Sports Pro: DAZN wants Premier League domestic rights but ‘not at any cost’

Story from Sports Pro:

DAZN chief executive Shay Segev believes it is only a matter of time before the company lands broadcast rights to the Premier League in the UK, but cautioned that it would not bid at “any cost”.

Speaking on the final day of SportsPro Madrid, Segev (pictured above) discussed DAZN’s rights ambitions for the Premier League now the English soccer top flight’s domestic broadcast packages are on the market for the 2025/26 to 2028/29 cycle. Incumbents Sky Sports, TNT Sports and Amazon Prime Video are all expected to be in contention again, though DAZN has been frequently linked with a deal.

When asked if DAZN needed the Premier League to be a serious player in the UK market, Segev said securing rights was a long-term ambition for the company as it seeks to make a bigger impression in its home market, adding that the timing had to be right.

“I think for DAZN to have the Premier League in the UK would be an important milestone to have,” he said. “But the timing is also important because we want to build a sustainable business.

“I believe that at some point DAZN will become also a partner of the Premier League in the UK. To what extent [is] to be seen, I don’t know. But I think it’s a very important property and it’s very important in the UK.

“We want to be [a] global [business] so to have Premier League is the conclusion of that.

“Now, the timing needs to work because it’s a very competitive market and we do not want to do it at any cost because there [are] clearly more places for us to go and grow.

“France is a good example. It’s a market where let’s say the stars aligned. There is a good property there [Ligue 1] with passionate audiences and it’s reached to a place where someone like DAZN is very clearly required in the market to take this property and grow it. It’s not the case with Premier League yet.

“But I believe that this partnership [we] will get at some point.”

For the moment, DAZN will continue to position itself as the home of boxing in the UK, for which it has an exclusive deal with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom and a tie-up with Misfits, the promotion fronted by YouTuber JJ ‘KSI’ Olatunji. Going forward, Segev said soccer will be one of a “few other important sports” that DAZN is going to lean into in order to position itself as a wider sports platform in the country.

Segev added that DAZN’s target in the next five to ten years – he is hoping the former – is to “hit one billion people” globally who use its platform. Currently, he says DAZN has “more than 20 million unique subscribers” who have been watching for the last 12 months and “more than 300 million viewers” are engaging with the company’s content through other platforms.

One country DAZN hasn’t been shy of doing business with is Saudi Arabia. Notably, the company has a rights deal to show soccer’s Saudi Pro League in the UK, Germany and Austria and will broadcast the ‘Day of Reckoning’ boxing card featuring Anthony Joshua, who has a multi-year pact with DAZN for his fights.

Segev believes that Saudi Arabia’s hefty sports investments are ultimately a positive thing in the long term, particularly in boxing as it will ensure more mega fights get made.

“What the Saudis are doing is first I think it’s blessed in my view,” he said. “They’re investing in sport, which is great. We want to see more investment in order to ramp up the game. It means the money is going [to] the clubs and to the athletes, and I think it’s a good thing for the sport.

“I think what they did in the Saudi [Pro] League, what they do in boxing, even what they did in golf, it’s quite good long term.

“Clearly the journey is yet to be seen because it needs to be sustainable. But the fact that this country is putting so much focus to diversify [themselves] and focusing on sport as a general entertainment I see as a positive thing.

“The boxing event that we had few weeks ago with [Tyson] Fury and [Francis] Ngannou [which DAZN broadcast] and the one that we have [Day of Reckoning] probably wouldn’t have happened [without Saudi Arabia].

“I think, as a boxing fan, we all want to see these events and [Saudi Arabia will] be able to put their hand deep into their pocket and make these events [happen].

“We still want to see Fury fighting Anthony Joshua. Probably we wouldn’t have seen it but now I think with the Saudi’s investment we may be able to do that.

“I think it’s good for every league.”