It seems ESPN is going to be facing some very stiff competition as rival streamer, DAZN, is set to launch in 200 countries and territories this year, according to Forbes. Currently, the country is available in nine countries — the U.S., Austria, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain and Switzerland.
“This is just the beginning,” stated DAZN EVP Joseph Markowski, who will oversee the global service. “In phase one, we’ll stage major boxing events around the world to attract fans to our service and then add more sports as those opportunities arise.”
The service is commemorating the news with their first global event — Canelo Alvarez’s fight during Cinco de Mayo Weekend on Saturday, May 2, with a yet-to-be-named opponent.
DAZN’s strategy has been to offer specific markets content that is most popular in those regions. For example, in Spain and Germany, “the service broadcasts a diet of football, rugby and motorsports, whereas it had used boxing to make inroads in the U.S.,” Forbes reported.
In the UK, DAZN is in partnership with various organizations such as Golden Boy Promotions, Matchroom Boxing USA and GGG Promotions, meaning high wattage fights featuring Alvarez and Gennadiy “GGG” Golovkin will become available for streaming, in addition to archive content and original programming. However, due to the complexities of streaming rights, Anthony Joshua’s fights won’t be available on the platform in the UK.
Pricing for DAZN will be announced in each market in the coming weeks.