Deadline: Sports Streamer DAZN Completes Takeover Of Eleven Group And Social Media Agency Team Whistle

Story from Deadline:

DAZN Group has completed its acquisition of Eleven Group and social media creative agency Team Whistle.

The deal for its rival Eleven gives sports streamer DAZN new local services and sports rights in several territories, including Belgium Portugal and Taiwan.

Eleven has a suite of sports rights in Western Europe and Asia and owns streamer Eleven International, along with Team Whistle and several other businesses, including U.S. streamer MyCujoo.

In Belgium, DAZN adds the domestic Jupiler Pro League, while it gets English Premier League and UEFA Champions League rights in Portugal. In Taiwan, DAZN adds local baseball. DAZN already offers local sports content in Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Canada, the U.S. and UK.

Team Whistle, which has been part of Eleven since 2021, will give DAZN access to 700 million followers across social channels and access to new online audiences. Whistle will leverage DAZN’s local rights and talent to “create off-platform value, build audiences and drive fans towards its paid-for services and content.”

For DAZN, the Eleven deal softens the blow of failing to capture BT Sports, which went on to form a joint venture in the UK and Ireland with Warner Bros. Discovery.

Shay Segev, CEO of DAZN Group said: “Today is a big moment as we officially welcome Eleven and Team Whistle to the DAZN family. This acquisition is an important element for our continuing growth – acquiring top quality rights, expanding in new markets in Belgium, Portugal and Taiwan, and developing our social reach and engagement by bringing Team Whistle’s network and expertise to DAZN. Overall, the deal adds scale and firmly establishes DAZN as a global leader in innovation and disruption as well as positioning us as the ultimate sports destination.”

Financial terms of the deal were not revealed.

In October, we revealed DAZN moved into the latest phase of its restructuring, scaling back its London office and shifting focus to bases in Europe and India. That followed the redundancies of around 5% of its UK workforce in May.

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