FAST Tubi adds live MMA, soccer content with DAZN partnership

Tubi, the free, ad-supported streaming TV service owned by Fox, is expanding into the live sports arena thanks to a deal with British streamer DAZN.

The deal calls for Tubi to launch three channels for users in the U.S. and Canada.

DAZN TV and DAZN Ringside, which focuses on mixed martial arts, and DAZN Women's Soccer (North American Soccer) will both feature a mix of live and recorded sports programming. DAZN TV includes some general sports programming as well as soccer programming.

DAZN Ringside is now available to consumers in the United States and can stream DAZN TV to consumers in Canada.

DAZN Women's Soccer focuses on the UEFA Women's Champions League.

These new channels mark Tubi's entry into the live sports FAST market. Despite the channel being fairly niche, this move could still be significant as an important strategic step by Tubi.

Many other streamers are ramping up their live sports offerings, both free and paid, including featuring games long held by traditional media rights holders. While many of these services tend to be niche or lower league, there are some important moves to provide streamers with more general interest sports matchups.

In some cases, these matches appear to be an effort to attract viewers and subscribers with so-called tentpole content, which can ultimately lead to some kind of loss leadership for the streamer.