DAZN partnership to increase global exposure of women’s football

July 1, 2021

In a first for women’s football, leading global sports streaming platform DAZN has partnered with UEFA and YouTube to ensure the UEFA Women’s Champions League can be seen free-to-air by fans, worldwide.

DAZN has acquired global rights to broadcast the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Women’s Champions League and has been awarded host broadcaster duties for the next four seasons, from 2021-25. The partnership between DAZN, UEFA and YouTube marks the first time UEFA has fully centralised all Women’s Champions League matches across a single global broadcaster.

The multi-year deal grants DAZN exclusive rights worldwide, with the exception of the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) – where rights do include clips and highlights – and China and its territories. The agreement is one of the largest broadcast deals in women’s club football history and signifies another game-changing move in DAZN’s long-time global commitment to women’s sport, centred on the mission of growing the UEFA Women’s Champions League, turning more players and teams into household names, and inspiring the next generation of players – all of which starts with more people around the world watching the game.

To mark the launch, DAZN has released a campaign film entitled ‘We ALL Rise With More Eyes’. Directed by multi-award winner Alyssa Boni and voiced over by UK rapper FLOHIO, the short film powerfully conveys in just under two minutes, DAZN’s long-term vision of the unstoppable impact more visibility will have on taking the women’s competition to new heights.

Supporting the need to increase visibility of women’s competitive sport is Caitlin Foord, forward for FA Women's Super League Club Arsenal and the Australian national team, the Matildas, who notes “We all need someone to look up to, someone to aspire to. By making the UEFA Women's Champions League free and easily accessible on YouTube, as well as their own platform, DAZN is helping not only to raise the platform of women’s soccer here in Australia, they’re also helping to inspire the next generation of players.”

At a time when professional women’s sport continues to fight for more exposure, this new partnership brings visibility like never before to players, Clubs, and the elite competition itself by making matches all season long available to fans all over the globe. For the first two seasons (2021-23), fans will be able to watch live and on demand all 61 matches from the group stage onwards on DAZN and free on DAZN’s YouTube channel. For the last two seasons (2023-25), all 61 matches will be live on DAZN while 19 matches will be made available for free on DAZN’s YouTube channel.

James Rushton, Co-CEO, DAZN Group advises “DAZN is thrilled to be the new global broadcaster for UEFA Women’s Champions League and cannot wait to work with YouTube and Google to bring fans closer to the game and shine a brighter light on its stars than ever before. DAZN was founded with a vision of making premium sports more accessible, and what’s more accessible than centralised rights for the first time and all matches free on YouTube? Overnight, this will make the best women’s football easier to watch around the world than ever before. Along the way, we look forward to elevating live broadcast production, extending existing DAZN content franchises, and unveiling new shows that showcase the breadth and brilliance of women’s football.”

Cécile Frot-Coutaz, Head of EMEA, YouTube advised “YouTube is the global go-to destination for premium, diverse and relevant content. The pandemic has created a lot of uncertainty for sport but particularly for women’s sport. We are therefore honoured to be able to partner with DAZN and UEFA to bring the UWCL games to fans all over the world, live and for free on YouTube. We are excited to be able to bring the power of YT’s platform to the UEFA Women’s Champions League and help women’s football connect with new and existing fans the world over."

Nadine Kessler, Chief of Women’s Football, UEFA highlights “This deal is a first for women’s football as this partnership between UEFA and DAZN and YouTube will make sure that the UEFA Women’s Champions League can be seen by the fans, by all the people who love this game, wherever they are on the globe. Such visibility changes everything, as the best female players and best women’s teams in the world can inspire more young girls and boys to fall in love with this sport. Together we are all bringing women’s football to the world and everyone who will tune in will truly make a difference to something bigger.”

Guy-Laurent Epstein, Marketing Director, UEFA adds “We are delighted to have found such innovative partners in DAZN and YouTube, who will give fans worldwide the opportunity to get consistently free-to-air access to the world’s best women’s club football competition. It’s exactly what we wished for when we decided to centralise the media rights and revamp the competition format. Ultimately it was an easy decision for UEFA to make, as DAZN and YouTube had the most compelling bid, complemented by the vast promotional opportunities that this partnership can bring for the competition and women’s football in general.”

Ada Hegerberg, All-Time Highest Scorer in UEFA Women’s Champions League and Olympique Lyonnais Star enthused “I am beyond excited for this partnership. For years, people have struggled to have access to our games, wherever they were living. Now, they have the unique opportunity to watch all over the world if they’d like to. The game is opening up to millions, potentially billions, which is unprecedented. This is a game-changing partnership that is only right for the biggest club competition in women’s football. We are finally being given something we’ve asked for a long time. It’s about time women’s football got this kind of exposure!”

To learn more, DAZN, YouTube, and UEFA invite all media and fans to become an early subscriber to DAZN’s brand new, dedicated UEFA Women’s Champions League YouTube channel – where all matches and content will be live – and tune in to a special global announcement event featuring all the individuals listed above and more, discussing the deal and what it means for the competition and women’s football overall.

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