More growth, more losses for DAZN
Speaking of lossmaking enterprises, DAZN is set to post its annual results at Companies House next week, but we’ve been given a sneak peek.
The UK-based sports streamer enjoyed a healthy increase in revenue to $2.9bn in 2023, up from $2.2bn a year earlier. Shay Segev, DAZN chief executive, said most of its top ten markets are now profitable. Its recent deal to acquire Foxtel for $2.1bn resulted in Rupert Murdoch becoming the company’s second-biggest shareholder at a valuation of close to $10bn
But that’s about where the good news ends. Losses at the group widened to $1.4bn from $1.2bn a year earlier. Company insiders say DAZN now has around 300mn monthly customers, but only 20mn are paying subscribers. Sir Leonard Blavatnik, DAZN’s controlling shareholder, pumped another $800mn into the business in 2023, taking his total outlay to $6.7bn.
DAZN has been in aggressive expansion mode for a while now, and shows no sign of slowing down. Aside from the Foxtel acquisition, it has also agreed to pay $1bn for global rights to Fifa’s new Club World Cup. It has future rights commitments of more than $9bn.
Segev expects revenue this year to be around $6bn, more than double that of 2023. The goal remains to become the “Spotify of sport”, and build a $200bn enterprise. He declined to comment on a widely-expected investment in the company by the Saudi state. “We will need to see what happens,” he said.
Many sport executives will be crossing their fingers that his bullish projections come good and that the company stops burning through cash.
Although DAZN’s foothold in the UK and US is largely related to boxing, the streamer’s fortunes increasingly underpin the health of European football. It is now the main broadcaster for the beleaguered French football league, as well as an important player in Spain, Italy and Germany.
Football has a long and frankly miserable track record of aggressive new media players seeking to shake up the status quo, only to run out of money and leave the sport facing a painful financial hangover. Many are now banking on Blavatnik staying the course.