Sportsnet, TSN weekend schedules have to change
TORONTO – As the European seasons get ready to kick off, DAZN announced today it has purchased the exclusive rights to the International Champions Cup in Canada (ICC) for a second straight year.
The month-long tournament kicks off tonight in the U.S. and will also feature matches across Europe and Asia.
The ICC features 12 of the world's best teams, each playing three matches between Tuesday, July 16 and Saturday, August 10. All matches will stream exclusively on DAZN in Canada. The tournament includes clubs from the English Premier League, La Liga Santander (Spain) and Serie A (Italy)
DAZN now owns the rights in Canada for all of those leagues, which will each kick off upon the completion of the ICC Tournament next month.
Earlier this year, DAZN acquired the exclusive rights to the Premier League (long held by Rogers Sportsnet and TSN). “DAZN's acquisition of these exclusive rights to the most notable soccer league in the world signals the dawn of a new age for European soccer fans,” says the press release.
“With a DAZN subscription, Canadian fans will have a season pass to watch a rich roster of European soccer, including UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, Serie A TIM, LaLiga Santander and Ligue 1 Conforama.”
With EPL on DAZN, a Sportsnet spokesperson told Cartt.ca it plans to fill its weekend schedules with Bundesliga games, the top German pro soccer league, which has been available only on Sportsnet World thus far. Its season begins in August, as does EPL.
TSN doesn't have the rights to a comparable soccer league to slot in like Sportsnet does and a spokesperson told us in an email content such as "Formula 1, Season of Champions curling, Grand Slam and ATP tennis tournaments, as well as SportsCentre," will fill the time slots which used to be dedicated to EPL on weekend mornings.
