Streaming service licenses some NFL games to TV firms
Live sports streaming service DAZN will license some of its National Football League content to the big television providers to appease customers frustrated by patchy online viewing.
DAZN, which launched in Canada one year ago as the exclusive purveyor of NFL Sunday Ticket and NFL RedZone, announced Tuesday that it signed deals with BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc., Shaw Communications Inc. and Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. to distribute NFL Sunday Ticket for the upcoming season.
These providers can further sub-license the content to other providers, DAZN’s spokesperson said, adding that Bell already has a deal with Telus Corp. DAZN, however, is still the only place to watch every single NFL game as it will retain exclusive rights for RedZone content.
The concession to cable comes after a tough first season for the U.K.-based company that aims to be the Netflix of sports in a world where consumers are increasingly cancelling their TV packages to watch content online. DAZN kicked off its time in Canada with technical issues such as choppy sound and buffering video, leaving devoted fans demanding their old cable service and NFL executives apologizing for inadequate service.
DAZN signed a few licensing deals with cable providers last year to appease fans, but added more TV providers this season.
“We want to give Canadians choice in how they watch their NFL content,” Joseph Markowski, DAZN’s senior vicepresident of revenue, said in an interview.
“There are customers that are far more comfortable watching via their traditional cable packages than they are with DAZN, we recognize that,” he said, though he said those customers are a minority.
DAZN has made significant investments in its operations to address last season’s fumbles, Markowski said, adding it has tested the platform continuously over the summer. It has also invested in more content, including the UEFA Champions League and Europa League.
While DAZN does not reveal its subscriber numbers (it’s a division of Perform Group, a private company majority owned by Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries Inc.), Markowski said there’s a broad base of Canadian sports fans that support the model.
“There are massive sports fans who are dying for a service like ours,” he said. “They’re frustrated with the sports broadcast market, more generally, they’re frustrated about being asked to pay huge amounts of money with long term, inflexible contracts with pay TV providers.”
While some customers enjoyed DAZN’s price point of $20 per month or $150 per year, others said they’d willingly pay more for reliable service. One disappointed fan created a Twitter account @ DAZNSucks to advocate for a return to cable.
Live sports is seen as some of the stickiest content to keep customers plugged into their TV packages. After all, it’s one thing to miss an episode of a show, but another to have the winning Super Bowl touchdown spoiled on social media.
TV providers have a second advantage in that it’s more difficult to seamlessly broadcast live content over an internet connection. Still, analysts expect the technology to catch up as giants like Amazon.com Inc. and Facebook Inc. pursue opportunities to bring sports content online.