Is DAZN’s $1 billion Boxing Gamble Paying Off Yet?
In 2018, DAZN flew into the streaming market, aiming to make a splash immediately, attempting to cement itself as the Netflix of sports streaming. Its biggest move was to sign a “billion-dollar deal” to go into an eight-year deal with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom boxing promotion. It included staging 16 shows on US soil each year, and exclusive broadcast rights to the Matchroom stable of mostly British pugilists – bar box-office hit Anthony Joshua.
Just five years on, and DAZN is one of a great many streaming platforms globally. It’s a very crowded space, and while DAZN remains a go-to subscription for boxing fans, the platform has struggled to get into the wider sporting space. Attempts for a huge coup in 2022 failed, leaving DAZN in a precarious position in the UK sports market.
Drivers of sports streaming in the UK
It is well-known that soccer is the biggest driver in UK sports streaming. An analysis of streaming searches has revealed that “stream Man City,” “stream Man Utd,” stream Liverpool,” and “stream Chelsea” have all enjoyed strong popularity and big jumps in interest since August 2021. Liverpool is clearly the most popular club to stream in the UK.
These figures make DAZN’s recent failed attempt to acquire BT Sport – the second-most owner of Premier League TV rights and owner of Champions League and Europa League rights – all the more crushing. Behind soccer, boxing doesn’t break the top five, with rugby, cricket, F1, tennis, and golf rounding out the top six most popular sports.
Despite the glut of UK boxing talent competing for world honors right now, the sport is still niche. The main reason is simple: the biggest promotion in the country is on a niche streaming service and is staging many fights at times in the US that aren’t UK-friendly for live viewing. To grow in the UK, an acquisition looks to be a necessity for the platform.
Billions lost, but record boxing audiences
Since 2016, DAZN has gradually added more markets, like the UK, Germany, Japan, Canada, the US, Spain, and Brazil, eventually going global in late 2020. In 2022, massive monthly price hikes were seen across the board, including to $24.99 in Canada, from €14.99 to €29.99 in Germany, and from an introductory £1.99 to £7.99 in the UK. These increases were almost certainly to attempt to dig DAZN out of quite a large hole. The financial reports point to huge losses of $1.3 billion in 2020 and a similar amount in 2019. However, boxing viewership looks to have hit new heights since the global expansion efforts, with hefty audiences recorded for its major 2022 events.
Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano – rightfully billed as the biggest women’s boxing match of all time – brought in a global audience of 1.5 million, with KT’s native audience in Ireland waiting
past midnight to see the historic rumble. Saul Álvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin III, held in Las Vegas, collected 1.06 million PPVs and subscriptions worldwide.
Given the costs that DAZN has had to front to get the platform off the ground, and its failure to land live soccer in 2022, it’s tough to grade the gamble as a success so far. Of course, it’s still early days, and boxing is certainly in a good place for talent right now, but the niche platform isn’t quite there yet in the UK.
