Sports streamer DAZN has confirmed a sublicensing deal with Paramount, meaning 23 of the 63 games from this summer’s FIFA Club World Cup will be available on Freeview and other traditional broadcast platforms.
- Live games to be shown on 5, 5ACTION and 5USA.
- All games available to stream for free on DAZN.
FIFA Club World Cup rightsholder DAZN has struck a deal with 5 owner Paramount to bring audiences live action from the inaugural edition of the event, which is taking place in the USA this summer.
5 will broadcast live coverage of 23 of the 63 matches from this summer’s FIFA Club World Cup free-to-air to UK viewers across its TV channels and streaming service. The remaining 40 games will be available (also for free) via the DAZN app and website in the UK.
What is the FIFA Club World Cup?
The FIFA Club World Cup runs from 14th June to 13th July in the US, bringing together 32 of the most successful club sides from 20 countries and each of the six international football confederations.
Clubs competing in the tournament include Chelsea and Manchester City from the UK; Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich amongst the other European clubs and international clubs such as Inter Miami and Boca Juniors.
What will 5 show?
The 23 games to be shown on a free-to-air basis in the UK will be made up of:
- 15 group stage matches,
- four round-of-16 matches,
- two quarter-finals,
- one semi-final,
- the final.
During the early stages of the tournament, live games will spill over to 5ACTION or 5USA.
There had been fears that UK viewers might lose out on traditional TV coverage. ITV had previously submitted a £0 bid for the rights. The BBC struggled to justify the extra cost of covering the tournament.
Although sports streaming is gaining in popularity, broadcasts on traditional TV platforms comes with less lag, meaning you see the goals on traditional TV before a streamer sees them. The downside of the planned arrangement is that not all of 5’s offshoot channels are available in HD on all platforms, so some viewers will suffer worse picture quality.
And despite the downsides of streaming, 5 will hope this event will give its newly revamped streaming service a boost. In March, the new 5 app was launched across device platforms. It gives users access to a wider range of exclusive on-demand content and live channels.
Corporate comment
Lee Sears, Paramount’s President of International Ad Sales, commented:
“We’re delighted to be able to have agreed this fantastic partnership with DAZN to expand free-to-air coverage of the FIFA Club World Cup, live on 5. It’s going to be one of the sporting events of the summer with most of the matches played in the evening peak time and 32 of the world’s biggest clubs involved. We have a growing line up of live sport on 5 and, thanks to our innovative and agile approach to partnership, we’re ambitious about offering our viewers and our advertisers even more in the months to come.”
Shay Segev, CEO at DAZN, added:
“We are pleased to be partnering with 5 to increase awareness of the inaugural edition of the FIFA Club World Cup in the United Kingdom and bring the competition to as many fans as possible across 5 and DAZN. The FIFA Club World Cup will bring unparalleled engagement opportunities and in expanding our partner network with 5, we look forward to bringing the tournament to the widest possible audience.”
By: Marc Thornham | Image: FIFA