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DAZN
British sports streaming platform From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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DAZN (/dəˈzoʊn/; pronounced "da zone") is a British over-the-top sports streaming and entertainment platform.[2] Founded in 2007 as Perform Group via the merger of Premium TV Limited and Inform Group, it is owned by Access Industries, the investment group founded by Sir Len Blavatnik, and is headquartered in London, England.[3] Shay Segev is DAZN's CEO as of January 2021.[4] The non-executive directors are Lincoln Benet, John Gleasure and Guillaume D’Hauteville.[5]
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The DAZN platform was founded in 2015 and broadcasts live and on-demand sport in over 200 countries worldwide with a strong domestic presence in Italy, Spain, Germany, Japan, France, Portugal, Belgium, Taiwan, the United States and Canada, where it has key domestic broadcast rights.[6] It is considered to be Europe's largest digital sports broadcaster with over 75 programming rights.[7][8][9][10] As of 2023,[update] the service has 20 million paid subscribers globally.[6]
Outside of streaming, DAZN has since expanded into in-play betting, gaming, e-commerce, merchandise and ticketing with being originally involved in content distribution, subscription, advertising and sponsorship, and technology and production and also owns a significant minority stake in the leading football portal Goal after TPG's Integrated Media Company (IMC) acquired a majority stake in 2020.[6]
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History
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Formation and launch of the DAZN platform (2007–2018)
Perform Group was created in 2007 through the merger of Premium TV Limited, an event sport broadcasting network, and the Inform Group, a digital sports rights agency.[11][12][13]
In February 2011, Perform acquired Goal.com.[14] In 2011 and 2013 the company bought sports data companies RunningBall[15] and Opta Sports respectively.[16]
In 2013, Perform Group combined its U.S. businesses with The Sporting News to form Sporting News Media, in which it took a 65% stake. Sporting News' former owner American City Business Journals retained 35%.[17]
Perform Group was de-listed from the London Stock Exchange in November 2014 when Access Industries increased its stake in the company from 42.5% to 77%.[18]
In December 2014 Perform and the WTA announced a 10-year media deal, under which they would jointly form WTA Media to manage and distribute its media rights.[19] In February 2016, Perform Group and the FIBA announced a partnership to distribute and sell broadcasting rights to its basketball competitions.[20]
In February 2016, Perform Group announced its acquisition of exclusive worldwide media rights to Japanese J.League football under a 10-year, ¥210 billion (US$2 billion) contract, succeeding the league's ¥5 billion deal with SKY Perfect. Under the new contract, all matches from the three J.League divisions (J1, J2, and J3) would be broadcast under its new DAZN brand from 2017. The league described the contract as the largest broadcast rights deal in the history of Japanese sport.[21] In March 2023, DAZN extended its deal with J.League to 2033.[22]
In August 2016, Perform Group launched DAZN in Austria, Germany, Japan and Switzerland.[23][24][25][26] It described by media at the time as being the "Netflix for sport".[27]
In July 2017, DAZN announced that it would expand into Canada, after having acquired over-the-top streaming rights to the National Football League in Canada, including NFL Game Pass and access to NFL RedZone.[28][29][30] In August 2017, the company reached a deal to sublicense content from beIN Sports Canada, including selected UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League matches, as well as other international sports rights.[31] On 20 November 2017, DAZN acquired Canadian rights to International Basketball Federation (FIBA) events.[32]
In February 2018, DAZN sub-licensed Japanese rights to the B.League, Nippon Professional Baseball, La Liga, and the Premier League from Softbank.[33]
In February 2018, DAZN acquired Canadian broadcast rights to the 2018 Commonwealth Games and subsumed Major League Soccer's digital out-of-market service MLS Live — with live and on-demand streaming of matches featuring U.S. teams.[34][35] Roku support was also added that month.[36] In March, DAZN reached a syndication deal to carry content from Pac-12 Network on the service in Canada.[37]
