With the FIFA World Cup 2026 right around the corner, soccer’s governing body has teamed with streamer DAZN to relaunch FIFA+, the streaming service that first debuted back in 2022.
FIFA and DAZN are calling the new-look FIFA+ the ‘Global Home of Football,’ offering live and on-demand top-tier leagues, highlights and exclusive behind-the-scenes access from more than 100 men’s and women’s national teams and club leagues. A multichannel news service in multiple languages will also be offered.
However, the service will not provide live World Cup coverage, as this is already sub-licensed around the world. Billions are expected to tune into the tournament, which is being held in the U.S., Canada and Mexico over summer 2026.
FIFA+ on DAZN will be available free around the world when it launches next year. The two organizations teamed earlier this year for the Club World Cup in the U.S., which Mattias Grafström, FIFA Secretary General, called “record breaking.” They claimed drew a combined global audience of 2.7 billion.
“In a short period of time, the partnership between FIFA and DAZN has proven to be a remarkably successful one,” he added.
Shay Segev, group CEO of DAZN called the launch “game-changing step forward,” adding, “Our new global football platform marks a significant milestone in our successful partnership with FIFA, and is an exceptional addition to DAZN’s extensive portfolio of premium football content. From next year, millions of fans around the world will be able to enjoy even more top-tier football content for free on FIFA+ on DAZN.”
DAZN has been among the most aggressive sports rights investors for several years now, and has supercharged its ambitions since selling a minority stake to Surj Sports Investment, a subsidiary of the Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Saudi leader and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was on hand for the FIFA+ contract signing, alongside FIFA President Gianni Infantino and DAZN founder Len Blavatnik, who has invested billions into the streamer over the past decade, despite it posting hefty losses. DAZN acquired Australian pay-TV service Foxtel in a $2.2B deal.
A Companies House filing in October showed it lost $936M in 2024, down from $1.4B the previous year.
The post FIFA & DAZN Team To Relaunch Global Soccer Streamer appeared first on Deadline.
