ZONED IN!

National League bag new broadcast deal

- Matt Badcock

THE NATIONAL League have secured a groundbreaking seven-year broadcast deal with UK-headquartered streaming giants DAZN.

As well as the ‘traditional’ selection of a Saturday game for live coverage, the partnership will focus on allowing fans to watch any permitted game globally across all three divisions played outside of the existing UEFA Article 48 blackout hours. Building on the concept of National League TV – launched 18 months ago – games and content will be accessed through the DAZN app in a dedicated section.

Available through Sky Q and Virgin Media boxes as well as Smart TVs, on mobile, tablet and games consoles, there will also be a highlights package and all play-off matches will be shown in all three divisions.

Fans will be able to purchase season passes, monthly passes or a day pass. Confirmation of the opening stand-alone live game on August 10 – with presenters, commentators and pundits – is due imminently with full fixture schedules released shortly.

It comes after the National League’s ten-year association with TNT Sport – previously BT Sport – ended last season.

DAZN are a big player in live boxing in the UK, while they manage international streaming for the NFL and have deals in Spain for La Liga, Italy for Serie A and Germany for UEFA Champions League. Their platform is accessible in more than 200 countries globally and will mean all games can be shown internationally. However, this represents a first deal with a domestic league in the UK.

ROUND TABLE

The NLP sat down with National League general manager Mark Ives, their independent non-executive director Martin Howard, DAZN’s CEO of growth markets Pete Oliver and their rights director Joe Pickering to discuss the seven-year agreement, how it will work as well as how clubs will be supported: