DAZN Focuses on Germany as Test Market for Innovative Sports Streaming Strategies

Alice Mascia, Chief Executive for the DACH region at DAZN, has underscored Germany’s pivotal role as a test market for the company’s evolving digital sports platform, featuring an array of services. DAZN introduced its inaugural free ad-supported television (FAST) channel in Germany last year and has been experimenting with monetisation models, including pay-per-view (PPV). The platform is now gearing up to launch a freemium tier in the German market.

While not exclusively rolling out all new features in Germany, DAZN strategically leverages the DACH market, viewing it as a testing ground for pioneering direct-to-consumer strategies and product integrations. Mascia emphasised the significance of Germany in refining the platform’s content monetisation approach, highlighting its departure from traditional pay subscriptions.

“We say in the industry [that] if it works in Germany, it works everywhere,” stated Mascia during the SportsPro Madrid event. DAZN’s experimentation extends beyond subscriptions to different packages reflecting varying interests, willingness to pay, and the diverse value attributed to rights.

Mascia continued, “The way I look at it is broader content monetisation, a little bit less traditional than just a pay subscription as we started the business originally, or as other competitors that are a little bit more established than us like Sky will do.”

“We have changed and improved the way we were monetising from a subscription perspective, as our rights portfolio has significantly improved over time. But we have also introduced different packages to reflect a different willingness to pay, different interests and, at the same time, also a different value of the rights.”

The DAZN rights portfolio in the DACH region encompasses domestic coverage of the Bundesliga, UEFA Champions League, NBA, and MotoGP. The imminent launch of the freemium tier exemplifies DAZN’s commitment to widening access to sports coverage, allowing users to enjoy premium content for free with an account, without a subscription fee.

Mascia expressed a belief in a more nuanced approach to subscription models, stating, “We’re a big believer, particularly with the introduction of the freemium layer, where not every [piece of] content needs to be monetised behind the paywall, that broader access to sports is definitely a key for creating success for the platform.”

DAZN has further expanded its offerings through a strategic partnership with Fanatics, integrating the online sports retail platform into the streaming service. This collaboration allows fans to directly purchase merchandise from the DAZN mobile app, enhancing the overall user experience. The integration, set to launch next year, will feature an editorial twist, showcasing select merchandise alongside related content. The retail shop will also be integrated into DAZN’s watch parties, providing an immersive viewing experience.

Mascia conveyed DAZN’s broader vision, stating, “Our ambition is to become a platform for all things sports.”

“We don’t want just to be relevant for the 90 minutes of the match. I think we want to be relevant for everything around sports for a customer.”

“We believe that merchandising and ecommerce in general is a big opportunity for us, and the opportunity to partner with a global leader like Fanatics was really important to us.”