This announcement, which must be made official by the International Federation (Fifa) by the end of the day, comes on the eve of the draw for the competition.
The international TV rights for the Club World Cup, organized in 2025 by Fifa, have been awarded to the British platform DAZN for an amount of around one billion euros, AFP learned on Wednesday from a close source negotiations, confirming information from RMC Sport. The International Football Federation and DAZN formalized this agreement without revealing the amount. This announcement comes on the eve of the draw for this competition expanded to 32 clubs on Thursday in Miami (United States).
All 63 tournament matches will be available “free for fans around the world”DAZN said in a statement, “with the possibility of sublicensing the rights to local free-to-air television channels”. DAZN CEO Shay Segev called the deal a “revolutionary”. The search for a broadcaster had become urgent for a controversial competition, accused of overloading the international calendar, and gray areas persisted over its revenues and financial benefits while Fifa promised a huge financial jackpot to the 32 participating teams.
Just before the announcement of the contract with DAZN, Fifa had formalized a partnership with Bank of America to become sponsor of the event after those signed with the Chinese television and electronics group Hisense and the Belgian brewer AB InBev. According to a source close to the negotiations, an imminent agreement must also be reached with Coca-Cola.
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This first Club World Cup is the subject of firm opposition from players and national leagues who denounce the infernal pace in football. The global players’ union (Fifpro) and the European League Association thus filed a complaint with the European Commission in October against Fifa, accused of abusing its dominant position regarding the development of the calendar. Several leading players, such as the Spanish Ballon d’Or Rodri, the Dutch defender Virgil Van Dijk or the French Aurélien Tchouaméni have even put forward the idea of a strike to protest against the accumulation of matches, already perceptible with the new Champions League formula.
