A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
 Logo | |
Screenshot  Screenshot of the app | |
| Available in | English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish |
|---|---|
| Founded | 8 July 2015 in London, England |
| Area served | 200+ countries and territories[a][1] |
| Owner | Access Industries |
| CEO | Shay Segev (DAZN Group) |
| Key people | John Gleasure (Executive Vice Chairman) Andrea Radrizzani Darren Waterman (CFO) Sandeep Tiku (CTO) James Rushton (Co Founder) Ed McCarthy (COO) Veronica Diquattro (CCIO) Ben Barlow (CLO) Marc Watson (CCO) Neil Colligan (CDDO) Daisy Wells (CCO) |
| Industry | Internet television, sports broadcasting |
| Employees | 2,600 |
| URL | www |
| Launched | 10 August 2016 |
DAZN (/dəˈzoʊn/; pronounced "da zone") is a British over-the-top sports streaming and entertainment platform.[2]
The DAZN platform 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.[3]
Founded in 2016 and majority owned by Access Industries, DAZN is Europe's largest digital sports broadcaster with over 75 rights.[4] In 2022, DAZN launched a range of other products as part of its platform, including in-play betting, gaming, e-commerce, merchandise and ticketing.[3]
History
Launch of the DAZN platform (2016–2018)
In February 2016, prior to DAZN’s formal inception, 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 the DAZN brand from 2017. The league described the contract as the largest broadcast rights deal in the history of Japanese sport.[5] In March 2023, DAZN extended its deal with J.League to 2033.[6]
In August 2016, Perform Group launched the DAZN platform in Austria, Germany, Japan and Switzerland.[7][8][9][10] It described by media at the time as being the "Netflix for sport".[11]
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.[12][13][14] 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.[15]
The Canadian launch was met with technical issues, including inconsistent stream qualities, buffering, and latency between the streams and television broadcasts.[16][17] DAZN apologized for the "inadequate service" that it delivered and said it was working to rectify them.[16][17] As a result, DAZN began to distribute NFL Sunday Ticket to television providers in October 2017, as had been the case before.[17] On 20 November 2017, DAZN acquired Canadian rights to International Basketball Federation (FIBA) events.[18]
In February 2018, DAZN sub-licensed Japanese rights to the B.League, Nippon Professional Baseball, La Liga, and the Premier League from Softbank.[19]
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.[20][21] Roku support was also added that month.[22] In March, DAZN reached a syndication deal to carry content from Pac-12 Network on the service in Canada.[23]
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.[24][25] In April 2019, DAZN announced that it had acquired Canadian rights to the Premier League, replacing Sportsnet and TSN, under a three-year deal.[26][27]
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.[28] The deal with Matchroom was signed for an initial two years with the option for a six-year extension.[28] Matchroom’s Chairman, Eddie Hearn, said that the deal was a "groundbreaking deal in the history of boxing".[29][30]
In the same month, former ESPN president John Skipper as executive chairman of Perform Group.[31] He later became the first chief executive officer of DAZN.[32]
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.[33][34]
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.[35][36] 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.[37][38]
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.[39][40]
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.[41][42][43][44]
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.[45][46] Just before the start of the 2020 season, DAZN cancelled MLB-related programming due to financial stresses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.[47]
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".[48]
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.[49][50] 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.[51]
In January 2019, DAZN acquired the rights to broadcast the 2019 AFC Asian Cup in Canada and the United States.[52] In March 2019, DAZN doubled its U.S. monthly cost, but also introduced a new yearly option at a discount.[53]
DAZN launched in Spain in February 2019, becoming its eighth market.[54][55] 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.
