In less than a fortnight Wolfsburg meet Barcelona in Eindhoven for the 2023 UEFA Women's Champions League final.
Fans from all over the world will be free to stream the match on YouTube without cost, via broadcaster Dazn. Every game from the tournament from the group stage on this season has also been available for free on the content platform.
But Dazn has announced this won't be the case next season in a major shift from their current model. Instead, the majority of matches from the tournament will move behind a paywall next season. Under the new system, 42 of the competition's 61 games will be shown via a subscription service, priced at £9.99 per month.
The remaining 19 fixtures from the tournament proper will be remain free and streamed on YouTube which will, crucially, include the final. The news will come as a major blow to women's football fans who already pay a subscription charge to watch WSL fixtures via Sky Sports, whose cheapest sports package currently comes in at £43 per month.
Dazn own the rights to UEFA's premier women's competition for the next two seasons at least, until 2025. However they have taken the decision to shift most of the games behind a paywall for the rest of the contract.
"We have been growing the visibility of the WCL thanks to our partnership with YouTube," explained Veronica Diquattro, Dazn’s global markets chief executive. "We have been growing the visibility of the WCL thanks to our partnership with YouTube.
"It has seen millions of streams on our Dazn platform, and also on our YouTube channel with 14 million‑plus extra viewers compared to the previous year. But now the time is right to convert this visibility into viability and value for the long-term sustainability of the rights.
"Driving the commercial value upwards is how we can make sure there will be future investment in the sport for the benefit of the game and the players. And it’s also in the interest of the clubs and UEFA as well."
Dazn's YouTube channel currently has over 600,000 subscribers but it remains to be seen how many will sign-up for the new service next season. Barcelona and Wolfsburg will contest the 2023 final on June 3 after knocking out WSL sides Chelsea and Arsenal respectively in the last four of the competition.
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