DAZN USA
Broadcast rights acquired by DAZN USA
DAZN USA launched in September 2018, following nine-figure deals struck by the streaming service’s parent company with Matchroom Boxing and Bellator MMA. With its primary focus on boxing and mixed martial arts, the network made its first step to compete for soccer coverage in the U.S. after earning the rights to the AFC Asian Cup, in January 2019. Later that year, DAZN USA underlined its interest in Asian teams by providing streams for the J1 League and pre-season friendlies involving Japanese football clubs.
More on DAZN networks
DAZN is a subscription-based OTT sports streaming service with thousands of hours of live events every year, covering multiple sports disciplines, including football. It also provides catch-up and on-demand services and supports various devices from different platforms.
It is owned and operated by DAZN Group, formerly known as Perform Group until September 2018, when the global sports media company was split into two brands—namely DAZN Group and Perform Content.
Dubbed as the “Netflix of Sports”, DAZN has constantly been enriching its team of leading members to enter newer markets and deepen their existing sports coverage. It operates offices in London, Berlin, and Tokyo, among other cities worldwide.
With its focus being on providing comprehensive sports streaming services across many regions, DAZN boasts a massive portfolio of TV rights. It has retained exclusive broadcast deals to some of football’s largest club competitions and international tournaments, whereas other aspects of their coverage have come as results of sub-license deals involving other broadcasters.
Some of the important games DAZN has managed to stream since its launch in various markets include live UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Super Cup and UEFA Women’s Champions League matches in Europe. On the international scene, its history of live football streaming includes coverage around the FIFA Club World Cup, CAF Champions League and Copa Libertadores.
It has successfully participated in the online coverage of international events such as the FIFA Women’s World Cup, Africa Cup of Nations, CONCACAF Gold Cup and UEFA Euro Qualifiers. Broadcast rights it has secured for its online and mobile platforms have included top European leagues and domestic competitions, such as the Spanish La Liga, Spanish Copa del Rey, English Premier League, English FA Cup, French Ligue 1, Italian Serie A, Portuguese Primeira Liga, J1 League, Chinese Super League, and the American Major League Soccer.
Airing over 8,000 sports events on PC, Mac, tablets, smartphones, smart TVs and game consoles every year, fans of other sports have also had access to live and on-demand high-quality streams. Other disciplines regularly available on DAZN include American Football, Baseball, Basketball, Cricket, Motorsport, Rugby and Tennis.
In most territories where DAZN operates, live football (soccer) matches are usually available on demand after the match has been originally aired. This may however not apply to all competitions. The live feed may be taken from a partner network in markets where broadcast rights are shared with other broadcasters. For all streams, subscribers have the ability to play, pause and rewind, and are exempt from commercial interruptions. Due to rights restrictions, nevertheless, broadcast rights secured by a DAZN network in a specific territory may not necessarily be inherited by sister networks in other countries.
Regarding streaming on mobile devices, DAZN supports all models of the Fire HD from the 4th Generation and above, which means that streams are available for 6-inch screens and larger. Android TV users are recommended to keep their device up to date as well for a smooth streaming experience.
Early in 2019, DAZN updated its Apple TV app to add a multi-view option. This feature enables owners of fourth-generation Apple TVs or Apple TV 4Ks to watch up to four streams simultaneously. The first to third generation of Apple TVs are not supported by the service.
Minimum internet download speed requirement to stream DAZN in SD on smartphones is 2.0 Mbps. 3.5 Mbps is needed for HD quality, or 6.0 Mbps if streaming is on a TV. For optimal quality and high frame rates, DAZN recommends at least 8.0 Mbps. Virtual Private Networks (VPN) or proxy servers are not supported.
On PC, subscribers may stream directly from their browser, using Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, or Safari on Mac. Microsoft Internet Explorer users are expected to use at least Version 11.
DAZN offers users as a special feature for subscribers in select countries, allowing them to take their home subscription across borders while travelling within the EU.
