Dazn deal starts paying off as FIFA Club World Cup comes to Foxtel
Australian sports fans are reaping the first rewards of global streamer Dazn’s recent takeover of the Foxtel Group, with all 63 games of the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup to air live and in high-definition on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
The FIFA Club World Cup starts in June 13 and sees 32 of the world’s largest clubs — including Chelsea FC, Manchester City, Real Madrid CF, Paris Saint-Germain, FC Bayern München and CR Flamengo — compete in a 63-game knock-out tournament.
This is the first concrete sign that Dazn’s global reach will directly benefit Foxtel subscribers since the sale was finalised last month.
The digital broadcast rights for the FIFA Club World Cup were previously held by Optus Sport, which has been quietly shedding its expensive football deals over the past year.
Not technically a cup.
Optus recently chose not to renew its rights deals for the UEFA Champions League and the Spanish football league La Liga, while speculation mounts that the telco is on the verge of on-selling its current English Premier League contract — set to expire in 2028 and valued at $100 million annually — to Nine, which operates the Stan Sport streaming service. Last year, Optus reportedly approached potential suitors, including Nine, for offers to buy its entire Optus Sport streaming service.
Optus has been famously aggressive in its pursuit of football rights since outbidding Foxtel for the English Premier League rights in 2016, for a reported $63 million a year.
It outbid the SBS for the broadcast rights to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, paying FIFA an estimated $10.4 million for the broadcast rights. It then on-sold the commercial broadcast rights to Seven for 15 of the 64 matches for a rumored $5 million.
SBS holds the upcoming World Cup 2026 rights, meaning that Australian soccer fans will soon be spread across SBS, Stan Sport, Kayo Sport, 10Play for the A-League, and Optus Sport — who still hold the rights to the FA Cup and the US National Women’s Soccer League.
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Nathan Jolly is the Features Editor at Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.
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topics
Chelsea FC
danz
FA Cup
FC Bayern München
FIFA Club World Cup
Foxtel
Kayo Sport
Manchester City
Paris Saint-Germain
Real Madrid CF
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