In the dispute over football media rights, DAZN subsequently submitted the bank guarantee required by the DFL. But that probably no longer has any influence on the award. Meanwhile, a class action lawsuit against DAZN is ongoing.
In the dispute over the interruption of the TV rights auction, DAZN has fulfilled a demand from the German Football League (DFL). “We now have the required bank guarantee,” a DAZN spokesman told the dpa news agency. The process of selling the Bundesliga’s audiovisual media rights was a week ago on Monday following a complaint from the streaming service was stopped after the first day – for the first time in the history of professional football.
Submitting it later apparently has “no effect”
According to DAZN, the league surprisingly requested a bank guarantee, which the company believed was not possible within one day. The DFL and DAZN then made mutual accusations in letters to the 36 professional clubs. According to information from dpa, the streaming service had and the “BILD” around 400 million euros annually for package B, which includes a total of 196 live games. The bank guarantee now available will then be valid for around 200 million euros, as requested by the DFL.
But apparently this will no longer be of any use in the fight for the largest rights package in the tender. “The rights package B for the rights period 2025/26 to 2028/29 was awarded on April 16th in accordance with the auction rules known to all interested companies. The basis was the offers submitted up to that point, including the accompanying documents,” the DFL said in response to a request from the SID news agency . Submitting documents later has “no effect after the contract for a rights package has been awarded in accordance with the auction rules”.
DAZN had complained about unequal treatment in the bidding process in a letter to the DFL the previous week. The streaming provider feels disadvantaged because its offer for package B was rejected, even though it was “the most financially attractive and convincing”. According to reports, Sky was awarded the contract instead, but does not want to comment on this. The DFL then clearly rejected the allegations: “The DFL has not made any formal errors in the current auction process.” The Federal Cartel Office is currently investigating the dispute.
Class action lawsuit due to apparently inadmissible Price increases
In addition to the dispute over football media rights, DAZN is currently facing problems in other areas. The Federal Consumer Organization (vzbv) has filed a class action lawsuit against the streaming platform due to inadmissible price increases for existing customers in 2021 and 2022. The vzbv announced yesterday that 500 complaints were received in 2023 alone. That is around seven times as many as in the previous year.
“Heavy price increases in current contracts at DAZN are not only annoying for sports fans, but are also not legally permissible without the consent of the users,” said vzbv board member Ramona Pop. “The price increase clauses that we are attacking with the class action lawsuit are, in vzbv’s opinion, unreasonably disadvantageous and non-transparent. They are therefore ineffective.” Those affected also reported that it was difficult to cancel subscriptions.
According to the announcement, DAZN significantly increased its prices for existing customers on August 1, 2022. They rose from 14.99 to 29.99 euros per month and from 149.99 to 274.99 euros per year for a one-off payment. Any subsequent price increases are not covered by the lawsuit, it said. Those affected should now be reimbursed for the additional costs. As soon as the so-called lawsuit register is opened, consumers can join the class action lawsuit.
Mathies Hohm, HR, tagesschau, April 24, 2024 6:05 p.m