DAZN Live Sports Review: Pros, Cons & More

Times have changed thanks to subscription streaming services and internet platforms. Instead of upgrading your television to pay-per-view, people can subscribe to their choice of platform to watch content that appeals to their viewing preferences.

Subscribers have endless options to choose from, especially when it comes to sports-centric coverage, but today we will focus on the streaming service DAZN. If you’re considering enrolling in a monthly subscription of DAZN, or you’re curious about the company or app, keep reading.

This guide will answer everything you want to know about the sports platform.

DAZN is a London-based platform delivering the best sports coverage to users worldwide. It reaches several countries and provides access to on-demand sports and live sports coverage. DAZN — pronounced Da Zone — launched in 2016.

The app costs $19.99 a month for top-notch sports coverage, and you do not even need to sign a contract to subscribe to this service. DAZN focuses more on the fighting and MMA side of sports coverage, but they do have channels covering other sports as well.

DAZN At a Glance

Key Features:

• Non-contract, over-the-top internet subscription
• Live sports coverage and on-demand sports coverage
• Affordable coverage of sports compared to pay-per-view or other services
• Exclusive fight coverage
• Wide reach of coverage

Product Specifications:

• Focuses mainly on fighting and boxing matches
• Covers European fights, unlike other services
• Compatible with most servers and devices
• Schedule guide
• NFL, MLB, and other channels

Pros:

• You don’t have to sign a contract
• Great contact sports coverage
• Easy to use
• Can cancel whenever
• Has a large library of content

Cons:

• No free trial
• Mostly contact sports coverage
• Quality ranges and app is prone to buffering
• Must watch live coverage in lower quality (720p)
• Schedule only shows upcoming content, not present content

We rate DAZN 7/10

Why Get DAZN?

If you are still on the fence about whether or not DAZN is right for you, we explore its key features in-depth to help you make a final decision.

No Contract Subscription Service

The difference between cable or satellite TV and subscription services lies in the contract. When you sign up for cable services, you sign a paper promising you’ll keep service for a set amount of time. When you invest in a streaming service, you can cancel whenever you wish without a charge, and you never have to pledge you will use the service for a specified amount of time.

If you choose DAZN and discover it is not the best fit for you, log in to your account, go to settings, and end your subscription.

We love this feature as it allows people who do not want to invest in a cable service to have a similar experience to those who watch live sports coverage on cable or pay-per-view.

Rating: 10/10

Live and On-Demand Sports Coverage

DAZN covers real-time sports events in its monthly subscription, making the cost of the program appealing to sports fans around the world. Usually, a sports fan has to pay an expensive pay-per-view rate to watch one combat sports match, but with DAZN, users get access to live matches and European matches.

European games used to be extremely hard to access online, and although the site might buffer, it beats all other sporting platforms with its international reach.

After you watch a live match, you can go back and rewatch it as many times as you wish. DAZN acts like a cloud DVR with its catalog of replays and behind-the-scenes content.

Watching live coverage of a match is wonderful, but if you prefer to watch a program at your own pace after it airs, you can access content via on-demand. Select whichever program you wish to consume, and you can pause, play, rewind, and fast-forward as you please.

Expensive cable plans and satellite services often include on-demand services, but with DAZN’s monthly program, you get the same satisfaction for less money.

We think this is a fantastic feature as it is the cheapest, most comprehensive coverage of fighting out there today.

Rating: 9/10

Affordable Coverage

DAZN offers live coverage of sports and on-demand coverage as well as play-by-plays, behind-the-scenes, and replays of matches and games. For $19.99 a month or $99.99 a year, you can watch any and all the American and European content you want.

Depending on your country of residence, you might be able to tune into different programs from different countries, but even being able to access European boxing matches makes DAZN a platform to look out for. European matches are not easy to find on the internet, and purchasing a pay-per-view fight can cost up to $100 for a one-time viewing.

DAZN does focus mostly on boxing and MMA fighting; however, it comes at a much cheaper rate than buying pay-per-view for each fight you want to watch. Even if you watch one fight a month, you get your money’s worth compared to pay-per-view.

You save more money if you choose to purchase an annual subscription. The cost decreases from $19.99 per month to $8.33 per month. Without a free trial, you won’t know if you like DAZN until you purchase a monthly or a yearly subscription. However, purchasing either plan gives a user their money’s worth.

We like this feature. Who doesn’t love an affordable subscription service?

Rating: 8/10

Exclusive Fight Coverage

DAZN partners with a few fighters in the industry, which gives its users extended access to their content and material. DAZN partners with these fighters:

• Canelo Álvarez
• Ryan Garcia
• Gennadiy “GGG” Golovkin
• Katie Taylor

Those who subscribe to DAZN get to watch extra coverage and fights with these individuals. That is not something you get with a pay-per-view purchase.

This feature is okay, depending on your preference of fighters.

