Canadian fans unhappy with NFL's new exclusive streaming service there

Frank Schwab
·NFL writer

It’s commonplace by now to watch live sports streamed live on the internet. Most professional leagues or sports networks have an app that broadcasts games.

But in Canada, the NFL’s new streaming service is not going over well.

DAZN, a London-based company, won the rights to stream NFL games in Canada. That meant if Canadian fans wanted every game, they had to subscribe to DAZN. They couldn’t access NFL Sunday Ticket or NFL Game Pass for live games. Games are still shown on the major television networks, but everything else is on DAZN.

And so far it is not going over well. Viewers are experiencing long lags, and audio and video issues, Vice Sports said. Just search “DAZN NFL” on Twitter and you can scroll through dozens of complaints. It started poorly: The Toronto Sun published a story “DAZN a disaster during NFL opener” after the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs kicked off the season in Week 1. Many people experienced audio problems, including the lack of a commentary track, during that game according to Vice.

“Canada is the most important international market we have,” Michael Markovich, NFL vice president of international media and business development told the Toronto Sun after the Chiefs-Patriots issues. “We’re aware of the concerns about DAZN. We’re in close contact with them. We take the fan experience incredibly seriously and we expect the same from our partners.”

There are still issues. Earlier this week John Kryk, an NFL columnist for Postmedia and the Toronto Sun, retweeted multiple complaints about DAZN.

There are many, many more complaints to be found on Twitter. There’s even a Twitter handle @DAZNsucks with more than 1,000 followers. Vice said DAZN has refunded all customers the $20 cost for the first month of the season.

It’s not an ideal situation for Canadian fans, and it’s probably something the NFL wants to get fixed soon.

New England Patriots fans hold signs referring to Canada before an NFL football game between the Patriots and the Houston Texans. (AP)
New England Patriots fans hold signs referring to Canada before an NFL football game between the Patriots and the Houston Texans. (AP)

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!