FIFA agrees Club World Cup broadcast deal with DAZN

FIFA has agreed a deal with DAZN to broadcast next year’s Club World Cup in the United States.

As part of the overall agreement, which FIFA sources say is worth around $1billion, all 63 matches will be made available on DAZN’s platform to watch for free.

FIFA had initially struggled to sell the broadcasting rights to the Club World Cup, with Gianni Infantino, the football world governing body’s president, calling an emergency briefing with TV executives in September.

They had been in talks with Apple over a global streaming deal to broadcast the tournament, but those negotiations fell through.

DAZN, which is not widely known or watched in the United States, has the option to sub-licence to local free-to-air broadcasters as part of its deal with FIFA.

In a statement, Infantino described it as being “the most widely accessible club football tournament ever”.

“I am delighted to announce that FIFA, in partnership with DAZN and FIFA+, will bring the best of club football for free to everywhere in the world, meaning that every single football fan across the globe can watch the best players from the 32 best clubs compete in the new FIFA Club World Cup to be the first official ‘FIFA Club World Champions’.

“The new FIFA Club World Cup is a merit-based, inclusive tournament that will be the pinnacle of global club football, capturing the imagination of players and fans across the world,” Infantino said.

Shay Segev, DAZN’s chief executive officer, called it a “groundbreaking deal” and a “major milestone” for the broadcaster.

The Club World Cup begins on June 15 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami and will run until July 13, with the final taking place at MetLife Stadium in New York.

It will feature 32 teams, including Manchester City and Chelsea from the Premier League, and Inter Miami and the Seattle Sounders from Major League Soccer.

Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich are also among the qualifiers through there coefficient rankings

The draw for the tournament is taking place in Miami on Thursday at 1pm EST (6pm GMT) and will be streamed live.

(Photo: FIFA)