A streaming service that is aiming to become a “Netflix of sport” is to expand to 200 countries, including the UK, and is targeting Premier League rights for the British market.
The London-based Dazn, which is owned by the billionaire Sir Leonard Blavatnik, currently operates in nine international markets but the high cost of sports rights driven by Sky and BT has delayed a UK launch.
Dazn, pronounced “Dazone”, is little-known in the UK but it has upset the traditional sports pay-TV model overseas. In December, Dazn secured the rights to Champions League football in Germany from 2021, ending Sky’s two-decade grip. Dazn also has Champions League and Premier League rights in Canada and Japan.
John Skipper, Dazn’s executive chairman and the former president of the sports broadcaster ESPN, told a conference late last year that Premier League rights are key to cracking the UK.
“The UK is a logical Dazn market,” he said. “In terms of the rights in this country, obviously you need Premier League rights, boxing is very important here and tennis is very important here.”
Even with Blavatnik’s billions – the Ukrainian-born tycoon also owns Warner Music, home to Ed Sheeran and Katy Perry, and has a stake in Spotify – Dazn is unlikely to have the war chest to unseat the prime rights held by Sky and BT. Sky and BT paid £4.5bn in the last three-year deal, which expires in 2022.
However, Amazon paid about £90m to simulcast 20 matches a season under the current deal, as the Premier League explored adapting its model for the streaming age. The Premier League is also considering selling matches on a Netflix-style channel of its own in select markets, dubbed Premflix, rather than to TV broadcasters.
Dazn will expand to 200 countries including the UK on 2 May, with an initial focus on boxing. Dazn has a $1bn (£780m) deal with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing, which promotes fighters including Anthony Joshua. However, the deal does not include Joshua’s fights in the UK, which are aired by Sky, which Dazn is expected to bid for when the deal comes up for renewal. The company also has a $350m deal in place with Canelo Álvarez, the largest contract in the history of boxing, as well as with promoters including Oscar de la Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions.
Dazn has yet to set the price of its new service but it is expected to be about £4.99 a month.
“Establishing Dazn as the global home of fight sports is just the first step,” said Joseph Markowski, the Dazn senior executive who is to run the new global service.