The digital sports platform DAZN is readying itself to join the fierce battle for Premier League TV rights, alongside established competitors like Sky Sports and TNT. The company has informed Newspaper i of its intention to participate in the next round of bidding.
Previously in 2018, an open auction saw domestic rights for the Premier League raise a staggering £5.1 billion.
In this deal, football clubs were granted unprecedented purchasing power that allowed even mid-level clubs to secure some of the world's best players, cementing English football's dominance.
In spite of the extension of these rights in 2021 due to Covid-19 effects, insiders within the television industry believe bids will reopen this year for viewing rights starting from 2025 onwards.
This upcoming competition provides an intriguing backdrop against which new season matches will be played out.
With ongoing economic pressures leading some fans to abandon subscriptions from sources like Amazon or recently rebranded TNT Sports (previously BT Sport), matching or surpassing previous deals may prove challenging, especially since Sky Sports has also seen subscribers leave due to significant cost-cutting measures.
Despite falling valuations across Europe’s sports broadcasting market, there remains high interest over how well Premier League can fare during this bid process.
An industry expert told i that it will take considerable effort on behalf of the league just merely match past figures
DAZN already holds domestic screening privileges for La Liga (Spain), Serie A (Italy) and Bundesliga(Germany).
Darren Waterman, Chief Financial Officer at DAZN, had this to say:
“We’ve got 2,500 employees, we’re on run rate revenue of £3bn – that’s a very large business,” Waterman says.
“We’ve been established across the world in core markets since 2016. It’s a business where you have to invest at the beginning, like any platform business you have to build the platform before you get the customers.
“You have to invest to grow your customer base. Where we are is on that path where our revenue is getting over that fixed cost.
“From an economic point of view as a fixed cost business, it’s a double-edged sword – when you’re below your fixed cost it’s very costly, once you’re past it you become very profitable very quickly and we’re on that precipice now and nearly tipping over. It’s very exciting times.”
Earlier this year, DAZN lodged a substantial offer aimed at becoming EFL’s official home broadcasting partner - making all games available online if successful
With more than 60 million users worldwide including over 20 million premium paid subscribers, DAZN continues to grow despite widespread turbulence affecting the global sport broadcast scene.
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