Following the acquisition of Australian pay-TV heavyweight Foxtel by global sports streaming service DAZN, the two parties have partnered to bring coverage of the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup (CWC) soccer tournament to Foxtel subscribers.
DAZN snapped up global rights to the expanded, 32-team CWC – taking place in the US between June 14 and July 13 -late last year, and since then has struck sub-licensing deals for the club tournament across a range of different markets.
Through this deal, made possible by DAZN's acquisition of Foxtel (which closed in early April), all 63 CWC games will be available live and in high-definition on Foxtel's linear channels – starting on channel 507 – and via the Kayo Sports streaming platform.
The previous edition of the CWC was covered in Australia by Optus Sport.
A 24/7 channel will be established on Foxtel and Kayo Sports, while there will also be "highlights packages and minis from each of the matches, and supplementary programming."
The 2025 CWC is revamped and enlarged (only seven teams featured in previous additions), with the competition to now take place on a quadrennial basis – as opposed to annually in the past.
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By GlobalDataWhile DAZN is available in Australia, sub-licensing the CWC rights to Foxtel means the competition is likely to gain significantly more traction and audience engagement there than if DAZN had kept the action to itself.
In terms of its sports rights portfolio, Foxtel has stayed away from soccer for the most part in recent years, instead concentrating on sports such as cricket, Australian rules football, Formula 1, and golf.
Shay Segev, DAZN Group's chief executive, said: "The addition of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 to the Foxtel Group ecosystem unlocks the opportunity to extend our global content and rights to Australians on a platform they know and love. We are looking forward to providing more content benefits from the acquisition over the coming months.”
DAZN's acquisition of Foxtel was first announced in late December and represents a franchise value of A$3.4 billion ($2.2 billion at the time) for Foxtel.
Foxtel – up to this point, owned by News Corp – is set to continue operating “as a standalone business” while also benefiting from “DAZN’s global reach, market-leading technology, and investment in sports entertainment innovation.”
Foxtel has retained its own brand identity, as will Kayo Sports, and the Binge and Hubbi platforms.
In terms of other CWC sub-licensing deals, meanwhile, tie-ups have been unveiled over the last month in Russia (Okko) and the UK (Channel 5).
