Independiente players celebrate the title of the 2017 Copa Sudamericana after beating Flamengo by an aggregate score of 3-2 in Rio de Janeiro. (Courtesy of Fabio Motta/Estadao Conteudo)
DAZN, the live and on-demand sports streaming service that has been rapidly expanding around the world, announced a new partnership with the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) for exclusive rights to stream the Copa Sudamericana in Brazil.
As one of FIFA’s six continental governing bodies, CONMEBOL oversees professional soccer in South America. Its partnership with DAZN will see the development of a live multi-sport streaming platform, which is set to launch in South America’s most populous country in March 2019.
DAZN will be the exclusive home in Brazil of Copa Sudamericana, South America’s international soccer competition, for four seasons starting next year. The deal also includes access to Italy’s Serie A and France’s Ligue 1. Before the service goes live in March, DAZN plans to stream select European games for free on Facebook and YouTube.
“Football is a way of life in Brazil and so launching there with such significant rights is a huge moment for DAZN, cementing us as the fastest growing sports broadcaster in the world,” said DAZN CEO Simon Denyer, in a statement.
The expansion into Brazil comes two weeks after DAZN revealed its plans to launch in Spain in 2019, with coverage of MotoGP, the English Premier League and Europe’s premier men’s basketball league, EuroLeague. Two-year-old DAZN now has a presence in nine countries on four continents.
SportTechie Takeaway
DAZN’s deal with CONMEBOL marks the streaming service’s first move into South America. The company had previously entered North America (via Canada and the U.S.), as well as Japan and a few countries in Europe. This also marks DAZN’s first partnership with one of FIFA’s continental governing bodies, potentially opening the door for DAZN to expand into other South American soccer leagues or markets, or to partner with other FIFA organizations on other continents. However, rapid growth has brought growing pains. The service has suffered glitches that have triggered user outrage in Canada and Italy, prompting DAZN to issue remedies.
