Ten Minutes on a Tuesday So the Opening Bell Never Buffers

A hands-on walkthrough of setting up Dazn in the US before fight night: creating the account, picking a plan, installing the app on TV, phone and laptop.

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Start with the account, not the remote

Pick a quiet evening days before the card. Open Dazn in a browser and register at the home page, or download the app on your phone and register there. If you already have a Dazn account, sign in instead. That single login is what everything else hangs off, because all Dazn content is broadcast online through the app on a smart device or through a web browser.

There is no cable account to dig out and no TV subscription to prove. What you need is an internet connection or a mobile data signal and a Dazn subscription. One useful detail while you are poking around: Dazn also carries free material that costs nothing but still requires a Dazn account to access, so creating the login gives you something to open and test before the night matters.

Do this part first. The rest of the setup gets simpler once the account exists.

Choosing a plan at checkout

In the United States, Dazn lists three subscription structures: Monthly, Annual Pay Monthly and Annual Pay Upfront. The two annual options are 12-month contracts. Monthly is a rolling monthly contract, so that is the one to take if you are buying around a single fight night and want the shorter commitment.

A subscription lets you watch every live event and all on-demand programming on Dazn. Worth knowing before you click: some major boxing and combat-sports events require an additional pay-per-view purchase outside the subscription, and Dazn offers a boxing subscription tier that includes PPV fight nights. Work out which one your card falls under while you still have time to buy it calmly.

One more checkout decision. You can subscribe with Dazn directly, or through a third party such as Apple, Google, Roku or Amazon. Third-party subscriptions have to be managed and cancelled on that platform, since Dazn cannot cancel them for you.

Install it on the TV, the phone and the laptop

Now spread the app around the house. Download Dazn from the app store on your TV, phone, tablet or streaming device, and sign in with the same account each time. Programming and live events play on smart TVs, smartphones, tablets, streaming devices, games consoles, laptops, PCs and Macs, so the laptop makes an easy backup if the TV app misbehaves on the night.

Open each one while nothing is at stake. Play something on demand, let it run and watch the picture settle. Dazn streams live and on-demand sport at 1080HD quality, so this is the moment to confirm the sound is coming out of the right speakers and the living room connection holds.

Two notes before fight night. Dazn is available on Prime Video in the US, and Dazn pay-per-view events can be bought through Prime Video, though Dazn is not included free with Amazon Prime; it stays an independent service with its own paid subscription. And VPN use is not permitted, with country-based rights restrictions in place.

What the subscription puts on the screen

With the apps installed and signed in, look at what the account carries beyond the one fight you bought it for. The US subscription includes access to more than 185 fights per year from promoters including Matchroom, Golden Boy, Queensberry, Misfits, PFL and BKFC.

Alongside combat sports there is international soccer from leagues including Serie A, Jupiler Pro League and LALIGA, plus golf and basketball. Dazn broadcasts NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, boxing, soccer, MMA, motorsports and other sports in over 200 countries, and the live events on offer differ by country because streaming rights differ from market to market.

There is non-live content too: shows and replays, which is what goes on the screen while the room fills up and the undercard warms through. Dazn describes itself as a global sports entertainment platform delivering live and on-demand sport by streaming, and the name is pronounced "Da Zone" if anyone in the room asks.

Ten minutes on a Tuesday beats ten minutes at the bell

Add the job up: register the account, choose between Monthly, Annual Pay Monthly and Annual Pay Upfront, install the app on the TV, the phone and the laptop, sign in on each, and play something on demand to confirm the 1080HD picture and the sound are behaving. It fits in one short sitting on a quiet evening.

Doing it days early means the only thing left on the night is pressing play. No app store password hunt. No discovering mid-walkout that a major event needs a separate pay-per-view purchase. No internet connection you have never tested with live sport.

What you keep afterwards runs long past the one card: every live event and all on-demand programming, more than 185 fights a year from Matchroom, Golden Boy, Queensberry, Misfits, PFL and BKFC, soccer from Serie A, LALIGA and the Jupiler Pro League, golf and basketball, and the shows and replays in between. Set it up now, and the opening bell plays on time.