- Deal sees DAZN become the global home of the National League with both domestic UK and global rights to National League TV product
- Seven-year deal set to run until the end of the 2030/2031 season
- DAZN will offer National League TV as a standalone channel which can be purchased separately or on top of a standard DAZN subscription
LONDON, 30 July 2024 – DAZN, the world’s leading sports entertainment platform, can today announce the acquisition of broadcast rights to the English Football League’s National League, National League North and National League South, in the UK and on a global and exclusive basis. The deal marks DAZN’s first investment into domestic rights for men’s football rights in England and represents a significant addition to DAZN’s portfolio of English football internationally.
Fans in the UK and around the world will be able to stream an exciting slew of English football from the National League, National League North, and National League South on DAZN. With 24 teams in each of the three competitions, subscribers will be able to access a wealth of live games as well as catch up on highlights and watch official full match replays. DAZN will take over production for the broadcasting of games with all 557 National League matches to be streamed on the platform as well as a significant selection of top National League North and National League South matches.
National League will join the likes of NFL Game Pass, PGA Tour Pass and FIBA’s Courtside 1891 as a standalone channel within the DAZN platform. DAZN will offer National League TV as a standalone channel which can be purchased separately, or on top of, a standard DAZN subscription.
With DAZN, National League TV will be available throughout more than 200 markets, across multiple internet-enabled devices, and will benefit from DAZN’s technological expertise and product development. The flexibility and versatility of DAZN’s platform enables live and on-demand content to be streamed at scale, while also providing the capacity to localise in key markets.
A rightsholder of EFL competitions in key DAZN markets of Spain, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Canada, Japan, Italy – this deal with the National League System (NLS) is DAZN’s domestic entrance into English men’s football and underlines the platform’s commitment to growing its offer in the UK.
Shay Segev, DAZN Group CEO, said, “DAZN’s technology makes us uniquely placed to create destinations for sports fans, and this multi-year partnership NLS will allow us to create a global home for the National League, helping fans better access the teams they are so passionate about, while creating engagement opportunities to access new audiences. This is the latest in a series of channel deals which leverage DAZN’s scale and industry-leading tech stack to revolutionise the way rights holders increase exposure to domestic and international audiences and develop their sport digitally and commercially”.
Mark Ives, General Manager of National League System said, “We are incredibly excited about this groundbreaking long term joint venture with DAZN, one of the biggest players in sports broadcasting and the deal demonstrates the continuing growth and reach of the National League. “The global exposure that DAZN will bring the league, and our clubs cannot be overstated. DAZN will be using their vast expertise in sports broadcasting and streaming to allow fans in both the UK, and internationally, to access live matches across all connected devices like never before. “We look forward to working very closely with them to enhances the viewing experience for all fans that can’t be at the stadium, which we believe is to the full benefit of our clubs and supporters.”
The existing National League TV direct-to-consumer product will continue to serve fans of the leagues all of the action they are accustomed to until later in the 24/25 season, at which point the channel be fully aggregated into the DAZN ecosystem.
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
Any matches that fall within the Saturday blackout window in the UK cannot be shown live. The blackout window precludes matches being shown on television between 14:45 and 17:15 in the UK.
National League (5th Division, 24 teams): The champions are promoted; next six compete in play-offs, with the winner gaining the second promotion spot. The bottom four are relegated to either North or South division as appropriate.
National League North and National League South (=6th Division, 24 teams each, running in parallel): The champions in each division are achieve automatic promotion; subsequent six teams in each division compete in play-offs, with the play-off winner in each division achieving promotion – in total, four teams are promoted to the National League.
National League will remain in its current international broadcast deals in Germany, Spain and Japan
About DAZN:
DAZN is the home of European football, women’s football, boxing and MMA, and the NFL (excl. USA). DAZN is building the ultimate sports entertainment platform, based on premium sports rights, world-leading tech, and multi-platform distribution. DAZN believes that fans from across the globe should be able to watch, read, bet, play, share, socialise, buy tickets and merchandise, all in one place, with one account, one wallet and on one app.
For more information on DAZN, our products, people, and performance, visit dazngroup.com.