Belgian soccer’s top-tier Pro League will return to the Orange Belgium telecoms platform, after rightsholder DAZN struck a new distribution deal with the operator.
Having already agreed similar deals with fellow operators Telenet and Proximus, DAZN’s Pro League coverage (and its wider sports portfolio) will be distributed via linear channels on the Orange TV service, with two focused on the Pro League and two housing DAZN’s international soccer rights slate, as well as DAZN’s own app.
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OTT streamer DAZN also holds the rights in Belgium to Europe’s ‘big five’ soccer leagues, the English Premier League, German Bundesliga, Spain’s LaLiga, Italy’s Serie A, and France’s Ligue 1.
Although the agreement begins with the 2026-27 campaign (which kicks off on August 7), Orange Belgium customers will gain access to select fixtures from the final two gameweeks of the current Pro League season, particularly including the Champions play-off group, where heavyweights Club Brugge and Royal Union Saint-Gilloise (RUSG) are in a two-horse race to win the league.
On May 21, this will be KV Mechelen vs Club Brugge and KAA Gent vs RUSG, and then Club Brugge vs KAA Gent and RUSG against Anderlecht on May 24.
Speaking on the deal, Orange Belgium chief consumer officer Christophe said: “We are very pleased to confirm that we have reached an agreement with DAZN to once again offer Belgian football to our customers.
“We know how important this is to our subscribers, and we are delighted to be able to offer them not only their favorite local competitions, but also the best of European football. Fans will once again be able to enjoy the biggest competitions – from Belgian fixtures to major European fixtures – via Orange TV.”
This marks Orange’s return to the Pro League fold, with DAZN having failed to negotiate any carriage agreements this season.
DAZN recently announced it will cover the Pro League until at least the end of the 2026-27 season despite its attempts to terminate the long-term domestic rights contract less than a year into the deal.
The development follows months of uncertainty over the OTT platform’s long-term contract with the top-flight Pro League.
Last November, DAZN’s five-year contract with the league came to an extremely premature end, with the deal only taking effect in late July, due to the platform failing to secure at least two other distribution partners for its coverage.
According to the terms of the original deal through which DAZN secured Pro League rights for the 2025-30 cycle, it was required to guarantee wider distribution through two or more other partners, who would be able to bring action from the 16-team Pro League to a wider audience.
However, after months of fruitless negotiations between DAZN and several telecommunications operators in the country (including Telenet, Proximus, and Orange), no agreement was reached, meaning the essential terms of the contract between DAZN and the Pro League were not met.
As a result, matches this season have only been available via the DAZN platform.
Following DAZN's announcement that the contract was null and void, the Pro League resorted to legal action. In January, DAZN was ordered to continue covering the league until the end of the 2025-26 season following a legal ruling from the Belgian Arbitration and Mediation Centre (CEPANI).
The streaming giant was also instructed to pay the remaining money due for the rights through to the end of 2026, having not paid these fees between November and January.
As part of the CEPANI ruling, the body also stated that the streaming heavyweight must reopen negotiations over wider coverage with telecoms firms.
Proximus described negotiations with DAZN as “intensive” but said it “adopted a constructive approach to reach a sustainable agreement and ensure that Belgian football remains widely and easily accessible to all sports fans, including those who are less familiar with new technologies and simply wish to follow their favourite team at home via linear television channels.”
Before this season, the telco had been a Pro League broadcaster in Belgium for more than two decades, first showing the league in 2005-06.
