News + Trends

Dazn is planning a free plan

5.12.2023

Translation: machine translated

The sports streaming service will be breaking new ground in future: As a test balloon, a free plan is to be introduced in Germany. Selected sporting events will also be available to registered users without a premium subscription.

The streaming service Dazn, which has recently come under heavy criticism, is planning a free package with live sporting events. This was announced by Alice Mascia, Head of Germany, at a SportsPro event in Madrid. It is not yet known exactly what content is involved. The aim is to attract new customers with the so-called freemium version. Not all content has to be monetised behind a paywall, explained Mascia at the event. The launch date is also still uncertain. According to information from Sportbuzzer, it could be as early as December.

Germany serves as a test market for other countries and for Dazn's direct-to-consumer strategy. "If it works in Germany, it works everywhere," says Mascia. Accordingly, the model could be expanded to other countries over the course of the next year.

Parallel streaming usage no longer possible

Just last week, the streaming service announced a change that angered many users. Dazn has restricted the number of parallel streams and the device list. Parallel streams? That was a thing of the past. From now on, only one stream can be played simultaneously per account. In addition, only three devices can be registered instead of the previous six, as can be read in the package comparison on the Dazn homepage. An enquiry to customer service confirmed these restrictions for me as an existing customer. On a Sunday, for example, I really enjoyed watching the NFL on my TV and a Bundesliga football match on my PC in my browser at the same time. This means significantly less performance for what is now a higher price.

Update: As an existing customer, the old regulation still applies to my account. I am even shown 20 slots for devices, of which I currently have seven occupied.