DAZN bought exclusive Serie A broadcasting rights in Italy for €700 million a year over five seasons. To service that bill — the company lost €1.14 billion globally in 2022 — it raised Italian subscription prices repeatedly: a first increase in June 2022, another in January 2024, and a third in July 2024 that pushed the Standard plan from €30.99 to €34.99 a month, the Plus plan from €59.99 to €69.99, and the entry-level Start plan up 20% to €11.99.
Each increase came with less flexibility. The July 2024 Standard plan required a one-year commitment, removing the ability to subscribe only for the football season. The Plus plan's selling point — two simultaneous streams on different internet lines — was priced at €539 a year, aimed at cost-sharing pairs who might otherwise cancel.
Subscriber anger was immediate and public. In July 2023, La Stampa reported protests 'pouring in.' In May 2024, a widely shared post asked: 'Are we sure Serie A is worth about €60–70 a month? #vergogna.' The anger compounded with technical failures: in August 2022, users were locked out of their accounts during live matches, days after a price rise.
Passed the €700 million annual rights fee to subscribers as repeated rises, while cutting flexibility and adding failures, turning fans into auditors of its losses.
The €700 million annual rights fee was a fixed cost that had to be recovered from subscribers, so every price rise was a pass-through the audience could see and resent
DAZN blamed 20% fraudulent concurrent use for the 2022 restructure, then charged for the feature instead of removing it — so paying subscribers were billed for other people's sharing
Removing seasonal flexibility forced casual fans into annual commitments, converting a low-friction product into a contract and giving price-sensitive subscribers a reason to leave
Technical failures during live matches — the one moment the service must work — landed days after a price increase, making the timing feel like contempt
DAZN's global losses (€2.33 billion the prior year) were public knowledge, so subscribers understood they were funding a deficit, not an improvement
A rights fee is the broadcaster's cost, not the subscriber's benefit — passing it through as repeated rises without better service turns customers into auditors of your balance sheet.
DAZN continued to raise prices into the 2025–26 season. CEO Shay Segev said Italy was 'central to DAZN's strategy' and that investment would not stop. The company also announced 14 editorial redundancies alongside the July 2024 price rise. Serie A remained on DAZN through 2029 under the existing rights deal, leaving subscribers with no alternative legal stream for most matches.
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