DAZN are reportedly in advanced talks to buy BT Sport according to the Financial Times as Arsenal have another six games moved to suit TV companies.
Like most people, I expected a season of Arsenal out of Europe to involve plenty of 3pm kick-offs on a Saturday, but, instead, we’ve been treated to what feels like an even worse schedule than we’re used to.
Take this week, for instance, when we played Crystal Palace on Monday night before playing Aston Villa on Friday. What is that?
Another Monday game now awaits, with Arsenal fans required to travel to Liverpool to face Everton for an 8pm kick-off at the start of December.
Two Saturday 3pms have also been moved, although one of them is against Manchester City, so that’s not surprising.
On Monday afternoon it was announced that the following six Arsenal games would be moved to accommodate the wishes of TV companies:
Manchester United v Arsenal
Thursday, December 2 (originally Tuesday, November 30)
Kick off: 8.15pm
Live on: Amazon Prime
Everton v Arsenal
Monday, December 6 (originally Saturday, December 4)
Kick off: 8pm
Live on: Sky Sports
Arsenal v West Ham United
Wednesday, December 15 (originally Tuesday, December 14)
Kick off: 8pm
Live on: BT Sport
Leeds United v Arsenal
Saturday, December 18
Kick off: 5.30pm (originally 3pm)
Live on: Sky Sports
Arsenal v Wolves
Tuesday, December 28
Kick off: 12.30pm (originally 3pm)
Live on: Amazon Prime
Arsenal v Manchester City
Saturday, January 1
Kick off: 12.30pm (originally 3pm)
Live on: BT Sport
After a decade of BT Sport and Sky Sports battling it out to see who could mess with fans the most, a new player is about to land on the UK stage to mess things up even more.
DAZN, owned by the billionaire, Sir Leonard Blavatnik, the wealthiest man in the UK, is in advanced talks to buy BT Sport with an agreement between the two companies said to be possible within the next few weeks.
The streaming service has been growing in stature over recent years, outbidding Sky Italia to win the rights for Serie A games in a €2.5bn deal, but their coverage has come in for extensive criticism.
Technical glitches and what the Italian media have referred to as ‘blackouts’ have plagued games covered by DAZN. Streams have been ‘sticky’ due to weak signals and customers have complained of buffering issues.
DAZN even offered customers a month’s refund due to problems and ‘consumer concerns have been raised in the Italian parliament’ according to a report in Private Eye (#1558).
Private Eye also report that DAZN’s latest set of accounts show it posted a $1.36bn loss for 2019 despite a revenue increase of 76%.