DAZN to stream Saudi Pro League in the UK, but will anyone watch?
Saudi Pro League 2023-24 season kicks off on Friday, August 11
The Saudi Pro League has been the most widely talked about football league this summer outside of the Premier League. Not even Major League Soccer and Inter Miami acquiring the services of Lionel Messi have stopped the Saudi Pro League from stealing the headlines.
On Tuesday, the BBC reported that DAZN had acquired the exclusive rights to stream the Pro League for 2023-24. DAZN will broadcast three Saudi Pro League games per week, including every game involving Al-Nassr and Cristiano Ronaldo.
For those unfamiliar with DAZN (it is fine if you aren’t), it is a streaming service that mostly shows top-ranked boxing, some MMA, and pro wrestling. DAZN is also the home of the UEFA Women’s Champions League, a competition many fans miss out on due to it being only available on the streaming platform.
The Pro League will be shown on DAZN in Canada, Germany, and Austria as well. Canal+ will broadcast games in France, while deals in Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Belgium have been struck with broadcasters, too.
In all, the Pro League will be shown in 130 territories. This begs the cynical question, is the Pro League paying for its games to be shown by some broadcasters or have the outlets acquired the rights themselves?
In January 2023, it was revealed that the DAZN streaming platform had 15 million subscribers worldwide. There was no information released on how many of those subscribers were from the UK.
In 2021, DAZN stated it had lost £1.9 billion for the financial year. Since launching in 2015, the platform has lost nearly £5bn. In other parts of Europe, DAZN has the broadcast rights to show German and Italian football. Gaining the broadcast rights to show those competitions is one reason for the losses, according to the streaming service.
The cheapest subscription in the UK is £9.99 for a month of streaming. Subscribers can watch all of the platform’s content. But how many people in the UK will subscribe to DAZN to watch the Saudi Pro League?
Sure, the league’s teams have spent money like drunken sailors on shore leave, but fans in the UK aren’t likely to give up English and Scottish football for the Saudi Pro League, right?
Personally, I won’t be watching or subscribing to DAZN. Not because of a boycott of Saudi teams, their money, and the country’s reprehensible human rights record, but because I’m not interested in the product.
The Saudi Pro League has signed players expecting fans of those individuals to follow along to watch the competition. The Instagram effect (my terminology) sees fans follow an athlete on social media and support whichever club they go to.
The Instagram effect occurred when Ronaldo went to Juventus and sudden interest in the Italian team soared. The same has happened with Messi going to Miami. The Pro League expects the Instagram effect to lead fans right to watch the competition.
Yet, what players have the Saudi Pro League signed outside of Ronaldo that would attract fans on a global basis?
In terms of Ronaldo, not even Manchester United fans wanted to watch the Portuguese player by the time he left Old Trafford. So, why would those football fans, or any others in the UK go out of their way to subscribe to a streaming platform to watch a second-rate soccer league?
Moreover, with the cost of living prices continuing to increase, most people cannot afford to spend money on another streaming platform. It is already too expensive to subscribe to Sky Sports and TNT Sports in the UK to watch the Premier League, Champions League, and Championship.
Outside of a few big names like Ronaldo, Henderson, Ruben Neves, Fabinho, Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante, and Sadio Mane, who are the foreign players in the Saudi Pro League?
There is former Inter Miami player Mo Williams, ex-Arsenal and Chelsea star Willian, former Sevilla midfielder Ever Banega, ex-Man City player Riyad Mahrez, and former Barcelona man Franck Kessie. Yes, there are some well-known foreign players now playing in the Saudi Pro League. There are also some lesser-known foreign players.
But none of those players makes me want to pay £9.99 per month to watch them compete in a league I have no interest in. The Saudi Pro League is trying to sign players, assuming fans will follow. Sure, some will. But the vast majority of fans support a football club through thick and thin, not players. Players come and go, but a football club is forever — at least hopefully.
The Pro League will once again spend heavily in the coming transfer windows. TV ratings and streaming platform subscribers will tell if their approach to signing footballers is successful. Unlike LIV Golf, the Pro League won’t be able to merge with an existing football league like the Premier League and buy its way into relevance. Football fans are different from golf fans. It is a different product and a different set of supporters.
The Saudi Pro League will need to attempt to offer fans outside of the Middle East exciting, meaningful football. If it can’t, the Pro League may not have a broadcast partner in the UK to show its matches. The Premier is the king of offering exciting, important matches. The other top-four leagues in Europe do the same. Indeed, there are a dozen or more leagues in Europe I would prefer to watch than subscribe to DAZN and watch the Saudi Pro League.