This past week, two women’s football leagues have found new broadcasting homes in the Nordics. Disney+ has secured the rights to stream matches from the American league National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) across the region. The NWSL is considered the world’s second-largest women’s football league and features several Nordic players.

Two NWSL matches will be available on Disney+ each week and included in all subscription tiers. Additionally, every match from the playoffs—beginning later this fall—will also be available for streaming.

With this move, Disney+ continues to expand its sports portfolio in the Nordics. The platform had previously secured rights to the UEFA Europa League and Conference League in Denmark and Sweden, as well as the new golf league TGL across the region.

In Denmark, TV 2 has acquired the rights to the top domestic women’s football league, Kvindeligaen. A six-year broadcasting and streaming agreement has been signed between TV 2 and the Women’s Division Association, effective until 2031.

Currently, Kvindeligaen is available via www.kvindeliga.live, a direct-to-consumer platform powered by Staylive. From 2021 to 2024, the rights were held by Viaplay.

The new agreement, which takes effect from the 2025/26 season, guarantees that at least one match per week will be broadcasted on one of TV 2’s linear sports channels, with all remaining matches streamed on TV 2 Play.

“We are ready to be an active partner in helping elevate the women’s football league in Denmark. We see great potential in the Women’s League—not least with the involvement of Denmark’s biggest clubs. And we believe that together, we can substantially grow interest over the coming years. We are fully aware that it may not happen overnight, which is why a long-term agreement has been key for TV 2,” says Frederik Lauesen, Sports Director at TV 2.

“This broadcasting right also fits perfectly with TV 2’s DNA, which includes covering all of Denmark—just as we do with both the men’s and women’s handball leagues and the 3F Superliga,” Lausen added.

A new streaming tax has officially come into effect in Denmark. As part of the 2023 media agreement, streaming services operating in the country are now required to pay a “cultural levy” to continue their operations. The first so-called Audit Statement was due on Monday, March 31.

A total of 17 streaming platforms—including Amazon Prime Video, Google, Netflix, TV 2 Denmark, and Viaplay Group—have agreed to report their revenues and investments to the Danish government, according to the Danish Agency for Culture and Palaces (SLKS).

The tax is set at 2 percent of the streaming service’s Danish revenue. However, it can rise to 5 percent if a platform does not reinvest at least 5 percent of its Danish revenue into Danish content.

Only platforms with annual revenues exceeding DKK 15 million and more than 19,000 users are subject to the tax.

Industry experts estimate that around DKK 100 million could be injected into the production ecosystem via this tax. However, actual figures remain uncertain, particularly because revenue from sports and sports-related investments are excluded from the tax base.

“No money has entered the industry yet; we are waiting to discover how the cultural contribution programme will work—and the size of it. Of course, we expect the cultural contribution to substantially contribute to the industry’s strained financial situation, said Anna Porse Nielsen, CEO of Producentforeningen Denmark, in an interview with Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

The Danish Film Institute (DFI) expressed optimism as the process gets underway.

“We look forward to the funds finding their way into the industry. We also look forward to discovering how much the cultural contribution will yield in total, and the distribution between investments and pure contribution,” commented Tine Fischer, CEO of the Danish Film Institute, speaking to Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

On Monday, Swedish podcast company Perfect Day introduced a new subscription service called Perfect Day Plus, offering ad-free access to its podcast catalogue.

Perfect Day’s portfolio includes some of Sweden’s most popular podcasts, such as Ursäkta, Alex & Sigge, Filip & Fredrik, Gynning & Berg, and Fördomspodden.

“The willingness to pay for premium content continues to increase. So, launching a subscription service that offers listening without commercial interruptions feels like a natural first step to meet market demand,” says Karolina Sandberg, co-CEO of Perfect Day, in an interview with Dagens Media.

“A premium service gives Perfect Day the opportunity to release exclusive formats, add premium content, and offer additional benefits for subscribers,” Sandberg added.

The Perfect Day Plus subscription costs 59 SEK per month, with the ad-free content available across all podcast platforms. Meanwhile, all the company’s podcasts will continue to be available for free, with ads.

TV 2 og producent har klinket skårene og vender tilbage til oprindelig plan for Superliga-kampe – Mediawatch

Marie Nilsson: Sportsändningar i sin linda – så kan de utvecklas framåt – Dagens Media

Competition intensifies in Finnish streaming market – Broadband TV News

TV4-affären – en Norgehistoria som skakar om – Sveriges Radio

Podcastlyssnandet på ny rekordnivå i Sverige – Omni

Over 700,000 households in Sweden now have access to illegal IPTV – Nordisk Film & TV Fond

Research: Sweden adds 1m SVoD subs in 2024 – Advanced Television

Apparna avslöjar svenskarnas dåliga vanor – Dagens Industri

Research: Half Norwegian households now have streaming bundles via operators – Advanced Television

Tiktok störst bland unga – det blir konsekvenserna – Expressen

Stadig flere velger strømming med reklame: – Lar seg ikke skremme – Kampanje