DAZN already has everything ready to start its broadcasts of the 2023 MotoGP World Championship, the same championship that, five years ago now, It earned him as the main claim after landing in Spaininheriting a large part of the human team that commented on and broadcast the races on Movistar, starting with its director and main voice, Ernest Riveras.
The British sports streaming platform kicked off 2023 with unexpected news: the increase in the monthly fee for its most consumed package, DAZN Essential, from 12.99 euros to 18.99 euros, a price increase that was widely criticized by hundreds of subscribers through social networks, some of them stating their anger with a drop in service by not accepting the new conditions imposed by DAZN .
From the British OTT there has not been a clear explanation of the reason behind this increase in quotas, although they insist that their sports catalog continues to grow year after year and This results in a higher cost of acquiring sports rights.
This year, subscribers to DAZN Essential can see, in addition to MotoGP, WorldSBK and Formula 1other events such as the Premier League, Bundesliga or Serie A, UEFA Women’s Champions League, Finetwork Liga F, access the Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2 channels or watch the Euroleague Basketball, as well as various disciplines of boxing and mixed martial arts.
Ernest Riveras went to Madrid this past Monday to present the debut of the MTHelmets-MSi team, and there he was approached by Nico Abad on his YouTube channel. The one who was a MotoGP presenter during his time on Telecinco asked Riveras about this latest DAZN price increase, and the Catalan’s response was that “That’s what they have to answer.” in reference to the British OTT.
Riveras affirms that he does not know the reasons behind this change in the conditions of access to the platform, although he ventures to say that “more and more sports are taken, and sports never fall out of budget, the rights. I do not know exactly what the business model is, but I assure you that if they have done it, it is because they have studied it“, says the voice of MotoGP in Spain.
However, Ernest says he understands the general anger of DAZN subscribers after this increase in fees, although at the same time he remembers that covering a championship of the caliber of MotoGP, with so many races spread around the world and moving a human team of dozens of people, represents a very bulky expense: “I understand that people are angry, I understand perfectly. But in the end, look, a championship with 21 races, the entire planet, 18 countries… it’s a very ‘heavy’ thing”, supports MotoGP content director on DAZN.
Riveras also gave some brushstrokes about the change that the World Cup broadcasts will undergo starting this year. For the first time, neither Ernest nor his most direct collaborators will be present in the paddock; Instead of traveling around the world, the bulk of the team will stay in Spain to carry out the broadcasts from a brand new studio, although they will keep Izaskun Ruiz and Natacha Alfageme on the circuits to offer first-hand information.
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The Catalan journalist confirmed into Nico Abad’s microphone that “This year we do not travel” for the first time since MotoGP came to DAZN. According to Riveras, he “I wanted to keep traveling” and offering coverage of the races from the circuit, but finally the British platform has decided “make a new concept, with a virtual set, something that people will like” and that it will be a reality within a month, on the occasion of the first Grand Prix of the year in Portugal.