleased where we are,鈥� he said.
The Canadian service offers a range of sports from baseball and cricket to snooker and tennis. Hockey remains a hole, although it has shown KHL games.
DAZN was the primary Canadian rights-holder for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April.
The service says it hopes to expand into Southeast Asia and further into the Americas.
