DAZN, the sports streaming service powered by Perform Group, has doubled its Italian customer base since launching Aug. 18, despite a myriad of streaming problems.
The service, which recently signed soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo as a brand ambassador, said that the number of registered users has more than doubled since the first weekend of the Serie A.
The announcement, which was initially reported by SportsPro Media, comes despite a number of complaints that have arisen in recent weeks about the quality of its streaming service there, including slow load times and sudden interruptions.
DAZN addressed that in a statement published Sunday evening in which it said that the quality of its service has improved as buffering times have been reduced.
“Thanks to the daily commitment of our team, the quality of the service has also improved and we have halved the average buffering time of the users compared to the first weekend,” the company said. “These improvements are a starting point for us; our commitment will, in fact, be constant in improving the experience of our customers day after day.”
This isn’t the first time DAZN has dealt with blows about its service. Last year, DAZN users in Canada suffered glitches on NFL streams. DAZN eventually admitted to those issues amid user complaints, saying there were “no excuses” and that its debut in Canada did not go as planned.
Earlier this year, DAZN scored the exclusive rights to three Serie A matches a week. Later this month, it will launch in the U.S. with a robust offering of boxing and MMA matches.
SportTechie Takeaway
DAZN has been known to host over-the-top media events to drum up interest in its service ahead of major launches. This has been increasingly important as the company suffers public relations blackeyes in Canada and Italy related to the quality of its service. DAZN’s next major launch will be in the U.S., where it has inked partnerships with U.K.-based Matchroom (for boxing) and Bellator (for MMA). In the U.S., DAZN has set a subscription fee of $9.99, double the price of ESPN+, on promises of pay-per-view-quality content.