In May 2018, DAZN announced that it had acquired exclusive Canadian rights to the UEFA Champions League and Europa League, beginning in the 2018–19 season and replacing TSN.[38][39] In April 2019, DAZN announced that it had acquired Canadian rights to the Premier League, replacing Sportsnet and TSN, under a three-year deal.[40][41]
US expansion, combat sports launch and corporate restructure (2018)
In May 2018, DAZN announced its expansion into the United States and the signing of a broadcasting deal with Matchroom Boxing.[42] The deal with Matchroom was signed for an initial two years with the option for a six-year extension.[42] Matchroom’s Chairman, Eddie Hearn, said that the deal was a "groundbreaking deal in the history of boxing".[43][44]
In the same month, former ESPN president John Skipper joined as executive chairman of Perform Group.[45] He later became the first chief executive officer of DAZN.[46]
In June 2018, DAZN announced a five-year streaming rights deal with the Viacom-owned mixed martial arts promotion Bellator and included the U.S. and all other regions currently served by DAZN. The rights include seven exclusive events per-year, as well as all events televised by Paramount Network.[47][48]
DAZN officially launched in the U.S. in September 2018, ahead of its first boxing event of Anthony Joshua vs Alexander Povetkin on 22 September. Its launch content also included the World Boxing Super Series, as well as the AFC Champions League, the Chilean Primera Division, J-League and other content.[49][50] DAZN's broadcast team for its U.S. boxing events is led by "Sugar" Ray Leonard and Brian Kenny on play-by-play, with LZ Granderson as ringside reporter, and Michael Buffer as ring announcer. Buffer appeared in a U.S. marketing campaign for the service, contrasting its business model to pay-per-views.[51][52]
In September 2018, DAZN's parent company Perform Group underwent a reorganization, with its sports data business spun into a second company known as Perform Content (which was later sold to Vista Equity Partners and merged with STATS LLC in 2019 to form Stats Perform, and its consumer properties (including DAZN itself, as well as several co-owned sports news websites) retained as DAZN Group and was later reported that this was in preparation for a potential sale of the latter in order to help fund the DAZN operations.[53][54][55]
In October 2018, DAZN announced that it had signed a five-year, 11-fight deal with Mexican boxer Canelo Álvarez valued at a minimum of $365 million, beginning with his then-upcoming bout against Rocky Fielding in December for the WBA super middleweight title. Álvarez was previously aligned with HBO, which had announced that it would discontinue boxing broadcasts. The contract overtook Giancarlo Stanton's $325 million contract with the Miami Marlins as the highest-valued contract with a single athlete in sport known at the time.[56][57][58][59]
In November 2018, Major League Baseball announced a three-year content partnership with DAZN, which includes on-demand highlights, and ChangeUp—a live nightly studio program featuring look-ins and analysis.[60][61] Just before the start of the 2020 season, DAZN cancelled MLB-related programming due to financial stresses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.[62]
In December 2018, DAZN was estimated to be worth £3 billion: it was described by the Evening Standard as one of the United Kingdom's few tech "unicorns".[63]
European and Asian launch (2018–2020)
DAZN launched in Italy in August 2018, with an acquisition of exclusive rights to 114 Serie A matches beginning in the 2018–19 season and other domestic rights on launch including the European Rugby Champions Cup, Showtime Championship Boxing, UFC programming, and the World Rally Championship.[64][65] In September, DAZN announced that in order to improve the accessibility of its Serie A rights, it would begin to offer a subscription-based linear channel on Sky Italia's satellite service.[66]
In January 2019, DAZN acquired the rights to broadcast the 2019 AFC Asian Cup in Canada and the United States.[67] In March 2019, DAZN doubled its U.S. monthly cost, but also introduced a new yearly option at a discount.[68]
DAZN launched in Spain in February 2019, becoming its eighth market.[69][70] The service went live with a roster of exclusive premium sport content including MotoGP, Moto 2 and Moto3 (2019–2022), EuroLeague, EuroCup and Premier League. Other rights included FA Cup, EFL Cup, Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana, EFL Championship, UFC, Golden Boy, Matchroom Boxing and PDC Darts.
