DAZN Deal with Fanatics Illustrates How Future ESPN Streaming Service, Other Platforms Can Keep Users Engaged
DAZN subscribers will soon have a new way to purchase merchandise featuring their favorite teams and athletes. The sports streaming platform announced a deal with Fanatics last week, which will bring integrated purchasing options from Fanatics to the DAZN app starting in the third quarter of this year.
The retail options could help DAZN boost engagement with its app, which is crucial if the service expects to continue as one of the world’s top sports streaming platforms. DAZN is mostly oriented toward combat sports in the United States, but abroad the service carries the rights to NFL football, UEFA Champions League soccer, NBA basketball, and much more.
The partnership between DAZN and Fanatics sounds like exactly the type of deal Disney should be pursuing for ESPN. The House of Mouse is investigating all possible ways of creating a streaming version of the full ESPN channel family that won’t require a cable or satellite subscription and is looking for strategic partners among tech companies and sports leagues to potentially sell a minority stake in the cable network to.
An athletic apparel company like Nike would also make sense as a potential partner for ESPN. Such a deal would instantly provide cross-brand appeal, and help Disney cover the costs of launching a new streaming product featuring the channel. Sports betting companies like DraftKings could also make sense as an ally if Disney wants to integrate wagering options in a future ESPN streaming app. The company was reportedly investigating possibilities along these lines last summer, but that was under the regime of former CEO Bob Chapek.
Integrating retail options into streaming platforms to boost engagement is a tactic that can be used for non-sports-focused services as well. Prime Video has already tried to implement such a scheme, as its international espionage series “Citadel” also featured a merchandise hub on Amazon. Users could by “Citadel” clothing and other items featuring the show’s logos or even buy outfits similar to the costumes worn by the stars themselves. The company could partner with brands that sell themselves in its digital store for any original show or movie it wants and can link to NFL merchandise during “Thursday Night Football” games and offer exclusive deals as it did last season.
Amazon’s position as an e-commerce platform which also happens to have a video streaming service gives it a unique advantage with “Citadel,” but other streamers are beginning to experiment with shoppable ads. The Roku Channel recently announced a deal with Shopify that will see clickable ads introduced allowing users to buy products with their remotes.
A recent survey indicates that 65% of audiences are likely to buy a product they’ve had their eye on if a clickable ad is shown to them while streaming. Partnering with retailers to create such ads can help streamers improve engagement, but they have to strike the correct balance between shopping and streaming to truly keep users spending time with their services.
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 10,000+ movies, TV shows, and Prime Originals like “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” “Jack Ryan,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “The Boys,” and more. Subscribers can also add third-party services like Max, Showtime, STARZ, and dozens more with Amazon Prime Video Channels. Prime Video also offers exclusive live access to NFL Thursday Night Football.