DAZN secures exclusive streaming option for 2029 Club World Cup

DAZN has secured an exclusive option for worldwide streaming rights to the 2029 men's Club World Cup, according to The Guardian. The arrangement extends the streaming company's involvement with FIFA's expanded club competition after it paid $1 billion for global rights to the 2025 tournament in the United States.

The report did not establish the value of the new arrangement or the deadline for exercising the option. Those details remain unresolved publicly in the reporting, which describes an exclusive option rather than an already exercised rights purchase. No confirmed price for the 2029 rights was provided.

DAZN's previous agreement followed difficulties in FIFA's attempts to sell coverage of the first 32-team edition. The Guardian reported that Apple TV had discussed a worldwide streaming agreement before withdrawing over valuation, while a subsequent effort to market rights regionally also failed. Many traditional broadcasters and other streaming companies had declined to bid before DAZN made its late offer.

That 2025 agreement was facilitated by Saudi Arabia's Surj Sports Investment group buying a 10% stake in DAZN, according to the newspaper. The rights payment effectively supported FIFA's $1 billion tournament prize fund. Chelsea, who won the competition, received about $114 million, the report said, underlining the financial scale of the expanded event and its broadcasting arrangements.

The new option comes while key decisions about the second edition remain outstanding. FIFA has not settled the venues, format or number of participating teams for 2029, The Guardian reported. Discussions with clubs have included a possible expansion to 48 teams, but that proposal has not become a confirmed tournament structure.

Commercial planning has also faced disagreements between FIFA and European Football Clubs, the club lobby group. The Guardian said it had obtained a letter in which EFC criticised delays in distributing $250 million in solidarity payments owed to clubs from the 2025 competition, more than a year after it ended.

The newspaper reported that relations had improved following the withdrawal of Gianni Infantino's FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal. Even so, FIFA and EFC had not finalised the details of a proposed joint venture to run the Club World Cup's commercial operations, leaving that arrangement unsettled alongside the tournament's sporting format.