On March 8, 2019, DAZN signed a three-year, six-fight deal with Gennady Golovkin, under which it would broadcast two fights per-year. The contract also includes two cards per-year from Golovkin's GGG Promotions beginning in 2020. The deal began with his June 2019 bout against Canadian boxer Steve Rolls. Golovkin's promoter explained that the choice of a Canadian boxer was intended to help encourage DAZN subscriptions in the country.[71][72][73] Golovkin cited the broadcaster's "global vision" as an influence on the decision.[74] On March 13, 2019, DAZN re-organized the Perform Media division into DAZN Media with handling of advertising and sponsorship sales for DAZN's global operations, including the "DAZN+" program (which coordinates "personalised communications" between its partners and subscribers), and DAZN Player (formerly ePlayer), the group's syndicated video content service.[75]
In April 2019, DAZN premiered a new show, Da Pull Up, hosted by Akin "Ak" Reyes and Barak Bess, and premiered the first episode of 40 Days - docuseries chronicling the lead-up to Canelo Álvarez's bout against Daniel Jacobs.[76][77]
In May 2019, the service announced an expansion into Brazil as its ninth market, acquiring rights to the Copa Sudamericana and Campeonato Brasileiro Série C, and other international football competitions among other properties.[78][79][80]
In July 2019, DAZN also reached a syndication deal with Eurosport in Austria, Germany, Italy, and Spain, allowing DAZN subscribers to access live and on-demand sports programming from Eurosport in these regions. In addition, DAZN sub-licensed 45 Bundesliga matches from Eurosport in Germany and Austria over the next two seasons — with 39 exclusive to the service.[81]
In July 2019, former Indianapolis Colts punter and WWE personality Pat McAfee signed a content deal with DAZN, which added television simulcasts of his podcast and The Pat McAfee Show to the service, as well as contributions to shoulder content for DAZN's NFL rights.[82] DAZN and McAfee terminated their broadcast partnership in May 2020.[83]
Global launch and appointment of Shay Segev (2020–2021)
In March 2020, DAZN announced that it would expand into 200 additional countries worldwide, with an initial focus on giving wider distribution to its boxing and original content portfolio.[84][85]
With the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in widespread suspension of international sport, DAZN stated in late March 2020 that it would not pay rightsholders for content that had not been delivered under their contracts.[86] In May 2020, the Financial Times reported that DAZN was seeking further investments in order to secure the future of the business, which had been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.[87][88]
In September 2020, DAZN extended their carriage agreement with Eurosport through August 2023, and added Switzerland to the agreement.[89]
In October 2020, it reached a deal to sell stakes in Goal, Spox, VoetbalZone to Integrated Media Company (IMC), a portfolio of TPG Capital,[90] and in December 2020 it sold Sporting News to PAX Holdings.[91]
In January 2021, former Entain CEO Shay Segev was named the new CEO of DAZN, after having acted alongside founder James Rushton for the previous six months.[4]
In March 2021, former Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International executive Kevin A. Mayer became the chairman of DAZN, replacing John Skipper.[92] That month, DAZN secured the exclusive broadcasting rights of Serie A TIM in Italy and LaLiga rights in Spain.[93]
DAZN announced a five-year agreement with Matchroom Sport in June 2021.[94] It also announced a four-year global broadcasting deal for the UEFA Women's Champions League (outside of China, the Middle East, and North Africa) under which it will partner with YouTube to simulcast 61 matches during the 2021–22 and 2022–23 seasons.[95]
In July 2021, the company agreed an eight-year deal for the rights of Japan’s Women Empowerment League.[96]
In October 2021, DAZN launched its proprietary video player, Mercury.[97]
In November 2021, the company launched DAZN X, its innovation hub.[98] In December 2021, DAZN was awarded the 2021 Apple TB App of the Year award.[99]
Diversification, continued expansions (2022–2024)
In 2022, DAZN began diversifying its platform beyond sports streaming to include a range of other sports entertainment, including the sale of tickets and merchandise, sports non-fungible tokens (NFTs), gaming and betting.[100][101]
DAZN Moments launched on 24 March 2022, however, DAZN would later published a notice on their dedicated website stating that the service would be terminated on 30 November 2023, with no further purchases or sales available. DAZN Moments would no longer be held by customers after 14 March 2024.[102] DAZN's NFTs launched in tandem with the Canelo Álvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders fight reportedly failed to generate a profit.[103]
In April 2022, DAZN launched "DAZN Bet" in the UK and signed a strategic partnership with Pragmatic Group to develop its sports betting product.[104] Shay Segev, Dazn CEO, said: "The convergence of sports media and betting is the future.”[105]
In May 2022, DAZN signed a deal to carry Red Bull TV, including live and on-demand content.[106] That same month, DAZN signed a four-event deal with KSI's Misfits Boxing, carrying cards under the branding "MF & DAZN: X Series".[107]
