streaming service
Shock for loyal DAZN customers: drastic price increase
The streaming service DAZN is drastically increasing the prices. Photo: Soeren Stache/dpa-Zentralbild;/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
TV football is getting more and more expensive. So that the stations can finance the prices for the media rights, the fans have to pay – now DAZN is sending the bill to the most loyal of them.
DAZN held off its most loyal customers for several months – and now shocked them with an almost doubled price.
The Internet sports broadcaster is also significantly increasing its prices for existing customers and will be sending corresponding messages from this Friday to those customers who currently have a cheaper subscription.
DAZN had already received a lot of criticism in January when the costs for new customers had been drastically increased. At that time it said: “How the new price structure after 31.07. we can’t say what it looks like at the moment.” Now they can say it at the UK-controlled company – and anger many football fans.
Harsh reactions on the net
One of the more factual comments was on Twitter: “They’re crazy. Existing customers have to be rewarded for their loyalty and not kicked out.” Or: “Disrespectful price, probably can’t get enough.”
DAZN now applies to both new and old customers: the cost of a monthly subscription has practically doubled, rising from 14.99 to 29.99 euros. The cheapest contract for one year costs EUR 274.99 instead of EUR 149.99, but this is only valid until the end of July. The cheapest option for a DAZN subscription is 24.99 euros per month with a one-year contract.
However, football fans who want to see all the matches of their favorite club on the screen need even more subscriptions and have to pay more and more. For example, if you want to have a free choice of first division games, you also need a Sky subscription. According to Sky, the Bundesliga package with the games on Saturday costs 20.75 euros for new customers, then 32.00 euros per month.
If you want to watch games in the DFB Cup on Sky, you also need the sports package. This costs 17.25 euros for new customers, after that 25.00 euros per month. The combined Bundesliga and sports package costs EUR 40.00 per month at the regular price.
Most Champions League games are broadcast on DAZN. But if you don’t want to miss anything, you also need Amazon access for Prime Video. That makes another 7.99 euros a month.
If your favorite club plays in the Europa League and the Conference League, you need a subscription to the RTL+ streaming service. That costs 4.99 euros per month. Only one game per game day is free on the main broadcaster RTL.
Constant price increases
The fact that DAZN customers are now so upset is mainly due to the constant price increases since the streaming service started in Germany in August 2016. Initially, the monthly subscription cost 9.99 euros. For the 2021/22 season, the price rose from 11.99 to 14.99 euros.
The virtual tripling of the price within just six years is mainly due to the expansion course of the online broadcaster. DAZN has invested heavily and outperformed its competitors in bidding for the DFL and UEFA media rights. The rights costs for these two competitions alone are estimated by experts at half a billion euros per year.
To justify the enormous price increase, the then Germany boss Thomas de Buhr said in January: “This means that the sports platform does justice to the quality and value of its range, which has been greatly expanded since the start of the season, and positions itself in the market structure with a reasonable price.” Alice Mascia, his successor as managing director since May 1, did not want to comment on Friday.