In March 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.[56][57][58] Golovkin cited the broadcaster's "global vision" as an influence on the decision.[59]
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.[60][61]
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.[62][63][64]
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.[65]
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.[66] DAZN and McAfee terminated their broadcast partnership in May 2020.[67]
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.[68][69]
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.[70] 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.[71][72]
In September 2020, DAZN extended their carriage agreement with Eurosport through August 2023, and added Switzerland to the agreement.[73]
In October 2020, it reached a deal to sell stakes in Goal, Spox, VoetbalZone to Integrated Media Company (IMC), a portfolio of TPG Capital,[74] and in December 2020 it sold Sporting News to PAX Holdings.[75]
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.[76]
In March 2021, former Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International executive Kevin A. Mayer became the chairman of DAZN, replacing John Skipper.[77] That month, DAZN secured the exclusive broadcasting rights of Serie A TIM in Italy and LaLiga rights in Spain.[78]
DAZN announced a five-year agreement with Matchroom Sport in June 2021.[79] 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.[80]
In July 2021, the company agreed an eight-year deal for the rights of Japan’s Women Empowerment League.[81]
In October 2021, DAZN launched its proprietary video player, Mercury.[82]
In November 2021, the company launched DAZN X, its innovation hub.[83] In December 2021, DAZN was awarded with the 2021 Apple TB App of the Year award.[84]
Diversification of DAZN platform & continued expansion (2022–present)
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.[85][86] The launch of NFTs in Japan was a failure. Following the launch of the product on 24 March 2022, DAZN published a notice on their dedicated DAZN Moments website stating that the service would be terminated on 30 November 2023, with no further purchases or sales available. DAZN further added that no Moments could be held by customers after 14 March 2024, rendering the purchases worthless.[87] Likewise, the vast majority of DAZN's NFTs launched in tandem with boxing contests failed to generate purchases.[88]
In April 2022, DAZN launched DAZN Bet in the UK and signed a strategic partnership with Pragmatic Group to develop its sports betting product.[89] Shay Segev, Dazn CEO, said: "The convergence of sports media and betting is the future.”[90]
In May 2022, DAZN signed a deal to carry Red Bull TV, including live and on-demand content.[91] DAZN also signed a four-event deal with KSI's Misfits Boxing, carrying cards under the branding "MF & DAZN: X Series".[92] In August, it launched DAZN PPV, it’s pay-per-view service.[93]
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.[94]
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.[95] 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.[96][97] The acquisition was later finalized in February 2023.[98] Details of the acquisition were included in DAZN Groups'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%.[99]
In 2022, the company launched DAZN Store in Germany, its online ecommerce platform for fa merchandise.[100]
In January 2023, DAZN signed a five-year deal with KSI and Misfits Boxing and a multi-year agreement with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) to carry its programming in 42 Asian and European territories.[101] 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.[102]
In January 2023, DAZN and Amazon agreed a global distribution deal for DAZN’s streaming service on Amazon’s Prime Video Channel.[103]
In March 2023, DAZN Chairman Kevin A. Mayer two-year term came to an end.[104] That month the company launched DAZN 1 on the Sky platform.[105]
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.[106]
In June 2023, DAZN struck a 10-year deal with the NFL to deliver NFL Game Pass on its platform globally, allowing subscribers to stream every football game live.[107]
In July 2023, as the company expands its offering into the sale of sports ticketing, it announced a partnership with DAIMANI to launch an integrated ticketing product for DAZN subscribers.[108]
In August 2023, it was announced DAZN had acquired US-based women’s football streaming platform, Ata Football.[109]
In the same month, DAZN launched in France after partnering with French TV operator Canal+ for the broadcast of Ligue 1 football matches.[110] DAZN also announced a five-year partnership with Fanatics, a global sports merchandise platform, as DAZN expands into the sale of merchandise.[111]
Organisation
DAZN is headquartered in London, England and employs over 2,400 people in more than 25 countries worldwide.[112] It is privately owned by Access Industries, the investment group founded by Sir Len Blavatnik.[113] DAZN has 20 million paid subscribers globally.[114]
As of 2022, DAZN has exclusive broadcast rights for various sports in 10 core markets, which are the UK, Belgium, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Japan, Taiwan, Canada and the US.[115] DAZN is Europe’s largest sports broadcaster and the largest broadcaster in Italy, Japan, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Spain.[115][116]
In 2022, it reported revenues of $2.3 billion, over 70% increase from 2021, making it the highest grossing sports app in the world.[117] DAZN has nonetheless never posted a profit before tax since launching, and for the four financial years between 2019-2022 posted consecutive losses of over £1 billion annually.
