Over recent months, DAZN has steadily built its footprint by acquiring local rights to, or striking essential distribution agreements with, several franchises across the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Hockey League (NHL), and Major League Baseball (MLB). These strategic commercial interventions have arrived at a crucial time for major professional sports teams, offering a reliable financial and operational lifeline as they navigate the rapid collapse of traditional regional sports network (RSN) partners and the ongoing structural decline of pay-TV households across the United States.
Alongside securing direct broadcasting rights, the company also made significant financial investments, reportedly spending US$100 million to acquire ViewLift, a premier technology provider that builds direct-to-consumer (DTC) platforms for sports organizations. Additionally, DAZN acquired Everpass Media, the specialized enterprise that distributes National Football League (NFL) Sunday Ticket packages to commercial venues such as bars and restaurants. Through these acquisitions, DAZN has positioned itself uniquely in the marketplace, capable of offering comprehensive technological infrastructure, advanced customer service capabilities, and far-reaching distribution networks to any sports franchise seeking a seamless transition into modern digital broadcasting.
Addressing industry leaders at the Leaders Week London conference held at Stamford Bridge, Segev elaborated on the strategic rationale behind these moves. He explained that collaborating with premier sports properties at a localized level serves a dual purpose: it establishes DAZN as an indispensable operational partner within the US ecosystem and lays the groundwork for more fluid negotiations regarding national broadcast rights in the future.
As a global platform that harbors ambitions to become the absolute biggest sports platform in the world, Segev emphasized that the company cannot ignore the globe’s premier economic arena. The United States market is undeniably the ultimate objective, even though it presents a notoriously complex landscape. Reflecting on the deliberate path the company took to penetrate this market, Segev noted that finding the right entry point required careful navigation.
Through a combination of direct rights deals and technological partnerships facilitated via ViewLift, DAZN now works closely with roughly 35 professional teams across the United States. Describing this achievement as an amazing milestone, Segev noted that the company effectively transitioned from having virtually no local presence to partnering with nearly half of all US major league teams in a remarkably short span of time.
Looking forward, the DAZN chief executive expressed optimism that these localized partnerships will eventually consolidate into broader, national agreements. He explicitly mentioned the potential for sweeping nationwide deals with the NHL and the NBA, emphasizing that DAZN’s ultimate ambition extends far beyond acting merely as a localized broadcaster for a single team in a specific state. The vision is to scale up into a major national broadcaster, and ideally evolve into a truly global broadcaster and comprehensive long-term partner for major leagues.
DAZN is no stranger to managing massive international sports properties. The streaming service already hosts the international streaming services for both the NFL and the NHL, alongside a diverse portfolio of other sports properties that rely on its robust global reach and specialized distribution architecture. Meanwhile, the NBA’s domestic and international direct-to-consumer streaming service is currently managed and distributed by Amazon Prime Video as part of a sweeping multi-year rights agreement.
While the primary broadcast rights for powerhouse competitions like the NFL and the NBA are locked in and will not return to the open market for several years, opportunities are approaching much sooner for other major leagues. Both Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League will be looking to renegotiate and restructure their media rights agreements in the near future. Given the accelerating demise of traditional regional sports networks and the steady erosion of traditional pay-TV subscription models, industry analysts widely anticipate that more sports media rights could ultimately be recentralized at the league level, creating further openings for agile digital streamers like DAZN.
Beyond its domestic US ambitions, DAZN is also actively looking to broaden and deepen its existing relationships with major international soccer properties, most notably Italy’s top-flight competition, Serie A. DAZN already functions as a major broadcast partner for Serie A, delivering matches to domestic audiences in Italy as well as across numerous international territories, including the United Kingdom. However, the company now perceives a strategic opportunity to integrate additional matches into its comprehensive global service, whether through acquiring broader rights packages or offering them as premium add-on content.
Drawing parallels to previous high-profile ventures, Segev pointed to DAZN’s handling of the FIFA Club World Cup, an event for which the streamer held exclusive global rights. Expressing a clear desire to replicate that scale of collaboration, Segev highlighted ongoing discussions with Serie A leadership. He noted that he frequently speaks with Serie A Chief Executive Luigi Di Siervo about mutual aspirations, expressing a personal and corporate wish to forge a massive global partnership with the Italian league once the right framework can be established.
