MLS, DAZN reach deal to stream games

A minimum of 262 matches involving U.S.clubs will be available to league’s viewers

You already know where to catch Toronto FC, the Montreal Impact and the Vancouver Whitecaps, but now the rest of Major League Soccer has found a new home in Canada.

DAZN, a U.K.-based live-streaming service, announced a three-year deal with MLS on Friday, with the league’s existing direct-to-fans streaming service — MLS Live — moving to the DAZN platforms.

The three Canadian teams will continue to have games aired on TSN. But starting with this weekend’s sea- son openers, a minimum of 262 regular-season games among the league’s 19 American clubs will be available on the platform.

Another 129 games, including those involving Canadian clubs, will be available — in full or condensed form — on a 48-hour delay.

MLS joins a host of international soccer leagues on DAZN, including: Spain’s La Liga, Italy’s Serie A and France’s Ligue 1.

“It’s a tremendous time to be a soccer fan in Canada, and we know the sport has entered a new era nationally, with impressive growth in interest and in fandom,” Alex Rice, managing director of rights and strategic development at DAZN, said in a release.

MLS saw record attendance last year and viewership on TSN and TVA Sports, which both signed fiveyear deals in January 2017.

Diego Moratorio, appointed general manager of MLS Canada this past October with the mandate to expand the Canadian fan base and increase sponsorship at the league and club levels, said the league is thrilled by the collaboration with the streaming service. “DAZN will expand the reach of MLS Live, providing supporters easier access to the games they love,” Moratorio said in a release.

Friday’s announcement comes after a busy month for DAZN, which has recently announced a five-year deal with World Snooker and a multi-year pact with Pac-12 Networks to bring more United States college sports to Canadian fans.

The streaming service has also secured exclusive Canadian rights to next month’s Commonwealth Games in Australia.

It hasn’t always been smooth sailing. DAZN launched in Canada in July 2017 offering live and on-demand coverage of every NFL game as the exclusive Canadian home of NFL Game Pass, the league’s premium digital subscription product.

The DAZN package included all Sunday games previously offered on NFL Sunday Ticket, plus NFL RedZone — a game-day channel owned and operated by NFL Network. And the company — which had already launched in Germany, Australia, Switzerland and Japan — promised to add more to its menu.

But complaints from Canadian subscribers piled up quickly: Some games streamed without audio or with commentary in languages other than English; some viewers reported disjointed, choppy transmissions; other games simply didn’t show. The complaints echoed those raised by fans in Japan when DAZN took over rights to J-League Soccer earlier in the year.

In October 2017, the league and DAZN reached agreements allowing several cable providers to resume selling Sunday Ticket, the subscription-only service showing out-ofmarket games.

DAZN costs $20 a month, or an introductory annual price of $150 with the first 30 days free.