DAZN steps up challenge for Champions League in Spain claims report

Sports streamer DAZN is considering a bid for the rights to the Champions League in Spain claims a new report.

According to Palco23, sales agency Team Marketing is preparing to receive bids from DAZN and incumbent rights holder Telefónica. The outlet reports that the rights could be split between DAZN and Telefónica’s Movistar+, with the latter currently paying €360 million per season for exclusivity.

The outlet adds that it is unclear whether rights agency Mediapro will make another polay. It won the Spanish rights in the last cycle and sold on the package to Telefónica.

In Spain, the Champions League has historically been shown by a single broadcaster. Splitting the rights would be a significant change to UEFA’s distribution model in Spain, and would closer follow its distribution in France.

Since launching in Spain, DAZN has picked up the rights to a number of competitions including the FIFA Club World Cup, MotoGP and UFC, and is in talks with the NBA over a €9 million per year deal. In its first year, the streamer said that its users have seen more than 49 million hours of its programming. Live sports represented 78.1% of all consumption, while the remaining 21.9% was on demand.