Why watching Champions League is better in US than Germany
One of the best parts about traveling abroad is that you often discover new things you’ve never seen or experienced before. Vice-versa, you also learn to appreciate the better things in life that you find stateside (Europe, I’m looking at you, and the lack of free, public restrooms). On the subject of soccer, however, there is a huge advantage to watching the UEFA Champions League in the United States.
No, it’s not CBS Sports’ coverage of the competition, although it is extraordinarily good. The biggest difference is Germany’s whip-around show for the UEFA Champions League.
What it’s like watching the Champions League whip-around show in Germany
Recently, while sitting in a restaurant near the market square in Leipzig (which dates back to before the year 1500), I had a chance to experience what it’s like watching the Champions League on a typical Wednesday night.
I was pretty shocked by what I saw.
First, the whip-around show in Germany is live on DAZN. No surprise there, but hearing about the cost of the streaming service was certainly sticker shock. Soccer fans in Germany pay either €45 ($46.80) per month for DAZN or €30 ($31.25) per month for an annual subscription. In comparison, Paramount+’s monthly price of $7.99 is a steal.
Second, the whip-around show itself is very similar in format to Paramount+’s The Golazo Show. No surprise there. But I was soon to experience a major shock during an evening when seven Champions League games were in action. The whip-around show bounced around from game to game, as it normally does. But as the broadcast continued, I kept on feeling like I was missing something.
Several minutes later, I realized what it was. The DAZN whip-around broadcast wasn’t showing any action from the biggest Champions League game of the night (which happened to be Real Madrid vs Borussia Dortmund).
But why?
I quickly discovered that Amazon Prime Video has the first pick of the biggest Champions League match, so Real Madrid-Dortmund was streaming exclusively on Amazon instead. And DAZN’s whip-around coverage wasn’t allowed to show any clips of it. Even more strange was that after the games were over, DAZN didn’t show any highlights of the Amazon game either.
So, in Germany, you need two devices and two separate subscriptions to watch all of the Champions League matches happening at the same time. That’s so bizarre compared to what we’re used to in the United States.
A monthly subscription to Amazon Prime is €9 in Germany ($9.38), or you can get an annual subscription for €90 ($93.78).
Ouch! To watch all of the Champions League matches in Germany, you’re paying $56 per month unless you take advantage of the cost savings of getting an annual subscription to DAZN and Amazon. Of course, both those services include a ton of other sports and content, but so too does Paramount+.
So, it puts Paramount+’s price in context. Plus it gives me a lens into how expensive it is to stream soccer in Germany. Das ist nicht gut, ja?
Photo: IMAGO / Sportimage