Selling the TV rights to a loss-making streaming platform raises questions about how the deal will be funded
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Next summer’s Club World Cup will be shown free-to-air worldwide by DAZN after it struck a $1 billion (£787 million) deal for the rights – amid talk that Saudi Arabia could prop up the streaming platform with a similar investment.
After Telegraph Sport revealed that the British-based broadcaster – which has recorded billions in losses since its launch – was close to rescuing next summer’s inaugural 32-team tournament in the United States from a television blackout, Fifa announced an agreement had been reached.
An official Fifa announcement came on the eve of Thursday’s draw – when Manchester City and Chelsea will learn their group-stage opponents – signalling the end of the search for broadcast partners for the controversial competition.
The deal means DAZN will waive its monthly £16.99 subscription fee for the 63-match tournament, raising questions about how a company that made a £1 billion loss according to its last set of accounts for 2022, and more than three times that over the course of the previous three years, could afford such an outlay.
Before Wednesday’s announcement, industry insiders were drawing links between DAZN buying the rights and a potential $1 billion investment in the streaming service by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).
That would tighten the country’s grip on football and other major sports, which is set to increase further next week when it is awarded the 2034 World Cup.
Telegraph Sport has been told that any announcement of a deal between PIF and DAZN, owned by Ukrainian-born British-American billionaire Sir Len Blavatnik, could still be some way off and would be separate to the deal for the Club World Cup television rights.
The amount of money being demanded by Fifa for those rights is said to have put off a host of broadcasters, who were lukewarm about buying a tournament missing European heavyweights Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Barcelona.
Reports emerged a year ago that DAZN was looking to raise $1 billion, with PIF later said to have held talks over buying a minority stake in the company.
In October, the sovereign wealth fund took the unusual step of issuing a statement in response, with a spokesperson saying: “PIF is not currently engaged in discussions with DAZN on this matter and has no current plans to invest in the company.”
A spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment on whether that statement still stood, while DAZN declined to comment on a potential PIF investment.
Confirming the DAZN deal, which will also give the streaming service access to Fifa+ – Fifa’s library of iconic football moments and full-match replays, as well as live fixtures – Fifa president Gianni Infantino said: “I am delighted to announce that Fifa, in partnership with DAZN and Fifa+, will bring the best of club football for free to everywhere in the world, meaning that every single football fan across the globe can watch the best players from the 32 best clubs compete in the new Fifa Club World Cup to be the first official “Fifa Club World Champions”.
“The new Fifa Club World Cup is a merit-based, inclusive tournament that will be the pinnacle of global club football, capturing the imagination of players and fans across the world. Through this broadcasting agreement, billions of football fans worldwide can now watch what will be the most widely accessible club football tournament ever – and for free. Football unites the world.”
Shay Segev, DAZN chief executive, said: “This groundbreaking deal with Fifa is a major milestone in DAZN’s journey to be the ultimate entertainment platform of choice for sports fans everywhere. We’re delighted to have the exclusive rights to this new chapter in global club football, marking the start of our long-term relationship with Fifa and cementing our status as the home of football. DAZN is the only sports streaming platform that has a truly global reach, with world-leading technology and a single-minded focus to deliver the very best digital experience for all sports fans. We’re committed to ensuring that every fan can watch every moment of the thrilling action from this new prime club tournament.”
When an expanded Club World Cup was first mooted six years ago, Infantino was said to have held talks with Softbank, the Saudi Arabia-backed Japanese bank, over it backing the first four editions of its new tournament.
Amid reports top clubs were expecting £40 million each to play in the competition, Infantino told the most recent gathering of Fifa’s ruling council that it would be “self-sustaining”.
The minutes of the meeting state: “The objective for the Fifa administration was to make the Fifa Club World Cup self-sustainable and for the revenues generated by the competition to be redistributed, without any of Fifa’s other income being invested in it.”
Sam Wallace
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