Yesterday DAZN announced that it has acquired global broadcast rights to the UEFA Women’s Champions League until 2025. As part of this landmark agreement, to further grow the sport, DAZN has also entered into a groundbreaking partnership with YouTube that will make the competition live and free for fans around the world for the first time.
This is amazing news and one which should be celebrated as this move gives the attention it deserves, not hiding it behind a red button so you have to go searching.
I remember when I thought that the whole idea of having YouTube built into your smart tv seemed like an odd idea. I thought to myself, who is going to watch cat videos via their tv? How wrong was I? It turns out that the platform has evolved into a convenient location to watch live tv and some great fan-made content.
At a time when professional women’s sport continues to fight for more exposure, this new partnership brings visibility like never before to players, Clubs, and the elite competition itself by making matches all season long available to fans all over the globe. For the first two seasons (2021-23), fans will be able to watch live and on demand all 61 matches from the group stage onwards on DAZN and free on DAZN’s YouTube channel. For the last two seasons (2023-25), all 61 matches will be live on DAZN while 19 matches will be made available for free on DAZN’s YouTube channel.
The multi-year deal grants DAZN exclusive rights worldwide, with the exception of the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) – where rights do include clips and highlights – and China and its territories. The agreement is one of the largest broadcast deals in women’s club football history and signifies another game-changing move in DAZN’s long-time global commitment to women’s sport, centered on the mission of growing the UEFA Women’s Champions League, turning more players and teams into household names, and inspiring the next generation of players – all of which starts with more people around the world watching the game.
Nadine Kessler, UEFA’s Chief of Women’s Football said, “This deal is a first for women’s football as this partnership between UEFA and DAZN and YouTube will make sure that the UEFA Women’s Champions League can be seen by the fans, by all the people who love this game, wherever they are on the globe. Such visibility changes everything, as the best female players and best women’s teams in the world can inspire more young girls and boys to fall in love with this sport. Together we are all bringing women’s football to the world and everyone who will tune in will truly make a difference to something bigger.”
All-Time Highest Scorer in UEFA Women’s Champions League and Olympique Lyonnais star, Ada Hegerberg, said, “I am beyond excited for this partnership. For years, people have struggled to have access to our games, wherever they were living. Now, they have the unique opportunity to watch all over the world if they’d like to. The game is opening up to millions, potentially billions, which is unprecedented. This is a game-changing partnership that is only right for the biggest club competition in women’s football. We are finally being given something we’ve asked for a long time. It’s about time women’s football got this kind of exposure!”
Photo: @UWCL