Rating: 8/10

Wide Reach of Coverage

DAZN covers sports from several countries, and it also offers services in a variety of countries.

Those countries include:

• The United States
• Japan
• Canada
• Brazil
• Italy
• Spain
• Switzerland
• Austria
• Germany
• Puerto Rico
• Virgin Islands

Sometimes users try to tune in to content outside their region by using a VPN. A VPN, or virtual private network, usually blocks your IP address and allows you to view content not available in your country, but with DAZN, the software registers if someone is using a VPN and won’t allow them to view the content.

The fact the subscription reaches multiple countries is great. Still, the server could benefit from waiving the VPN rules and expanding to other countries.

Rating: 6/10

Easy to Use

DAZN is compatible with most platforms, sideloading apps, and servers, including:

• Playstation 4, 4 Pro, 5
• XBOX One, One S, Series S, Series X
• Amazon Fire TV, Fire Stick
• Android TV
• Chromecast
• Smart TV
• Roku
• Apple TV
• Android phones and tablets
• Apple phones and tablets

We love this feature. Use DAZN anywhere.

Rating 10/10

Let’s Look At Some Negative Aspects of DAZN

This subscription service has a great number of positive aspects, but it has its share of negative aspects as well. Here are some of the traits to think about before investing in a DAZN subscription.

Quality

Some streaming services gain respect from users because they stream in High-Definition (HD) or Ultra HD resolution. If they do not stream in these regiments, they might come in at a 1080p which is a clear pixelated image resolution. DAZN does not stream in HD or Ultra HD.

The highest quality live coverage stream DAZN reaches is 720p per stream. DAZN can stream on-demand content at 1080p. However, depending on the platform you stream on and the content you select, the server selects the best quality to provide smooth streaming.

This means you could want to stream in 720p, but your internet server and the bandwidth connection operate at 540p to maximize the performance.

Streaming on a lower resolution prevents the video from buffering or lagging even though the quality is not as sharp as higher resolution images.

If you have trouble connecting to your internet network, you can restart your router, update the app, or select a lower quality to stream content.

DAZN is great for live sports coverage of boxing and MMA matches, but if you yearn for a crystal clear stream of a fight, the maximum pixels you get with DAZN is 720p.

This isn’t the best feature, but since you pay a significant amount less than fights on pay-per-view, it is bound to have some negative aspects.

No Free Trial

Free trials allow users to test out a subscription before they fully commit to the service. Free trials range from five days to one week, or one month. During the free trial, you get access to all content included in the paid subscription. This trial period lets you get a feel for the platform and lets you watch the content you desire.

Free trials are great, but some companies do away with them if they see a rise in free trials and a decline in subscriptions. DAZN used to offer a free trial, but now they only let users choose between a monthly or annual service subscription.

You can read about the platform and the content it includes, but you won’t get a feel for the actual service until you subscribe. If you only choose a one-month plan, you can cancel any time, and the service will allow you to use DAZN for the remainder of the one month you purchased.

This is not the best part of the server, although a lot of subscriptions are getting rid of their free trials. So, it makes sense that DAZN joined the trend.

Mostly Contact Sports Coverage

DAZN offers some other sports-related coverage, such as football, basketball, and baseball, but the service primarily aims at those interested in contact sports coverage and fights. This benefits those who only tune in to sports for this reason, but if you are looking for a broader scope of all sports, DAZN might not be the program for you.

Also, DAZN reaches nine countries (the US includes Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands), and the coverage of sports ranges between each country. All countries receive fight coverage and live matches. However, Japan might not see the same sports Canada can.

Again, if you are a fan of MMA and boxing, you get a huge selection of fights for a reduced price compared to pay-per-view without signing a contract, but most of the coverage is indicative of boxing and MMA fighting as opposed to other sports.

This feature goes both ways. If you love contact sports, this is the best subscription for you. If you’d rather watch football, you might want to invest in ESPN instead.

Schedule Shows Upcoming Content

TV guides help users see what is coming up and what is currently on different channels. DAZN’s guide does not show what is currently playing on the channels. All it shows is what you last watched and the content coming up in the next few weeks.

This feature lets you schedule the fights or games you want to watch in the future, yet it does not serve you if you want to watch a different game at that moment.

You can scroll through the channels, but you might not remember which channel has the content you want to watch the most. It is a bit more of a nitpicky factor of the app, yet other apps do offer a TV guide that shows what is playing at that exact moment.

Conclusion

DAZN is a great server for those who favor contact sports.

Premier access to MMA fights, boxing matches, affordable plans, and a no-contract subscription makes DAZN stand out in the sports world. Instead of paying an exorbitant amount of money for every fight, you want to watch on pay-per-view, you can enroll in a service that gives you access to hundreds of those fights for a low monthly cost.

Although DAZN has some downsides to it, it is the best contact sports coverage server on the market today.