DAZN’s CEO is Shay Segev, who was appointed in January 2021.[76] The non-executive directors are Lincoln Benet, John Gleasure and Guillaume D’Hauteville.[118]
Availability and access
The DAZN platform is available in over 200 countries globally.[115]
DAZN is available on most connected devices including Smart TV's, set-top boxes, streaming sticks, smartphones, tablets, PCs and video game consoles.[119][120] In the UK and globally, DAZN can be accessed on Samsung, LG, Sony and Panasonic Smart TVs, PlayStation and Xbox. Subscribers also have access to DAZN on their Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Google Chromecast and Apple TV and can find the app on their IPhone, IPad, and android mobile devices.[103] DAZN is available as an Amazon Channel on Amazon Prime TV and can be viewed on Channel 429 on Sky in the UK and Ireland.[103][105]
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.[121]
Controversies
 | This section may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. (April 2024) |
DAZN's launches in new territories have suffered from repeated issues. The opening weekend of the J.League saw multiple issues including buffering and other technical problems, leading to founder James Rushton travelling to Japan and making an in-person apology.[122][123] The opening week broadcast of NFL in Canada in September 2017 was plagued with technical problems, leading the company to issue an apology and refunds to its customers after mounting complaints.[124] DAZN's broadcast of the boxing fight between Canelo Álvarez and Daniel Jacobs on 4 May 2019 received numerous complaints from fans, including bad streaming quality and claims of biased commentators.[125] In September 2021, Italian consumer group Codacons threatened a class action lawsuit against DAZN to revoke its broadcasting rights for Serie A football, after fan complaints of service blackouts. Italian telecommunications regulator AGCOM and the country's antitrust body have 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."[126] In August 2022, DAZN's streaming coverage suffered serious technical problems during the season opening day of Serie A, and was again condemned by multiple Italian politicians and Italy's consumer protection organization Udicon. AGCOM also intervened, and DAZN issued an apology and offered compensations to affected customers.[127] 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.[128] 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. [129]
DAZN was criticized for its unethical business conduct. Monthly subscription is advertised at $19.99/month, but users are locked into a 12-month contract upon signup, and not allowed to cancel until the end of the 12 months. The details of which are only disclosed once in the fine print. The actual monthly subscription plan, called "Flexible Pass" and priced at $24.99/month, requires 30 days notice in advance of cancellation. Service will continue for another 30 days from when the user cancels, and the user will be charged on a pro-rate basis for excess time beyond the billing cycle. Only the yearly subscription will cancel at the end of the billing cycle regardless of when the user unsubscribes.[130] DAZN was also 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.[131]
As of 18 November 2023 DAZN had a 'Bad' reputation on Trustpilot with 1.1 out of 5 stars.[132]
Financial performance
Since launching as DAZN, the company has failed to make a profit in each year of operations. 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.[133][134][135][136][137][138][139][140]
Programming
Sports rights
Noted sports rights held by DAZN include:
Football
| Competition | Region | Broadcast Details | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| FIFA World Cup | Austria, Germany, Japan | Highlights | |
| FIFA Women's World Cup | Germany | ||
| FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) | Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Japan, Switzerland | Live until 2028 (delayed for Germany national team matches; unavailable for both Austria and Switzerland national team matches respectively) | |
| UEFA Euro | Austria, Germany, Spain | Highlights | |
| UEFA Euro qualifying | Austria, Belgium, Canada, France (via La Chaîne L'Équipe), Germany, Japan, Switzerland | Live until 2028 (delayed for Germany national team matches; unavailable for both Austria and Switzerland national team matches respectively) | |
| UEFA Nations League | |||
| UEFA Women's Euro | Germany | ||
| UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship | [141] | ||
| FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC) | Japan | [142] | |
| AFC Asian Cup | Austria (via Sportdigital), Germany (via Sportdigital), Japan, Switzerland (via Sportdigital) | ||
| AFC U-23 Asian Cup | Japan | Live until 2028 | |
| AFC U-20 Asian Cup | |||
| AFC U-17 Asian Cup | |||
| AFC Solidarity Cup | |||
| AFC Women's Asian Cup | |||
| AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament | |||
| AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup | |||
| AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup | |||
| FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL) | France | [143] | |
| Copa América | Austria (via Sportdigital), Germany (via Sportdigital), Switzerland (via Sportdigital) | ||
| CONMEBOL Sub-20 | Austria (via Sportdigital), Canada, Germany (via Sportdigital) | ||
| CONCACAF Gold Cup | |||
| FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF) | Austria (via Sportdigital), Germany (via Sportdigital), Switzerland (via Sportdigital) | ||
| Africa Cup of Nations | |||
| Finalissima | Austria, Canada, Germany, Japan, Switzerland | ||
| UEFA Champions League | Austria, Canada, Germany, Malaysia (via beIN Sports), Portugal, Singapore (via beIN Sports) | [144] | |
| UEFA Europa League | Belgium (via Play Sports), Canada, Italy, Malaysia (via beIN Sports), Singapore (via beIN Sports) | Live until 2024 | [145] |
| UEFA Europa Conference League | [146] | ||
| UEFA Super Cup | Austria, Canada, Germany, Malaysia (via beIN Sports), Portugal, Singapore (via beIN Sports) | [147] | |
| UEFA Youth League | |||
| UEFA Women's Champions League | Worldwide (excluding Middle East and North Africa and China and its territories) | Live until 2025 | [148] |
| Premier League | Belgium (via Play Sports), Portugal, Spain | [149] | |
| English Football League | Austria, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland | [150] | |
| FA Cup | Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland | Live until 2024 | [151] |
| EFL Cup | Austria, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland | Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=DAZN