DAZN to quadruple prices for UK subscribers weeks after luring boxing promoter Matchroom from Sky in £100m deal
Sports streaming service DAZN has announced a four-fold increase in its monthly subscription fee for UK users.
The platform will increase in price to £7.99 per month from the end of September, it told customers today.
DAZN, which owns premium boxing rights, launched in the UK at an introductory price of £1.99 eight months ago.
The move comes just weeks after the start of DAZN’s £100m, five-year deal with leading boxing promoter Matchroom.
That agreement, which saw Matchroom leave long-time broadcast partner Sky, gave DAZN worldwide exclusivity for the stable’s shows.
However it did not include fights involving world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, Matchroom’s biggest client.
DAZN has a strong presence in Japan and Germany, where it has a broader portfolio of sports. It recently trebled its prices in Italy after acquiring the rights to Serie A football.
The service launched in the UK in December as part of a global expansion. Executive vice-president Joe Markowski told CityAM it would seek to “supersize” its offering in more territories as rights opportunities arose.
The BBC reported this month that DAZN had around 15m subscribers globally and, quoting chief executive James Rushton, planned to introduce “betting, fantasy and commerce” on the platform.
Rushton added that as the “quality of our rights portfolio increases and becomes more exclusive, we have shifted the price up”.
DAZN was reported to be in talks to buy BT Sport earlier this year.
The UK-based company made a £1.8bn loss in 2019 and last year borrowed $1bn from Access Industries, which belongs to its owner, Sir Leonard Blavatnik, Britain’s richest man.
It has also announced a partnership with Snapchat that will see it run regular shows and highlights on the social media platform.