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| (Image Source: DAZN Group) |
DAZN, the world’s leading and fastest-growing sports entertainment platform, announced a ground-breaking development in women’s football in Saudi Arabia as the official worldwide broadcast partner of the Saudi Women's Premier League, the country's top women's football league. Sports enthusiasts and football fans can now delve into the world of women's football in the Middle East as the Saudi Women's Premier League becomes available worldwide (except Middle East and North Africa) via DAZN which is now becoming the world's largest investor of women's football broadcasting rights through its recently launched Women's Sports division with Esmeralda Negron and Hannah Brown, co-founders of the US-based women's football platform Ata Football, as Co-Chief Executive Officers.
DAZN has already committed to showcasing the best of Saudi Arabian football with its significant coverage of the men’s Roshn Saudi League. This new agreement further supports DAZN’s commitment to football in the Kingdom, while also helping promote the women’s game around the world to new and existing audiences. Brown said, “DAZN has an unparalleled commitment to the growth and development of women’s football. The addition of the Saudi Women’s Premier League allows us to further elevate the game, and support women and girls who play and watch football. We have been following closely the progress of the women’s game in Saudi Arabia since they launched their first national league in 2020, and we are thrilled to support the league in the next phase of its development. DAZN is the home of women’s football. We are the exclusive global broadcaster for the UEFA Women’s Champions League and Spain’s Liga F, alongside broadcasting top-flight domestic women’s football in Germany, Italy and France. We hold further rights in key international markets for these leagues as well as the UK and US leagues, making our women’s football portfolio the most comprehensive in the world. We are continually developing our product, distribution channels and partnerships to increase reach and scale engagement in women’s football.”
Solidifying DAZN's investment in bringing women's football to a wider audience is its acquisition of Ata Football last August 2023 which delivers premium live and curated women’s football content. The free content platform includes live and on-demand matches and highlights of premium women’s soccer leagues including D1 Arkema, FLYERALARM Frauen-Bundesliga, Serie A Femminile TIM and UEFA Women’s Champions League as well as football series productions, interviews, behind-the-scenes programming, virtual & real events, podcasts, player spotlights, and player development content. DAZN Group CEO Shay Segev said, “DAZN and ata football share the same view when it comes to women’s football, the strength of game lies in its participants, fans and distinct appeal. By harnessing these characteristics, we believe that DAZN can build on the foundations our investment in the women’s game has delivered so far. The progress that has been made in creating visibility for competitions like the UWCL, LigaF, Frauen Bundesliga amongst others, has seen value created in the whole ecosystem. With Esmeralda and Hannah joining the team at DAZN to establish a women’s sport business unit, we are confident that DAZN will keep setting the pace in this area of huge potential, as well as establishing even better and greater links with the communities that are driving the women’s game on to ever-increasing heights.”
Negron and Brown said, “Over a million young girls play grassroots football in the US alone and are largely unconnected to the professional women’s game. Over the last few years, we’ve witnessed the rise of women’s football in the storied clubs of Europe, significant investment, and development of leagues across all markets, exponential growth of national team football and advocacy across the landscape. Now is the time to build the product, partnerships, and experiences to fuel the women’s football ecosystem and become the global community for fans and players of the game. Reinforcing DAZN's position as the world's leading investor in women's football broadcasting is its recent investment in the global broadcast rights of Serie A Femminille, underpinning the company’s “commitment to increasing the visibility and accessibility of women’s football and reinforces our strategic commitment to reversing, developing and boosting women’s football in our main markets and globally”. Prior to the launch of its Women's Sports division, DAZN has been making moves to grow its women-led sports content, following the launch of its FAST (Free Ad-Supported Television) channel DAZN Women’s Football on FAST operators such as Pluto TV and Rakuten. The channel provides coverage of the UEFA Women’s Champions League and the women’s LaLiga football league via the platform and DAZN Women's Football YouTube channel. The sports streamer is also behind the women-focused platform DAZN Rise which includes a selection of live and highlights content from the UEFA Women’s Champions League, the French and Spanish first leagues, the women’s Bundesliga, as well as golf, handball, hockey and martial arts. The company also currently holds the global broadcast rights to FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 and the National Women’s Soccer League.
