Japan’s U-Next streaming platform has bolstered its soccer offering after acquiring a slate of European soccer rights, including Germany’s DFB-Pokal cup competition, ahead of the 2026-27 season.
In a wide-ranging deal, U-Next will stream 20 preseason matches involving top European clubs, including Premier League giants Arsenal and Manchester City, Spain’s Real Madrid, Germany’s Bayern Munich, and Italy’s AC Milan.
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The platform will also air preseason games featuring Japanese players, including Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton FC), Daichi Kamada (Crystal Palace), Wataru Endo (Liverpool), and Ryunosuke Sato (Valencia), to boost the profile of the country’s national team players.
As part of its package of rights, U-Next has also secured rights to the DFB-Pokal, German soccer’s top knockout competition, which will see it stream select matches live from the first round in August through to the final in May 2027.
The matches aired by the platform will focus on “prestigious Bundesliga clubs and clubs with Japanese players.”
Several Japanese national team players play in Germany’s top-flight Bundesliga, including Ritsu Doan (Eintracht Frankfurt), Hiroki Ito (Bayern Munich), and Yuto Suzuki.
The new agreements add to U-Next’s growing soccer portfolio, which includes the Netherlands’ Eredivisie and KNVB Cup, Spain’s LaLiga, Copa del Rey, and Supercopa de España, and England’s Premier League, Women’s Super League, FA Cup, and FA Community Shield.
U-Next’s broadcast of the 2026-27 DFB-Pokal adds to the competition’s existing broadcast partnership in Japan, with Gaora Sports having also secured rights for the upcoming season.
Under its coverage plans, all 63 matches will be aired on its Gaora On Demand platform, while its television channel will exclusively broadcast key matches.
Rights to the Bundesliga in Japan, meanwhile, are held by DAZN (pay-TV) and sports streaming platform Abema (free-to-air).
Meanwhile, U-Next has also secured rights in Japan to Zuffa Boxing, the nascent promotion owned by combat sports giant TKO Group.
The platform's coverage will begin today with Zuffa Boxing 09: Berlinga vs. Butler being staged at New York’s Madison Square Garden – the first Zuffa event to be held in that city.
The new deal comes as Zuffa Boxing builds out its global coverage, having secured pay-TV giant Sky Sports as its broadcast partner across the UK and Ireland.
Through the multi-year agreement, Sky will broadcast all Zuffa Boxing events across the UK and Ireland, which together represent one of boxing’s most important global markets.
Last September, Paramount secured exclusive rights to the promotion in the US, Canada, and Latin America in a major multi-year deal starting from the 2026 season, with the rights then extended to Australia ahead of its season-opening event, Zuffa Boxing 01: Walsh vs Ocampo, on January 24.
Zuffa Boxing debuted on September 13 with its first major card, centered on the boxing superfight between Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford and Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.
That fight drew 41 million global viewers on streaming service Netflix.
