The last week of September saw sports streaming platform DAZN team up with pledge-based social impact charitable movement Common Goal for a campaign and a multi-million dollar pledge, a 1% global employee time and a resource commitment.
The partnership is focused on three fundamental and deep-rooted issues within and beyond football: gender equity, racial justice, and cultural diversity and is based around a shared belief that sport can be a catalyst for social change as well as the deep-rooted common goal to drive long-term, solution-oriented change around critical issues at the intersection of sport and society.
Promoted by a PR and digital campaign, the tie-up was introduced by a launch event and a hero ‘DAZN Joins Common Goal’ video posted on 23 September.
Following the initial announcement campaign phase, DAZN plan to use its storytelling ecosystem to foster open and meaningful dialogue around the themes and issues and to contribute towards action-oriented change via Common Goal’s own social impact initiatives and partner community organisations around the world.
The partnership’s creative content will drive meaningful dialogue and action and be communicated through co-branded and co-produced content centred on gender equity, racial justice and cultural diversity as they relate to sport.
While the streaming media company will directly support several existing Common Goal initiatives including:
> The Common Ground initiative – a programme aimed to reach young people affected by the pandemic in Germany through street football.
> The Global Goal 5 Accelerator – which hopes to grow girls’ participation in football on the field, increase the proportion of female coaches, and arm organizations with a curriculum around gender equity in football.
> The Anti-Racist Project – a programme focused on addressing racism in football as well as providing anti-racism training for decision-makers, coaches, and players at all levels, as well as fans.
> The Play Proud initiative – a coach-centred exchange program working to make grassroots sports more inclusive for LGBTQ+ children and young people.
“At DAZN, we believe we can, and so, we must be a part of the ongoing solution. Together with Common Goal, we’ll collectively tackle the critical barriers of sports inequality in a way that aims to galvanize the football world and create lasting, equitable impact,” commented DAZN Chief Communications Officer Nancy Elder.
“As a global broadcaster, media company, and industry disruptor, DAZN was not only born out of the desire to make sports accessible for all, we have also quickly grown to understand it is our responsibility to take action,” added DAZN Co-CEO James Rushton. “Common Goal exists to unite the global football industry and tackle the greatest social challenges of our time, and we are committed to working hand in hand with them to change the game together.”
“The Common Goal movement has shown that football can only fulfil its true potential as a force for positive change for people and planet when we work together. This groundbreaking partnership with DAZN is a celebration of a shared commitment to taking action right now,” added Common Goal Co-Founder and CEO Jürgen Griesbeck. “We look forward to getting to work on bringing the partnership to life and in doing so empowering girls, boys and young people around the world to fulfil their potential. We hope that DAZN’s leadership inspires other industry stakeholders to join the Common Goal movement.”
“It is brilliant to see the Common Goal movement, with now over 200 player and manager members, being embraced by DAZN, an important and innovative force in global sport,” added Co-Founder and Manchester United and Spain star Juan Mata. “Through this long-term partnership, DAZN is demonstrating its commitment to racial justice, gender equity and cultural diversity in a tangible and powerful way that will enable us to tell the stories of many player activists and young people around the world who are positively impacted by Common Goal.”
Comment:
Common Goal was created by streetfootballworld and launched with a campaign fronted by co-founder and Man Utd and Spain midfielder Juan Mata back in 2017.
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