DAZN Halts New Registrations for World Cup Soccer Plan Over Pricing Confusion
The suspension marks a rare admission from a major streaming platform that its own pricing UI misled customers, potentially setting a precedent for how subscription services in Japan disclose automatic contract conversions.
Reporting from 2 sources: ASCII.jp, KAI-YOU.
Sports streaming service DAZN suspended new sign-ups for its "DAZN Soccer" plan on June 18 after criticism over misleading pricing displays tied to the FIFA World Cup. The plan, advertised at 980 yen per month for the first three months, automatically converted to a mandatory annual contract at 2,600 yen per month from the fourth month, totaling 26,340 yen even if users canceled early. Social media users had flagged the issue since June, noting that the annual contract notation resembled the monthly plan's display. DAZN acknowledged the guidance and contract procedures were difficult to understand and potentially misleading. The company said it would identify affected users and contact them by email, with specific relief measures to be announced later. The controversy escalated after KAI-YOU editor-in-chief Onda publicly stated he mistakenly registered under the plan and was seeking a refund.
KAI-YOU editor-in-chief Onda, who publicly stated he mistakenly registered for the plan, works for the outlet that first reported the suspension. DAZN's June 18 statement said it "takes this matter seriously and prioritizes customer response." The company said it would provide specific details on how to address affected users within the same day, identify potentially affected users, and contact them sequentially via email.
The "DAZN Soccer" plan, priced at 980 yen per month for the first three months, appeared cheaper than the standard DAZN plan at 1,980 yen per month. But from the fourth month it became a mandatory annual contract at 2,600 yen per month, totaling 26,340 yen even if a user canceled early. Critics called the pricing display a dark pattern targeting new users interested in watching the World Cup.
Since June, social media users had flagged the issue, noting that "the annual contract plan notation looks similar to the monthly contract plan" and "I accidentally selected the annual contract plan." DAZN acknowledged the guidance and contract procedures had displays that were difficult to understand and potentially misleading. The company suspended new registrations effective June 18.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 2 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.
Sources
- ASCII.jp DAZNサッカー受付停止「誤解招く可能性あった」
- KAI-YOU DAZN、サッカーW杯視聴プランの新規登録を停止 誤解を招く料金表示が問題に