DAZN platform getting injected with Billions!!

[buge]

It seems for one reason or another they have hit alot of resistance in the American Market

Because there's not much there for the American market. They don't have any major sports. They have only some boxing plus sports nobody in America cares about, like rugby, cricket, or darts. They used to have Bellator at least, but they lost that.

[PBR Streetgang]

Because there's not much there for the American market. They don't have any major sports. They have only some boxing plus sports nobody in America cares about, like rugby, cricket, or darts. They used to have Bellator at least, but they lost that.

For the American market, getting into MMA might be a decent way of gaining some traction. The loss of Bellator hurts but perhaps they could try to get streaming rights for smaller regional and international promotions. Perhaps gaining dominance in combat sports to include some niche and cheaper ones (bare knuckle, MMA, boxing, kickboxing, etc) would be an angle.

I think it will be too difficult to obtain rights on the premier leagues for baseball, football, basketball and even hockey... especially when you have en****** like Amazon and Yahoo trying get in on it as well.

[Get em up]

I think Dazn could be a premium streaming service for boxing if they could mix more American events in and promote all their fighters in other places other than Dazn. Any decent fight at Top Rank or PBC there are commercials and advertising you can see in random places but Dazn only gets promoted on Dazn ( at least to the American market that is ) I do enjoy the cards they put on though.

[Toffee]

I only pay $3 a month so it's not a big deal, but if the bigger fights are going to PPV then I'll be out on principle.

Hearn has previously said that it will only be the biggest fights on PPV. We'll see how that plays out.

[M312]

I don't think anyone would expect them to be making money with the amount they've invested recently going global and with the pandemic.

They are struggling to get sports rights in some regions though, and that's ultimately going to 'cap' the amount of subscribers they will get. In other regions they've managed to get the football etc. which means they are players there.

Its a game of patience. These dudes have billions, they have no problem investing long term - if it does end up being the Netflix of sport. But they need to get those rights.

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

Years ago, Eddie Hearn was boasting a lot about a billion dollar type deal for the Boxing sector.

Now, a billionaire just gave about 4 billion dollars to get DAZN out of debt.
Sounds like DAZN has been struggling to stay afloat all around including the Boxing sector.

Do you think DAZN is delivering well regarding Boxing events? Will they stay around for long? Do you think they will get more names in their roster with this new injection of revenue?

Your thoughts.

They’re not delivering the premium events needed to attract consistent subscribers and fighters are being crazily overpaid that’s why they’re losing money from a boxing perspective. I doubt they’ve turned a profit on anybody not named Canelo. Hearn clearly lacked understanding and knowledge of the US market and his decision making reflects that. Without the Sky juggernaut protecting him, he’s essentially just a mouth for hire.

Hearn essentially just picked up fighters nobody else wanted like Andrade, Haney, Farmer etc and ******ly paid them inflated guarantees. They were never going to recoup on those deals and the only other genuine stars they did sign like GGG were being paid millions due to huge guarantees to fight guys like Rolls and Szeremeta. That’s financial suicide.

I don’t want to sound anti-DAZN here because I do like the DAZN concept but it’s not sustainable. Boxing is far too niche to be your premier product. People will subscribe for Canelo and maybe Joshua how do you retain them for the other 9 months? They don’t have the Premier League like Sky, the NBA like ESPN or the NFL like FOX to garner that continuous base of subscribers. Until that changes DAZN will continually be marginalised in the sports media industry. If you look at the bigger picture, Boxing simply isn’t big enough to centre a sports streaming service around. Sadly, DAZN boxing was always destined to fail.

[Dakuwaqa]

They’re not delivering the premium events needed to attract consistent subscribers and fighters are being crazily overpaid that’s why they’re losing money from a boxing perspective. I doubt they’ve turned a profit on anybody not named Canelo. Hearn clearly lacked understanding and knowledge of the US market and his decision making reflects that. Without the Sky juggernaut protecting him, he’s essentially just a mouth for hire.

Hearn essentially just picked up fighters nobody else wanted like Andrade, Haney, Farmer etc and ******ly paid them inflated guarantees. They were never going to recoup on those deals and the only other genuine stars they did sign like GGG were being paid millions due to huge guarantees to fight guys like Rolls and Szeremeta. That’s financial suicide.

I don’t want to sound anti-DAZN here because I do like the DAZN concept but it’s not sustainable. Boxing is far too niche to be your premier product. People will subscribe for Canelo and maybe Joshua how do you retain them for the other 9 months? They don’t have the Premier League like Sky, the NBA like ESPN or the NFL like FOX to garner that continuous base of subscribers. Until that changes DAZN will continually be marginalised in the sports media industry. If you look at the bigger picture, Boxing simply isn’t big enough to centre a sports streaming service around. Sadly, DAZN boxing was always destined to fail.

Why do you think they thought it would work considering everything you’ve said?

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

Why do you think they thought it would work considering everything you’ve said?

