Shadowlands Required to Buy Dragonflight

If you plan to buy the World of Warcraft: Dragonflight expansion then you need to own Shadowlands.  If you did not play Shadowlands it is still required if you want to play Dragonflight.  This seems odd, but it is currently the way Blizzard has set things up. 

If you attempt to purchase Dragonflight without owning Shadowlands you are paywalled.  

But right now, if you want to buy Dragonflight, you’ll need to buy Shadowlands first. You’ll need to decide if the pre-purchase goodies are worth it to you or not.  Essentially, to get the Dragonflight pre-order goodies, you not only need to pre-order Dragonflight, but also own Shadowlands.