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igital sports media company, DAZN, has begun the integration process of 5G by partnering with Japanese telecommunications firm, KDDI.

KDDI’s AU brand will offer customers 5G-enhanced, low-latency live viewing with faster downloading speeds.

AU customers will also be provided with the option to sign up for a three-month free trial which includes access to DAZN through an unlimited 5G data plan.

DAZN’s Japanese service offers a wide range of live sports including baseball, and domestic top-flight soccer.

The two companies previously had a deal in place which allowed KDDI to offer direct carrier billing for the sports streaming service.

DAZN chief subscription officer, Ben King, said: “The possibilities of 5G and our partnership with KDDI kick starts some incredible opportunities for us to take that sports viewing experience to the next level.”

“Starting today, fans in Japan can enjoy the action from their favourite teams across J League, NPB, Formula One and the Premier League in superb 5G AU quality, and faster than ever.”

“We look forward to working closely with KDDI to explore opportunities that 5G presents to create more interactive and more engaging viewing experiences including real-time data, community, gamification, augmented and virtual reality,” King said.

The move comes as DAZN revealed its new global content plan, with several original content productions featuring such sporting stars as Cristiano Ronaldo, Anthony Joshua, Canelo Alvarez, and Gennadiy Golovkin.

The headline content piece is ‘Parrallel Worlds’, which is a new docuseries connecting athletes from different sports to examine similarities in what makes them great, starting with Ronaldo and Golovkin in episode one.

DAZN senior vice-president of content strategy, Hugh Sleight, said COVID-19 has allowed DAZN’s in-house team to offer a different perspective on sport.

“We’re not going to grow as a sports platform without live sport, but I think the pandemic has emphasised the fans’ need for content beyond live sports,” Sleight told Variety.

“That need was always there, and I think it fits within the evolution of our design to service sports fans in a more 360-degree way…

“We worked hard to put together a slate of content that really caters to boxing fans.

“I think that must be a core approach of ours moving forward.

“Right now, we’re doing a great job with big, global released live sport.

“But even then, something like the Champions League final, which is a big global event, is way more popular in European markets than it is in others.

“The story around sporting events is often very, very local.

So, while we are focused on a few big global projects, beyond that it’s all about local content creation,” he said.

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