In June 2022, DAZN announced a global broadcasting deal with British boxer Anthony Joshua, beginning with his 20 August rematch against Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia. The deal was reported to be valued at £100 million per year, with Joshua also becoming a brand ambassador for DAZN.[108]
In July 2022, Segev stated that there were plans to add more interactive features to the platform, such as "watch parties", alternative broadcasts of events, and sports betting integration.[109]
In August 2022, DAZN and Misfits Boxing launched "MF & DAZN: X Series", which is a series of crossover boxing events that have influencers and celebrities complete in the boxing ring.[110]
In September 2022, DAZN announced that it would acquire sports broadcaster Eleven Group, expanding its position in parts of Asia and Europe, and in global sports streaming rights and technologies.[111][112] The acquisition was later finalized in February 2023.[113] Details of the acquisition were included in DAZN Group's published accounts, stating that Eleven was acquired on a share-only basis, while £35m in funding was provided to Eleven subject to an annual interest rate of 14%.[114]
In 2022, the company launched DAZN Store in Germany, its online e-commerce platform for fan merchandise.[115] That same year, DAZN reported revenues of $2.3 billion, over 70% increase from 2021, making it the highest grossing sports app in the world.[116]
In January 2023, DAZN signed a five-year deal with Misfits Boxing, and a multi-year agreement with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) to carry its programming in 42 Asian and European territories.[117] In February 2023, DAZN announced that it had acquired the global rights to the NFL's Game Pass service outside of the U.S. and China under a 10-year deal beginning in the 2023 NFL season; it will be sold as a standalone subscription service on the DAZN platform.[118][119]
In January 2023, DAZN and Amazon agreed a global distribution deal for DAZN’s streaming service on Amazon’s Prime Video Channels platform.[120]
In March 2023, DAZN Chairman Kevin A. Mayer two-year term came to an end.[121] That month, DAZN also launched the DAZN 1 channel on Sky in the UK and Ireland.[122]
In May 2023, DAZN launched two new global FAST channels, DAZN Combat and DAZN Women’s Football, which will be available globally through LG, Samsung TV Plus and VIDAA.[123] In July 2023 DAZN announced a partnership with DAIMANI to launch an integrated ticketing product for DAZN subscribers.[124] The same month, it also launched in Belgium, Portugal, and Taiwan, transitioning from former Eleven Sports services.[125]
In August 2023, it was announced DAZN had acquired US-based women’s football streaming platform ATA Football.[126] DAZN also launched in France, with the company reaching a sub-licensing agreement with Canal+ to stream weekly Ligue 1 fixtures on the service, and offer carriage of a DAZN 1 linear channel for Canal+ customers.[127] DAZN also announced a five-year partnership with U.S. sports merchandise retailer Fanatics, Inc.[128]
Saudi investments, acquisition of Foxtel (2024–present)
In October 2024, DAZN reached an agreement with Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority, giving it exclusive rights (co-exclusive within the MENA region) to Riyadh Season events, and international rights outside of MENA for its slate of boxing events.[129] The agreement came amid rumours that the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) was seeking to acquire a stake in DAZN;[129] the PIF stated that it "has no current plans to invest in the company".[130] In December 2024, DAZN acquired exclusive international rights to the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.[131][132]
In December 2024, DAZN announced that it would acquire Australian pay television provider Foxtel from News Corp Australia and Telstra in a AU$3.4 billion deal.[133] The sale, among other assets, will give DAZN control of Foxtel's Fox Sports networks and Hubbl streaming business, which includes competing OTT service Kayo Sports. The sale is expected to be completed in mid-2025. News Corp and Telstra will take 6% and 3% stakes in DAZN.[134][135][136]
In February 2025, it was reported that Surj Sports Investment, the sporting arm of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, had agreed to invest $1 billion in DAZN for a stake of less than 5%. The deal was concluded weeks after DAZN, whose losses have exceeded $1 billion annually since 2019, secured the rights to broadcast the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, and FIFA awarded the hosting rights for the 2034 FIFA World Cup to Saudi Arabia as the sole bidder for the tournament.[137]
In March 2025, DAZN announced a rights agreement for the Saudi-backed LIV Golf covering 200 territories, with exclusive rights in Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Portugal and Switzerland; this agreement will see DAZN host the league's FAST platform LIV Golf+, and develop a paid offering.[138][139]
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Availability and access
The DAZN platform is available in over 200 countries globally.[9] DAZN is available on most connected devices including digital media players, mobile apps, smart TVs, and PC.[140][120]