That’s a great question. Naivety maybe? Maybe they thought boxing could be a foot in the door into securing deals for other sports? Or maybe they just badly overvalued the assets they were acquiring? I honestly don’t know.

Another thing I’d add though is boxing’s appeal can be deceptive. There is big money in boxing but only for a very small minority of fighters. Maybe DAZN’s sample size was far too small when analysing the metrics of the sport. Superstars like Canelo, GGG, AJ don’t reflect the true market value of the sport.

[BigZ44]

That’s a great question. Naivety maybe? Maybe they thought boxing could be a foot in the door into securing deals for other sports? Or maybe they just badly overvalued the assets they were acquiring? I honestly don’t know.

Another thing I’d add though is boxing’s appeal can be deceptive. There is big money in boxing but only for a very small minority of fighters. Maybe DAZN’s sample size was far too small when analysing the metrics of the sport. Superstars like Canelo, GGG, AJ don’t reflect the true market value of the sport.

"Maybe they thought boxing could be a foot in the door into securing deals for other sports."

I think this is the answer, from the DAZN perspective. Early on they were actively trying to add whatever they could in the American market, boxing was the tool they were going to use to introduce themselves to the American audience and then build from there. But it was always going to be near impossible to obtain any of the major American sports and getting a little slice of one of those wouldn't do much either. Sadly, they probably won't last much longer. I subscribe as a hardcore boxing fan, but I realize I am one of a couple hundred people that will sit there and watch an entire Matchroom Italy show. I actually think to survive (in the US at least) they need to embrace branding themselves as a sort of "world sports platform" and grab the international rights to as many things as they can. They are never getting NFL, NBA or MLB, it just won't happen. But they can grab other niche audiences by trying to get things like tennis, golf, formula 1 and mainly soccer. Nobody in the US is tuning in for darts and bowling, but I would be trying to grab rights to as many soccer leagues as possible. Soccer's popularity is massively rising now in the US, with all the kids that actually played growing up now becoming adults and parents and the knowledge of the game here is starting to increase as well, thanks to the impact of the Premier League in the late 90s and 2000s. Add on to that, loads of Americans finally starting to play in different leagues all around the world and this is content that will have a high ceiling going forward.

If I'm DAZN I'm pushing for as many of those leagues as I can get, even if you have to start with things like the Scottish Premiership and Brazilian Serie A and Austrian Bundesliga and eventually try to work you way up to acquiring the top leagues. This is the only sport that I can see in the US that doesn't have major rights locked up in one or 2 en****** AND that will see increased viewership in the coming decades. Think it's their only shot, boxing will never be more than a niche audience in the US again unfortunately, so it is what it is.

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

"Maybe they thought boxing could be a foot in the door into securing deals for other sports."

I think this is the answer, from the DAZN perspective. Early on they were actively trying to add whatever they could in the American market, boxing was the tool they were going to use to introduce themselves to the American audience and then build from there. But it was always going to be near impossible to obtain any of the major American sports and getting a little slice of one of those wouldn't do much either. Sadly, they probably won't last much longer. I subscribe as a hardcore boxing fan, but I realize I am one of a couple hundred people that will sit there and watch an entire Matchroom Italy show. I actually think to survive (in the US at least) they need to embrace branding themselves as a sort of "world sports platform" and grab the international rights to as many things as they can. They are never getting NFL, NBA or MLB, it just won't happen. But they can grab other niche audiences by trying to get things like tennis, golf, formula 1 and mainly soccer. Nobody in the US is tuning in for darts and bowling, but I would be trying to grab rights to as many soccer leagues as possible. Soccer's popularity is massively rising now in the US, with all the kids that actually played growing up now becoming adults and parents and the knowledge of the game here is starting to increase as well, thanks to the impact of the Premier League in the late 90s and 2000s. Add on to that, loads of Americans finally starting to play in different leagues all around the world and this is content that will have a high ceiling going forward.

If I'm DAZN I'm pushing for as many of those leagues as I can get, even if you have to start with things like the Scottish Premiership and Brazilian Serie A and Austrian Bundesliga and eventually try to work you way up to acquiring the top leagues. This is the only sport that I can see in the US that doesn't have major rights locked up in one or 2 en****** AND that will see increased viewership in the coming decades. Think it's their only shot, boxing will never be more than a niche audience in the US again unfortunately, so it is what it is.

I agree on many fronts man. I too think football/soccer is definitely the best option for DAZN in both the UK and US. The EPL and UCL are pretty much untouchable over here but they could definitely make play for La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1. There’s a massive hardcore fanbase of football fans in this country who I believe would subscribe to DAZN for one or more of those top European leagues.

As you said as well just pick up what you can on the cheap, I think we both realise they desperately need more content, even if it’s essentially just filler. I think if DAZN want to compete with the ESPN’s, Sky’s etc of this world they’re going to need to provide live content daily. 4-6 events a month simply isn’t enough.