Piracy “is not our responsibility”, defends DAZN France’s general manager

“It’s like saying that a luxury brand encourages the counterfeiting of its own bags. Piracy is not an alternative to DAZN,” insisted Brice Daumin on franceinfo on Thursday.

Hacking “is not our responsibility”, defended himself on Thursday, September 19 on franceinfo Brice Daumin, the general director of DAZN France. The British platform faces a lot of criticism from football fans who consider the subscription prices too high to have access to Ligue 1 matches. Many of them use illegal backdoor methods to follow the matches, particularly on the Telegram messaging service.

“Piracy is theft. We cannot consider that because an object is priced too high, we can legitimize the theft of that same product.”he explained. “Piracy is illegal. Piracy, beyond the ecosystem that is damaged, is money that goes to criminal organizations, to mafia attacks,” he said. A campaign to boycott the platform was launched on the social network X accompanied by the hashtag #BoycottDAZN. Brice Daumin does not feel responsible for the scale of the piracy: “It’s like saying a luxury brand encourages the counterfeiting of its own bags. Piracy is not an alternative to DAZN.”he assured.

After criticism of the subscription price, which was considered too expensive, DAZN launched a promotion going from 29.99 to 19.99 euros per month. Brice Daumin reminds us that there is not only football in DAZN’s offers: “You will find all of Ligue 1, all of basketball, all of combat sports, boxing, MMA, kickboxing. You have a complete offer which is on sale today at 19.99 euros”, he detailed.

DAZN France boss highlights the speed with which the platform was operational after a late agreement with the National Football League: “We signed with the League on July 30. The first match was on August 16. We put an incredible system in place. We recruited more than 50 people on the editorial-production side. We signed distribution agreements with everyone, with all the telecom operators, with Canal, with Amazon. We are distributed everywhere. Today, this work is recognized by the clubs. It is recognized by our subscribers, whom we thank.”he said. DAZN is present in more than 200 countries worldwide and has invested 2 billion euros in a 100% digital platform.

“We are the largest sports streaming broadcaster in the world.”

Brice Daumin, General Manager of DAZN France

on franceinfo

To justify the price of the subscription, Brice Daumin also highlights the quality of the broadcast: “We were expected to deliver, we had zero bugs”he stressed and “We have just successfully completed the first four days of the Ligue 1 championship”.

DAZN’s ambitious goal is to attract 1.5 million subscribers by early 2025. “Yes, it is possible. That is our wish in any case.”he explained. The British platform is part of “in a long-term approach” on the French market. “What interests me are the weak signals. That’s what the clubs say, that’s what the fans say, that’s what the people you meet in the stadiums say.”he stressed.