DAZN launches in Japan

Digital sports content and media group Perform has today (Tuesday) launched its new OTT sports subscription service, DAZN, in Japan.

DAZN launches with a free one-month offer before costing subscribers a basic ¥1,750 (€15/$16) per month.

From today, DAZN will offer Japanese sports fans an array of football content. All German Bundesliga games will be broadcast live starting with this weekend’s opener between Bayern Munich and Werder Bremen.

DAZN also has action from the English FA Cup, Italian Serie A, French Ligue 1 and Fifa World Cup qualifiers. From 2017, Perform’s headline rights capture will come into play.

The Japan Professional Football League, organising body of club football in the country, last month agreed a 10-season rights deal with Perform. Under the deal, Perform has secured rights to broadcast all J1, J2 and J3 league tournaments from the 2017 to 2026 seasons. The agreement marks the first time that all games from all leagues will be broadcast in Japan. The rights will be exploited through DAZN.

In total, DAZN will offer over 6,000 live events a year in Japan. Content will include US major leagues in the form of American football’s NFL, basketball’s NBA and baseball’s MLB, as well as golf’s PGA Tour, the Formula One motor racing championship and mixed martial arts promotion the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Domestic sport will also be provided through V League volleyball and Top League rugby union.

The service is available on a wide range of connected devices, including smart televisions, personal computers, tablets, smartphones and games consoles. DAZN launched in Germany, Austria and Switzerland earlier this month.