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DAZN Seeking Significant Investment Or Out Right Sale

“Last October, DAZN reportedly sought to raise an additional $500 million, but finding that level of investor in the current economic climate is seemingly unachievable.”

Brandon Contes

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Two months after COVID-19 brought live sports to a halt, the pandemic’s impact has DAZN reportedly seeking investors and possibly even a sale.

According to a story from the Financial Times, DAZN owner Len Blavatanik is searching for ways to secure investments for the OTT service. While finding a suitor for an equity stake in the company is preferred, selling the platform could also be considered.

In 2018, Japanese ad agency Dentsu invested $300 million for a 10% ownership in the company. Last October, DAZN reportedly sought to raise an additional $500 million, but finding that level of investor in the current economic climate is seemingly unachievable.

Since the subscription service launched in Germany and Japan in 2016, entering the U.S. market in 2018, it has continued to expand at a rapid and expensive rate. In 2016, DAZN invested $3 billion for media rights deals in Japan which included local soccer and baseball, the NFL, MLB, all five major European soccer leagues and the Champions League.

With most major American sports leagues inside their current media rights deals, DAZN looked toward combat sports, entering a $1 billion partnership with Matchroom Boxing, and signing boxer Canelo Alvarez to a $365 million contract. They were also reportedly interested in adding debate shows, linked to FS1’s Skip Bayless while his former boss Jamie Horowitz is DAZN’s EVP of content.

The extensive spending wasn’t without a return though, as DAZN set streaming records in 2019, reporting a 950% year-over-year revenue growth for the month of May as compared to 2018. Unfortunately, similar growth won’t be realized in May 2020. Instead, the current pandemic has DAZN searching for funds from outside sources such as Liberty Global.

In March, DAZN announced global expansion plans which intended to see the service go from being available in just nine countries to entering more than 200 countries and territories. Whether or not those goals ever come to fruition remains to be seen, as not much more than one month later, COVID-19 forced DAZN to begin furloughing personnel.

DAZN hasn’t announced how many subscribers left the service since they began furloughing employees and seeking new investments, but a lack of live sports programming certainly isn’t in their favor. 

Sports Online

Dan Le Batard: ‘Does Sports Media Care if Interviews Are Done Well?’

“An exclusive interview with Ja Morant, who hasn’t talked to anybody after his controversy, is going to get eyeballs, so it doesn’t matter how good it actually is.”

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Mike Greenberg had praise for Jalen Rose this week. He said that no one but his ESPN colleague could have handled the interview with Ja Morant that has been airing on the network. Dan Le Batard has the exact opposite opinion of what he saw.

“What I saw was soft and didn’t seem to serve anybody except ESPN,” Le Batard said on his Thursday show. “This seems to be a lot of people around the economy of basketball and Ja Morant orchestrating an interview so Ja Morant can move onto the next stage of his branding.”

Whereas Greenberg thought the shared experience of an NBA career made Rose more likely to get answers from Morant, Le Batard said it created a problem. He accused Rose of letting Morant get away with using “talking points” in lieu of answering any actual questions about the string of erratic behavior and disturbing incidents the Memphis Grizzlies star has been involved with.

It wasn’t the only interview that Dan Le Batard pointed to. He noted that Pat McAfee’s interview with Aaron Rodgers may have drawn an audience of nearly half a million, but very little substance was offered.

“Does anybody in the audience, in sports fandom, or even, at this point, in sports media companies, care in a real and legitimate way whether the interview is done well or not?”

He added that the standard has changed for these interviews because the goal has changed. They are no longer about journalism as much as they are about branding, particularly in the case of ESPN’s exclusive interview with Ja Morant.

“An exclusive interview with Ja Morant, who hasn’t talked to anybody after his controversy, is going to get eyeballs, so it doesn’t matter how good it actually is,” Le Batard concluded. “All you need, if you’re the media partner, is please get me the famous guy to sit down.”

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Sports Online

Jomboy, Aaron Boone Partner For Weekly Podcast Appearance

“I thought it was a really interesting opportunity, and a cool idea. These guys have been innovators in this business and they’ve built a massive, young following.”

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It isn’t unusual for a professional sports team to partner with a local radio station for weekly interviews with team personnel. Even though Jomboy Media is a digital outlet, it didn’t stop the company from inking a deal to have Yankees manager Aaron Boone on one of its signature podcasts.

In a move announced Thursday, Jomboy Media has signed a deal for Boone to appear on its popular Talkin’ Yanks podcast — hosted by founder Jimmy O’Brien and Jake Storiale — once a week throughout the baseball season.

“I thought it was a really interesting opportunity, and a cool idea. These guys have been innovators in this business and they’ve built a massive, young following,” Boone told The New York Post. “I think Jimmy and Jake are both really good guys. And they’re passionate about what they do, and they love the Yankees. And, sometimes they’re a little misguided and it’s my chance to set the record straight every now and then.”

Previously, Boone had a weekly spot on 98.7 ESPN New York’s The Michael Kay Show, which reportedly paid him six figures.

“It’s going to be really fun and it kind of goes with the changing landscape of media,” O’Brien said. “The fact that two fans can create a show and in five years get to the point where they get to ask questions to the manager of the Yankees and bring whatever insight we can get out of that to our audience — it is pretty wild, a little surreal.”

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Sports Online

Sports Media Reacts to Aaron Rodgers Telling Adam Schefter ‘Lose My Number’

“Here are some of the best responses from Schefter’s sports media colleagues to the tweet.”

Jordan Bondurant

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Quarterback Aaron Rodgers appeared on The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday and revealed that if he gets his way, his time with the Green Bay Packers is done. He intends to play for the New York Jets in 2023.

Rodgers told McAfee that the hang-up lies with Green Bay, which is trying to determine the appropriate compensation for trading for a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Rodgers also revealed that he had an interaction with ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter. Schefter, who was obviously digging as much as he could to get the scoop on what was going on with Rodgers’ future, texted Rodgers trying to confirm the information he had.

“I didn’t respond to Dianna Russini I think her name is,” Rodgers said. “But I would say the same thing that I told Schefty. Lose my number. Nice try.”

Upon hearing Rodgers’ account, Schefter followed up with a screenshot of Rodgers responding exactly how he said, and that sent social media into a whirlwind.

Here are some of the best responses from Schefter’s sports media colleagues to the tweet:

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