DAZN, the international sports streaming service, has extended its content and distribution deal in Spain with Movistar Plus, the Telefónica-owned pay-television operator, that will see the pair continue to give their subscribers an expanded sports offering.
The extension comes three years after the pair first signed their agreement and will see Movistar customers continue to gain access to DAZN’s portfolio of rights including motor racing’s Formula 1, motorcycling’s MotoGP, English soccer’s Premier League, Spain's F League, the UEFA Women’s Champions League, the Coppa Italia cup competition, and the Women’s Tennis Association.
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Movistar Plus chief executive Cristina Burzako said: “This renewal maintains our commitment to configuring year after year an unmatched offer of sports content for all sports fans in our country.
“It is the guarantee so that our clients can continue enjoying sport with an integrated experience, accessible from anywhere, on all their devices, and of course, with an infinite stadium of competitions.”
The pair already share domestic rights to Spanish soccer’s top-tier LaLiga as part of a five-year €4.95 billion ($5.6 billion) deal from 2022-23 to 2026-27.
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Under the deals, Movistar broadcasts five matches per matchday plus three full matchdays, while DAZN airs five games per matchday.
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By GlobalDataMeanwhile, Italian telecoms operator Telecom Italia (TIM) has reportedly renewed its carriage deal with DAZN to keep offering top-tier Serie A matches for the next five years.
Sources told Italian news outlet Corriere della Sera that TIM will pay between €43 million and €46 million per year to retain rights to show Serie A games on its platform TimVision through the DAZN App.
DAZN holds domestic rights to Serie A until the 2028-29 season in a deal struck last October worth around €700 million per year that sees it cover every fixture during the five seasons. Pay-TV operator Sky Italia holds rights to co-broadcast three weekly games alongside DAZN for €200 million annually.
The global OTT platform and Telecom Italia first struck a three-year distribution deal reportedly worth €340 million per year in 2021 during DAZN’s previous three-year cycle of rights from 2021-22 to 2023-24.
The renewal comes after the AGCM, Italy’s antitrust and competition authority, fined DAZN and TIM more than €8 million over their previous agreement last July. DAZN paid the majority of the fine, over €7.2 million, with TIM shelling out almost €761,000.
The tie-up prompted a backlash from some operators in Italy, with Sky Italia filing an appeal with the AGCM, claiming the deal was “illegitimate” and strengthened TIM’s already dominant position in the broadband market.
The AGCM then opened an investigation looking to ascertain whether the agreement restricted competition from other telecom operators.
Following its investigation, the AGCM has now said the original agreement granted exclusivity in favor of TIM, removing the possibility of DAZN striking partnerships with the telco’s competitors.
It added that the deal could have had harmful effects on the competitive dynamics of the connectivity services markets and the retail sale of pay-TV services.
The deal between DAZN and TIM was made shortly after DAZN secured rights to most Serie A fixtures in 2021 in a €2.5 billion deal that saw it hold exclusive rights to seven matches per match week and co-exclusive rights to the three matches for the 2021-22 to 2023-24 cycle. The remaining three matches were shared with Sky Italia in a deal worth €262.5 million over three years.
TIM agreed to provide DAZN with the financing of around €1 billion (€340 million annually) to support the platform's bid for Serie A rights – about 40% of DAZN’s total payment to the league – in return for a distribution package. The deal was deemed legitimate by AGCM after an initial probe.
However, the deal did not reach the targets that TIM set, and the pair agreed to restructure its partnership in August last year, which eliminated its exclusivity clause.
DAZN and Sky Italia then struck a new deal for the DAZN app launch on Sky Italia, with all 10 weekly matches available via the app and new linear channel ZONA DAZN.
