PIF-DAZN Deal: A New Chapter in the Streaming War
Saudi Arabia investment fund launched a partnership with the streaming platform DAZN, competing again with Qatari beIN Sports.
On February 17th 2025, DAZN announced a deal with SURJ Sports Investment, a company controlled by Saudi Arabian sovereign fund PIF, which bought almost 5% (according to Financial Times), or maybe even 10% (via The Athletic), of the British global sports streaming platform. It seems that SURJ invested almost $1 billion for this stake, the same amount of money DAZN spent for the streaming rights of the 2025 Club World Cup.
Matt Slater suggested on The Athletic that could be some connection between the PIF-DAZN agreement and the Club World Cup, a competition on which FIFA president Gianni Infantino is focusing a lot on a strategic level. His aim is to establish a new football event capable of competing with the Champions League in terms of audience and income. Saudi Arabia has a clear interest in the Club World Cup, as a way to promote its domestic football clubs on a global level. But the tournament raised very little interest among potential investors, and only in December 2024 FIFA announced to have reached a broadcaster deal: with DAZN, of course.
But there is more. The agreement between DAZN and SURJ also includes a partnership on establishing a new broadcasting powerhouse in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) area. This means to re-open the streaming war with Qatari beIN Sports in the Arab world and maybe also on a global level during the next years.
What was the Streaming War?
In June 2017 a diplomatic crisis between the Arab League (led by Saudi Arabia) and Qatar broke out. Two month later, in Saudi Arabia a new TV broadcaster -called beoutQ - started operating, carrying rebranded feeds of programming from beIN Sports. It was never officially clear who exactly backed beoutQ, but it was believed without much doubt that Saudi government was behind the broadcaster. The pirate service also showed propaganda accusing beIN Sports of monopoly, because it helded the streaming rights of every major sports events in the MENA area, cooperating with its sister company Al Jazeera.
BeoutQ ceased its operations in August 2019, and in January 2021 the diplomatic crisis between Doha and Riyadh was resolved. But again at the end of November 2022, during the Qatar World Cup, Saudi Arabia abruptly decided to block TOD.tv, a beIN popular streaming service in MENA area, accusing it of “violating the regulations of the Ministry of Media”. This happened after PIF tried to buy beIN in 2021, but failed. So, The Telegraph said the block of the Doha broadcaster was “a power play by Saudi Arabia to undermine Qatar”.
What does Saudi want to get from the DAZN agreement?
“Saudi beating Argentina is more powerful than any news channel, and they don’t own the rights to it. But they want to run world sport and be taken seriously” said an insider to The Telegraph three years ago. It is very clear what Riyadh wants: to control the football world it has to control the football tv and streaming broadcasting, expecially in the MENA area. It is a geopolitical matter, and Saudi Arabia cannot leave it to one of its rival countries.
Again in October 2024, PIF was in talks to buy beIN Sports, but this time too it was unsuccessful. In the same days, however, Reuters revealed that the Saudi fund was considering to invest $1 billion to obtain 10% of DAZN: it was the deal they then concluded in February 2025, but at that time PIF denied the operation. It seems that if Saudi Arabia cannot have beIN Sport, it will form a partnership with its top global competitor and establish a legal broadcasting company in the MENA area to contrast the beIN monopoly.
This new chapter of the streaming war between Saudi Arabia and Qatar could be a relevant matter also in the European and global football. BeIN Sports owns the rights of the most important championships of the world, including the Premier League. But in the English tournament we have an important club directly controlled by PIF (Newcastle United), and others with good relationships with Saudi teams. Like Chelsea, who resolved its Financial Fair Play issues by selling several players to PIF-controlled clubs in Saudi Pro League. In France, Qatar controls PSG and hold the Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 streaming rights, but fans and a growing number of clubs are not comfortable with this ageement. Backing DAZN could be a way for Saudi Arabian soft power to destabilize Qatari authority in the European football.