DAZN Buys ELEVEN Group – Selection

Stay sports activities streaming service DAZN has struck a deal to purchase world sports activities media enterprise ELEVEN Group, which holds rights to the highest soccer leagues in Portugal and Belgium. 

The deal, for an undisclosed sum, will enhance DAZN’s choices in Italy, German-speaking markets and Spain, the place it already holds prime league home soccer rights. Moreover, ELEVEN has a presence in Taiwan and different Southeast Asian markets, which is able to give DAZN a larger foothold in that area the place the service is already market chief in Japan, the corporate mentioned in an announcement.

The deal additionally contains ELEVEN-owned Group Whistle, which is a short-form authentic social media content material supplier mentioned by DAZN to have over 700 million followers throughout its channels. Group Whistle is estimated to deliver whole income of round $300 million a 12 months, DAZN mentioned.

DAZN Group CEO Shay Segev in an announcement mentioned the deal was “an enormous step ahead in our mission to be the main world sports activities platform.”

ELEVEN was based in 2015 by Italian entrepreneur Andrea Radrizzani after he bought the sports activities rights company MP & Silva to a Chinese language purchaser for greater than $1 billion. Radrizzani is almost all proprietor of English Premier League membership Leeds United. As soon as the deal is accomplished he’ll be a part of DAZN’s board, DAZN mentioned.

ELEVEN Group was suggested by Guggenheim Securities.

DAZN, which is backed by billionaire Len Blavatnik, has quickly expanded into greater than 200 nations. Final 12 months it gained rights to the majority of Italy’s Serie A soccer by plunking down greater than $1 billion per season for a three-year contract.