DAZN UK Launch

With large-scale sporting events and live sports broadcasting returning to pitches, courts and screens this summer (albeit behind closed doors), sports are playing catch-up to bring audiences the exhilarating live content that they’ve been missing over the past few months. Despite this, we’re left wondering – what will the future hold for live sports?

You could be forgiven for thinking it’s back to business as usual – but with socially-distanced commentary, a lack of fans and controversial simulated crowd noise, we’re far from the relative normality of 2019. Currently, there’s no indication of when fans will be able to return to stadiums and courts to enjoy live sport in-person, which has an obvious effect on stadium revenue. In the meantime, we can expect an increase in viewing figures and Pay TV purchases to fill in the gaps. Behind the scenes, it may also be proving difficult for on-site camera operators, producers and OB teams to uphold previous standards of sports broadcasting whilst complying with new health and safety regulations. It means that virtualizing operations and harnessing the power of the cloud is more important than ever – limiting increasingly expensive physical processes.

Speaking of Pay TV – what about sports broadcasting providers who were expecting to launch or expand their services this year?

Since launching in 2016, the idea of DAZN operating their service within the UK has long been on the minds of sport fans and casual viewers alike. Initially, DAZN was available on a restricted basis within Japan, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Canada. 2018 saw DAZN expand into the United States with Boxing, and it has seen promising expansion within the regions ever since. Enthusiastically branded ‘the Netflix of sport’, DAZN carries both on-demand and live programming across a variety of sports. With a worldwide pandemic causing issues and setbacks throughout the year in regards to live sport, the further expansion of DAZN and the launch of DAZN UK faced a delay. The original May 12th launch date was set to coincide with Canelo Alvarez’s next boxing bout, which has since been pushed back to mid September. With the ongoing and unclear nature of the current worldwide situation, this date could move back even further yet. 

One thing is for sure – if you want to be one of the first to trial DAZN’s expanded service, you will have to be selected as part of the community beta programme. You can find more information and register your interest here.