Recently, DAZN announced plans for global expansion this year into more than 200 countries and territories. According to a report from Digiday, expansion could be the next step in the OTT streaming service’s ability to acquire major sports broadcasting rights, including the NBA and NFL.
“Launching globally, that reinforces our position as a growing and legitimate broadcaster for those rights as they become available,” said Joseph Markowski, EVP at DAZN, who will be overseeing its global service.
Since DAZN launched in Germany and Japan in 2016, entering the U.S. market in 2018, they’ve continued to expand at a rapid rate. In 2016, the subscription service invested $3 billion for media rights deals in Japan, which included local soccer and baseball, Major League Baseball, the National Football League, all five major European soccer leagues and the Champions League. In 2018, DAZN entered a $1 billion partnership with Matchroom Boxing and signed boxer Canelo Alvarez to a $365 million contract.
Last fall, it was announced that DAZN, owned by billionaire Len Blavatnik with former ESPN President John Skipper leading the platform as their executive chairman, sought to raise an additional $500 million in investments.
Even with the additional capital, acquiring major American sports rights won’t be easy. With NFL rights fees set to expire in 2022, Sunday afternoon packages are expected to cost around $2 billion, with Monday Night Football commanding closer to $3 billion. Amazon, Netflix and Google, along with DAZN, are digital platforms that could all enter an NFL rights scene that has been dominated by traditional TV networks. Two years ago, Amazon partnered with the NFL to offer a simulcast stream of their Thursday Night Football schedule for $65 million annually.
DAZN’s global expansion could allow the OTT service to begin by purchasing rights for major American sports in foreign countries only, which would cost significantly less than an exclusive deal that includes the U.S.
Digiday also notes beyond money, the NFL is waiting to see if DAZN could handle 25 million live viewers simultaneously. Currently, DAZN has 1 million subscribers in the U.S. and 8 million total, a number that should increase as the platform goes from being available in just nine countries, to over 200. In comparison, ESPN+ has 7.6 million subscribers in the U.S. only, while Amazon Prime could reach 100 million global subscribers by year’s end.