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January 19, 2024
Leading live sports streaming and entertainment platform, DAZN, is breaking down walls to women’s football in the UK. As part of its campaign to advance a “new deal” for the sport, the streamer is removing the paywall from its live women’s football coverage in the country.
As investment in women’s sport continues to increase, the company is looking to drive audience growth and provide a new global home for women’s football. It wants to offer greater access to games, content and the international women’s football community. With the removal of the UK paywall, all remaining 29 UEFA Women’s Champions League games will be available without a subscription, as well as 48 games from the Spanish Liga F, 48 from the German Frauen Bundesliga, 19 from the French Division 1 Féminine and 50 from the women’s Serie A Femminile in Italy. 15 games from the Saudi Women’s Premier league will also be free-to-air.
Co-CEO of Women’s Sport at DAZN, Esmeralda Negron, stated: “We are committed to fostering and cultivating fandom for women’s football. Women’s football needs investment to realize its potential – developing a first-party relationship with fans across all demographics to scale its audience and become commercially viable.”
As part of its “New Deal for Women’s Football” sustainability and fan-focused initiative, DAZN is also calling on clubs, sponsors, broadcasters and others across the industry to adopt a long-term venture capitalist mindset. The program is named in recognition of a historic 1967 women’s football tournament in Deal, Kent. The tournament broke a longstanding women’s football ban imposed by the English FA in 1921. The ban was ultimately lifted in January 1970 spurring change for the sport.
“Women’s football is the most compelling sports investment opportunity for a generation. To realize its potential the game needs another moment of bravery and rule breaking just like that 1967 tournament,” said Hannah Brown, Co-CEO of Women’s Sport at DAZN. “I don’t think there’s any other sport asset class that is as exciting as women’s football. And the struggles the game has been through to get to where it is at today means that the bedrock of support it has is going to be very hard for anybody to pull back from.”
The campaign calls for a collaborative effort to grow the game through:
• A new deal from clubs, improving the match day experience, providing better facilities and increasing marketing.
• A new deal from sponsors, adopting a long-term investment horizon.
• A new deal from media and broadcasters, delivering broad distribution, premium coverage and enhanced marketing.
• A new deal from rights holders, collaborating with clubs, brands and broadcasters to maximize media value and drive growth.
Supporting a fan growth pipeline is also a priority. “Grassroots football has the potential to play a crucial role in driving the growth of the sport. Connecting the grassroots market to the women’s professional game is crucial in establishing a fanbase for women’s football from an early age,” shared Negron.
Header image: Katie Chan, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
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