DAZN has officially announced a seven-year global broadcasting partnership with the English Football League’s (EFL) National League. The division is the fifth-highest league in the English soccer pyramid. It is also the highest division in EFL’s setup that features semi-professional clubs.
Soccer fans will soon be able to watch every National League match each season streamed live on DAZN. The deal between the two sides also includes matches from the National League North and National League South. Although not all of these fixtures will hit DAZN, the company claims that “a significant selection” of National League North and South matches will be available.
These two leagues sit directly below the National League in the English soccer system. Teams relegated from the league go down to the North and South divisions depending on their exact locations.
DAZN, a British over-the-top sports streaming service, was technically founded back in 2007. However, the current platform that is seen today hit the market in 2015. The service broadcasts a series of on-demand sporting events in over 200 nations across the globe. While not a traditional streaming powerhouse in the United States, DAZN does have a strong soccer reach in Canada.
The deal will also see the National League have their own standalone channel within DAZN. Other popular sporting events such as NFL Game Pass (outside of the States) and PGA Tour Pass also have a similar setup within the streaming service. Soccer fans can access National League TV with their regular DAZN subscription. Users can also opt to pay separately for just the National League channel alone.
“DAZN’s technology makes us uniquely placed to create destinations for sports fans, and this multi-year partnership with NLS will allow us to create a global home for the National League, helping fans better access the teams they are so passionate about, while creating engagement opportunities to access new audiences,” stated DAZN CEO Shay Segev.
“This is the latest in a series of channel deals which leverage DAZN’s scale and industry-leading tech stack to revolutionize the way rights holders increase exposure to domestic and international audiences and develop their sport digitally and commercially.”
The National League recently gained attention here Stateside thanks mostly due to Wrexham. The popular Welsh club, however, previously earned promotion from the fifth-tier and have since moved on to League One. Despite this, there are still several historic English soccer clubs featuring in the league.
Oldham Athletic was previously a founding member of the newly reformatted Premier League in 1992. Although the Latics narrowly escaped relegation in the division’s first season, they eventually dropped out the next year.
Soccer fans may also be familiar with teams such as York City, Yeovil, Rochdale, Southend, and Forest Green Rovers as well. The latter club has made headlines in recent years by aggressively addressing environmental and sustainability concerns.
DAZN will help kick off the 2024/25 season on Saturday, August 10th. All 24 teams in the division are scheduled to be in action during the 10AM (ET) time slot on the day. Aldershot Town, the National League’s longest-serving club, will begin their 12th consecutive campaign in the division by hosting Rovers.
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