DAZN In Acquisition Talks
Global sports entertainment company, DAZN Group, which is headquartered in the UK, is in talks to acquire competitor media group Eleven Sports, according to the Financial Times.
DAZN, which specialises in sports streaming and is owned by American billionaire Len Blavatnik, is looking to purchase the smaller rival, highlighting the company’s continued determination to grow. DAZN has been moving aggressively in the highly competitive sports broadcasting space in the last few years.
Eleven Sports was founded in 2015 by Italian entrepreneur and Leeds United Football Club owner Andrea Radrizzani. The business consists of live sports streaming, documentary maker Neo Studios and a digital marketing entity – Team Whistle.
Eleven’s portfolio of sports rights includes show Formula One in Poland, and the UEFA Champions League and the next three seasons of the English Premier League in Portugal.
The acquisition of Team Whistle last year created a business with revenues of more than $300m (£250m) in the year to the end of June 2021.
Although the DAZN talks are advanced, the Financial Times reports that there is no guarantee that a deal will happen. This year, US media group Discovery hijacked DAZN’s bid to acquire BT Sport, which owns the UK rights to show English Premier League and UEFA Champions League football. DAZN said that buying BT Sport would have been “uneconomical“.
With the likes Amazon and Apple and broadcasters such as NBC, Sky and Disney-owned ESPN all entering the sports broadcasting space DAZN look set to continue to try and consolidate its place in the market.
DAZN and Eleven both declined to comment.
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