Boreham Wood FC owner Danny Hunter has launched a fierce public attack on sports streaming platform Dazn, urging fans to boycott the service entirely.
Hunter published an extended message on the club’s website, describing Dazn’s handling of fixture scheduling as “a complete joke” and “utter nonsense.”
The outburst was triggered by a change to Boreham Wood’s home match against Carlisle United, moved from a 3pm Saturday kick-off to 5:30pm to suit the broadcaster.
Hunter argued the rescheduling harmed travelling supporters, particularly those making long journeys from clubs such as Carlisle and Southend.
“It’s a complete joke that amazingly loyal fans, especially at Carlisle, Southend and elsewhere, are made to struggle to get themselves to certain away games because of these ridiculous streaming company schedules,” Hunter said.
He accused the National League board of failing to consult member clubs before agreeing to fixture changes made purely to benefit Dazn’s viewing figures.
“In my opinion, National League football, for no real money, is being held over a barrel by a streaming company, while supporters of its larger clubs are being discriminated against almost weekly with these deliberately timed late kick-offs,” Hunter said.
Hunter went further, calling on fans to collectively refuse to purchase any Dazn streams as a form of organised protest against the broadcaster’s scheduling practices.
“I would also encourage our league’s board, through respectful messaging, to find a way to end this deal with a streaming company who charge loyal fans an awful lot, care nothing for the real fans’ well-being and, in my opinion, give our clubs such poor production value,” he added.
Dazn is currently in the third year of a seven-year contract with the National League, covering the sixth and seventh tiers of English football, showing 290 live games per season.
Subscriptions to the service cost £20 per month or £130 per year, with the deal also covering play-off fixtures throughout the season.
Hunter claimed he previously attempted to meet National League leadership to raise his concerns but was told there was “no appetite amongst the board to meet me.”
He questioned why a full league programme was scheduled at 7:45pm on a Friday evening last season, saying no clubs received additional payment for having their matches broadcast.
“We are not performing seals, and none of us received one penny extra for having every one of our games televised,” Hunter said, criticising the lack of discussion with member clubs.
He concluded by accusing Dazn of being the “ringmasters” of the arrangement, describing National League clubs as the board’s “performing poodles” receiving “literally a pittance, or nothing, for the privilege of working with Dazn.”
Dazn was approached for comment but had not responded at the time of publication.