By Canadian Press

DAZN signs three-year deal for English Premier League rights in Canada

Apr 3, 2019 | 7:15 AM

TORONTO — DAZN confirmed Wednesday it has secured Canadian broadcast rights for the English Premier League for the next three seasons, adding to the sports streaming service’s soccer arsenal.

DAZN (pronounce da-zone) already shows the Champions and Europa League, French, Italian, Japanese, Spanish and Turkish league soccer as well as England’s Carabao Cup in Canada. It also shows MLS content, having taken over in Canada what had been the MLS Live streaming service.

The EPL acquisition was first reported in December but was not announced until now.

“Speaking as a Brit abroad, I’m continually impressed by the popularity of the EPL in the international markets we go into,” said Joe Markowski, executive vice-president of DAZN North America.

“We see soccer as a huge growth opportunity in the Canadian market alongside our NFL content, which underpinned our launch (in the summer of 2017),” he added. “And this is the next step in the journey for us.”

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DAZN says it will show all 380 matches during the EPL season as well as highlights, preview and weekly magazine programs. Coverage will begin in August.

The subscription price will remain at $20 a month or $150 a year, Markowski said.

DAZN, a live and on-demand streaming service, is backed by American-British industrialist Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries.

The service is currently available in eight countries — Canada, Austria, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, the U.S., Italy and Spain — with Brazil in the on-deck circle.

“We’re terrifically excited about Canada,” Markowski said. “We wouldn’t be investing in the content we are investing in if we weren’t.”

Canadian consumers have embraced new media offerings, he added.

While the streaming service has a wide soccer menu, it has no immediate plans to join forces with the Canadian Premier League.

Markowski wished the new league well but said “right now it’s not our focus.”

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Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press