Is DAZN planning to make a run at the NFL?
Is DAZN planning to make a run at the NFL?
The streamer clearly wants to expand its U.S. audience, and could well make a play for a package of domestic NFL rights this year.
With the NFL expected to pull TV and streaming partners back to the negotiating table later this year to open talks about its next round of broadcast deals, programmers are already putting money aside to ensure they’re prepared. Most analysts believe that the NFL is going to command a jaw-dropping price, especially considering that the NBA was able to more than double the value of its media rights in the last round of negotiations.
We’ve already predicted that Netflix will take a serious run at an NFL package this year, but there’s another streaming platform that may be ready to take a big swing for a bundle of games: DAZN. The service is already an NFL streaming partner abroad and has been making clear moves that it wants to grow its American audience.
So, despite not being nearly the household name that Netflix, Prime Video, or even Peacock is, there is a legitimate chance that DAZN could get into the NFL scrum later this year. While it is still a long shot at best for the streamer to land a piece of the most prized sports rights in the country, if DAZN can prove to the league that it has the ability to attract enough American viewers to be a viable partner, it is not out of the realm of possibility.
Even before the NFL opens up its negotiating process, DAZN has already begun making behind-the-scenes moves to acquire domestic sports rights from other major North American leagues. In January, it was reported that DAZN was considering a purchase of Main Street Sports Group in order to acquire the local rights to the 25+ NBA, NHL, and MLB teams owned by the regional sports network company. Once discussions around that potential purchase proved fruitless, DAZN began exploring another tactic.
Almost immediately after Main Street’s decision to cease operations following the 2025-26 NBA and NHL seasons, word circulated that DAZN had begun contacting those teams about acquiring their local rights.
DAZN’s interest in these teams isn’t only in the name of adding more sports, but of growing its American audience as well. The majority of DAZN’s subscribers are international, and domestically, the streamer is currently known for its combat sports and soccer offerings, not as a provider of major league events. Overseas, however, it’s a different story — there, DAZN offers NBA games, NFL Game Pass, and a wide variety of American sports.
The partnership with the NFL to distribute Game Pass could be DAZN’s entry to at least bidding on a package of games in the United States. DAZN offers Game Pass in every country except the U.S. and China, and announced at the end of February that subscriptions to Game Pass rose by 24% in 2025. The global appetite for the NFL is strong and getting stronger as the league schedules more and more international contests.
As part of its deal to sell NFL Network and other NFL Media properties to ESPN, the league now has an even wider selection of international games to sell to distributors. This bundle would seem to be a perfect fit for DAZN to start as a stateside NFL distributor, allowing the service to cut its teeth as an NFL streaming partner just as Netflix did when it acquired the league’s Christmas Day package of games in 2024.
It’s possible that DAZN has even larger aspirations, however. Recently published data from Ampere Analysis showed DAZN will spend more on sports than any service other than Prime Video in 2026. DAZN has deep pockets, recently securing a $1 billion investment from the Saudi public investment fund. It hasn’t been afraid to make big purchases to grow its audience in the past, such as its decision to purchase FIFA’s Club World Cup rights and then offer those matches for free.
Despite the seemingly rapid rise in spending and U.S.-based interests, getting the NFL to play ball could be a significant challenge for DAZN. While the service is aiming to reach 1 billion viewers worldwide, its last public subscriber update in 2024 revealed that it was nearing 20 million paid subscribers. That number isn’t going to compare favorably to a potential rival like Netflix, which has over 80 million paid subscribers in the U.S. and Canada alone.
There’s also the fact that DAZN will have to leapfrog ABC and ESPN,CBS, Fox, and NBC to get a large domestic package of NFL games. Not only do these channels have deep pockets and the kind of reach and brand familiarity that deliver the NFL record ratings every year, but they’re also known quantities as domestic partners to the NFL. DAZN would have to make an incredibly compelling pitch to the league — complete with an enormous check — to even turn its head in their direction.
I think that DAZN has the strategic and financial ability to make a competent offer for a package of NFL games when the league begins entertaining new bids later this year. Whether it has the strength, reach, and resources for that offer to be accepted is another question altogether. However, platforms like Prime Video and Netflix may want to keep an eye over their shoulders for DAZN closing in on them over the next year.
DAZN
DAZN is an international sports streaming service dedicated to live and on-demand sports programming. Since its launch in 2016, the platform has expanded to become one of the world’s leading sports streaming destinations, offering coverage that varies by region and includes boxing, soccer, MMA, women’s sports, motorsports, and other major competitions.