Then, to much self-appointed fanfare, Dazn came to an agreement with Fifa to pay $1bn and be the official global broadcaster of the tournament. That appeared a bold move, given Dazn had posted an annual loss of $1.2bn for 2022 and would broadcast the tournament for free.
The Club World Cup is the brainchild of Fifa president Gianni Infantino (Photo: Getty)
Two months after the rights award, it was announced that the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF) had purchased a 10 per cent stake in Dazn. The broadcaster already had links to the Kingdom – they sponsor the Saudi Pro League and televise Riyadh Season boxing and Six Kings Slam tennis – but this made that relationship formal. The price of the share purchase? $1bn.
You can see how this works for everyone. Fifa get the global TV audience (and a new home for Fifa+) for Infantino’s new project. Dazn get users on their platform (you have to subscribe for free to watch). Saudi Arabia are the big winners – I know, true shock: a stake in an international broadcaster, closer relationship with Fifa ahead of a home World Cup secured after an uncontested bid.
The prize money, that flow of the $1bn conveyor belt, is game-changing for the Club World Cup. Non-European teams would always have taken this tournament seriously, but without handsome recompense European clubs may have played it at half-pace before short holidays.
This is where the tentacles of state ownership and sponsorship grow out to leave marks upon almost everything. See here: Newcastle United are owned by Saudi Arabia through PIF. PIF also owns four Saudi Pro League clubs who have helped out several Premier League teams (Manchester City, Aston Villa, Chelsea) with the signings of Joao Cancelo, Jhon Duran, Moussa Diaby and Angelo Gabriel. Expect more of that this summer; these are now Saudi Arabia’s richest clubs.
This summer, that moves to another level. Chelsea and Manchester City are two of the five favourites for the Club World Cup. They are in line for a handsome payout that will aid any financial rule issues and fund greater spending on transfers. That money is indirectly coming from PIF funding.
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There is also seemingly a creeping exhaustion with this stuff, probably born out of its quantity and the general sense of helplessness. Twenty years ago, it may have been more noteworthy for a nation to be so influential within corridors of governance. Now we all just shrug and say “Yeah, things are broken – good spot”. We have seen too much. We know too much about what happens next.
But that is not really the point. We have to keep saying it because it matters. This is why state ownership – Saudi Arabia, Qatar, US or the UK – should not be allowed: it leads to messy situations in which a party has financial interests in competing, connecting relationships. And it is only going to get more intertwined. Still, good luck to Saudi Arabia in the Concacaf Gold Cup (yes, really).
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