DAZN’s Future in Question as Losses Rise to $6 Billion

Global sports and entertainment broadcasting platform DAZN TV is currently seeing difficult days. The financial institution, Bloomberg reported that the broadcast giant lost more than $2.3 billion in the year 2021. And this whole loss adds up to $6 Billion in their bucket. This news sent boxing fans into a full-fledged frenzy. But how did they lose so much money? According to reports, DAZN Chief Executive Officer, Shay Segev has stated the real reason behind this. As per him, the organization faced a huge loss, because it acquired the rights to broadcast two famous sporting events.

After starting its journey in 2015, DAZN has emerged as a significant player in the sports and broadcasting industry. It began operations primarily in Europe and the UK but later expanded globally.

What is the issue with DAZN?

DAZN started on 8th July 2015 as a subscriber-based model in London. Previously it was only available in European countries, but today it serves 225 countries. It serves as a one-stop streaming solution for sports lovers and holds the rights to broadcast most of the games, such as a series of domestic football leagues, La Liga, Bundesliga, etc. Aside from this, DAZN also holds a significant share of viewership in the boxing category.

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However, even after having such a huge network, DAZN had losses. As per DAZN CEO, Shay Segev, it is because they have acquired rights for two main sports events, which are German and Italian soccer rights. Bloomberg reported that the company lost $934.7 million as a result of the financial loss. Then there was an operational loss of $1.36 billion. However, Len Balvatnik is the company’s backer, and despite the losses, he poured in more money that reduced the company’s debt. Their debt was cut to $14.3 million this year from $1.3 billion last year which is a positive sign.

Shay Segev is still very optimistic about the future of DAZN. He said, “I really don’t have any preference, I would just think that it actually makes sense for this to become a public company.” Segev further added, “The Netflix story, the Amazon story — I think DAZN is going there as well.”

DAZN becomes Europe’s highest-grossing sports app in 2022

Despite these losses, Shay Segev seems to have been right about his prediction. DAZN has been crowned the highest-grossing sports app in Europe. It may be due to DAZN’s recent acquisition of eleven sports which has helped it emerge as a market leader in Europe. Also, they have seen the benefits of La Liga. They are also pioneers in introducing PFL streaming in Europe.

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The investors and CEO of DAZN, however, remain confident about the company’s future and hope that it will become a platform similar to Netflix for sports. However, what do you think of DAZN’s future? Let us know in the comments.