DAZN lifts paywall for Women Football offering

(Photo by Loic Baratoux/Icon Sport via Getty Images)

DAZN UK will lift the paywall for its Women Football offering starting January 23 as part of a campaign advocating for the growth and investment of women’s football. 

The sports streamer’s New Deal for Women’s Football is named in recognition of a 1967 women’s football tournament that took place in Deal, Kent where the English FA’s ban of women’s football was broken.

DAZN said the New Deal aims for clubs to improve the match day experience, providing better facilities and increasing marketing and for sponsors to adopt a long-term investment horizon.  In addition for the media industry and broadcasters to deliver broad distribution, premium coverage and enhanced marketing. As well as for rights holders to collaborate with clubs, brands, and broadcasters to maximise media value and drive growth.

DAZN’s which recently delivered coverage of last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup, will make its Women Football offering free for viewers in the UK. This includes free-to-air coverage of the UWCL, WSL, Liga F, Frauen Bundesliga, Saudi Women’s Premier League, Serie A, D1 Arkema, NWSL and other domestic leagues.

The company recently announced it has become the world’s largest investor in women’s football broadcasting. DAZN Women unit launched last year headed by brown and Esmeralda Negron, following the acquisition of their founded ata football platform. The streaming platform also operates a free Women Football YouTube channel.

Speaking at the Future of TV Advertising event, Brown spoke on the challenges of broadcasting women’s football behind pay wall. She explained, “When you put good content in front of a good audience, they watch it. What they’re not doing is seeking it out, and when you put a pay wall in front of it a very small number of them make a direct pay choice,” she said “Some do pay for it, but not enough.So there is a period of time where we’ve got to think about how we develop this audience in this new competitive landscape and connect content with an audience in a third party way.”

Commenting on the New Deal, Negron said,  “We are committed to fostering and cultivating fandom for women’s football. Women’s football needs investment to realise its potential – developing a first-party relationship with fans across all demographics to scale its audience and become commercially viable. 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.”

“Women’s football is the most compelling sports investment opportunity for a generation,” Brown added. “To realise its potential the game needs another moment of bravery and rule breaking just like that 1967 tournament.”