DAZN Hit 15 Million Subscribers in 2022, Becomes Europe’s Biggest Digital Sports Distributor
The transition of live sports from its current home on pay TV to a more streaming-centric format is a slow, but steady process. More major sports leagues are willing to embrace streaming as a viable alternative, as demonstrated by the NFL moving its out-of-market games package NFL Sunday Ticket to YouTube TV, as well as Apple TV+’s 10-year deal with Major League Soccer.
DAZN, a sports-focused streaming service that focuses primarily on boxing in the United States, is seeing the proliferation of streaming sports pay dividends. The service announced that it closed 2022 with 15 million paid global subscribers and that its customers streamed 1.2 billion hours globally across 130 million devices last year.
The total hours streamed in 2022 marks a 20% increase year-over-year for DAZN, which also now claims the title of the largest digital sports broadcaster in Europe. The company’s acquisition of the ELEVEN Group in September 2022 helped raise its number of international soccer matches streamed to over 40,000 per year.
“The past twelve months have been a highly significant period for DAZN as we look to become the ultimate daily destination for sports fans,” said DAZN CEO Shay Segev. “We have experienced healthy growth across our markets, added a significant volume of global and domestic rights to the platform, and substantially increased our revenues by adjusting our core offerings and exploring new revenue streams. Looking forward, we have a clear plan in place to deliver the next phase of DAZN’s progress. Our focus will be on making the product more accessible, removing further friction and improving customer engagement. We are excited for what the future holds.”
In addition to the ELEVEN acquisition, DAZN acquired the rights to Spain’s premiere soccer league LaLiga in its home country in 2022. The company also extended its agreement with the UEFA Champions League in Germany through 2027. In the U.S., ESPN+ holds the LaLiga streaming rights, while Paramount+ owns domestic rights to the UEFA Champions League.
International wrestling fans should expect to see even more content on DAZN in 2023. The service announced in November it had reached a deal to carry televised episodes and pay-per-view events from Impact Wrestling, one of the largest professional wrestling promotions in the world. The deal does not affect U.S. customers yet, but it does cover fans in the U.K., Ireland, Switzerland, Austria, France, Poland, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan, Brazil, and more.
DAZN may offer fewer of the most popular sports on its platform in the U.S. than it does internationally, but its success is good news for sports streamers around the globe. It provides yet another data point that shows users will embrace sports on streaming, and brings the inevitable fall of pay-TV as the home of live sports that much closer.
DAZN
DAZN is a live sports subscription streaming service that offers 80+ fights a year from Matchroom USA, Bellator, Golden Boy Promotions, World Boxing Super Series, and Combate Americas. All plans include UEFA Women’s Champions League, darts, and documentaries.