DAZN is available as an Amazon Channel for Amazon Prime subscribers.[120][122]
In September 2019, Comcast reached a deal with DAZN to offer an app for the service its Xfinity X1 cable boxes, becoming the first U.S. television provider to offer support for the service within their platform.[141]
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Controversies
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 | This article's "criticism" or "controversy" section may compromise the article's neutrality. (May 2024) |
Technical issues
The opening weekend of the J.League on DAZN saw multiple issues including buffering and other technical problems. Founder James Rushton would travel to Japan to make an in-person apology.[142][143]
The Canadian launch was met with technical issues, including inconsistent stream qualities, buffering, and latency between the streams and television broadcasts.[144][145] DAZN apologized for the "inadequate service" that it delivered and said it was working to rectify them.[144][145] As a result, DAZN began to distribute NFL Sunday Ticket to television providers in October 2017, as had been the case before.[145]
DAZN's broadcast of the Canelo Álvarez vs. Daniel Jacobs boxing fight on 4 May 2019 received numerous complaints for its streaming quality and claims of bias from the commentators.[146]
In Spain, Orange S.A. sought a settlement after DAZN's technical failures prevented both the transmission of La Liga matches to Orange and Movistar; together with incurring additional infrastructure costs. [147]
Serie A in Italy
In September 2021, Italian consumer group Codacons threatened a class action lawsuit against DAZN to revoke its broadcasting rights for Serie A football, after complaints of service blackouts. Italian telecommunications regulator AGCOM and the country's antitrust body opened investigations into the service. Italian undersecretary for sport Valentina Vezzali said: "We are monitoring the situation so that everything can be resolved for the benefit of the users, who are the ones who want to see their teams on television and cheer for their favorite team."[148]
DAZN continued to suffer technical issues during the season opening day of Serie A in August 2022, and was condemned by multiple Italian politicians and Italy's consumer protection organization Udicon. AGCOM also intervened, leading to DAZN issuing an apology, and offering compensations to affected customers.[149]
In January 2023, DAZN agreed to take urgent steps to improve its service in Italy, after its executives were called to a meeting with Italian government ministers Adolfo Urso and Andrea Abodi.[150]
Business ethics
DAZN has been accused of unethical business conduct.
In 2023, their monthly subscription was advertised at $19.99/month, however, subscribers were locked into a 12-month contract (The details of which are disclosed in the fine print), and were not allowed to cancel until the end of the 12 months. The monthly subscription plan, called "Flexible Pass" and priced at $24.99/month, required 30 days' notice in-advance of cancellation. The service would otherwise continue for another 30 days from when the user cancels, and the user would be charged on a pro-rate basis for excess time beyond the billing cycle. Only the yearly subscription would cancel at the end of the billing cycle regardless of when the user unsubscribes.[151]
DAZN was sued by the German Federal Association of Consumer Organizations (VZBV) over the alleged use of non-transparent contract clauses that allowed DAZN to make excessive contractual changes, including price adjustments. The Munich I Regional Court largely agreed with the VZBV, upholding many of the complaints.[152]
Financial performance
In its first published set of accounts in 2015, DAZN's losses before tax were £6.81 million. In 2016, losses before tax increased to £77.26 million. 2017 saw company losses before tax further grow to £259.4 million, and then in 2018 losses before tax were stated as over £520 million. Since the 2019 financial year to the most recent published set of accounts for 2022, losses before tax have exceeded £1 billion annually. The 2023 accounts for DAZN Limited at Companies House were not published until 18 February 2025, despite being due on 31 December 2024. DAZN's losses at the group level were stated as $1.46 billion.[153][154][155][156][157][158][159][160][161]
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Programming
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Sports rights
Noted sports rights held by DAZN include:
Football
Action sports
American football
Aquatic sports
Archery
Athletics
Baseball
Baseball5
Basketball
Beach soccer
Chess
Combat sports
Cricket
Cue sports
Cycling
Darts
Equestrian sports
eSports
Field hockey
Fishing
Five-a-side football
Golf
Handball
Historic football
Indoor football
Motorsport
Multi-sport
Netball
Padel
Pickleball
Professional wrestling
Rodeo
Roller hockey
Rugby sevens
Rugby union
Sailing
Skateboarding
Softball
Squash
Tennis
Triathlon
Ultramarathon
Volleyball
Weightlifting
Winter sports
Woodchopping
Linear channels
Linear channels on DAZN include:
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See also
Notes
References
External links
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