DAZN buys Eleven to clear way for football dominance

DAZN Group has announced another ambitious acquisition deal with the company moving to acquire ELEVEN Group’s global sports media businesses. This should give the company a very strong footprint in the football markets in Europe and consolidate DAZN’s own position as one of the leading sports streaming platforms. The company sees a trifecta of benefits that will come its way once the deal is completed.

DAZN is confident that it will have further reach in European football for starters, with the company becoming the broadcaster for a number of topflight leagues across the continent, including in Portugal and Belgium. It will also bolster the company’s existing operations in other important markets, such as Spain and Italy and it will further help the company pivot beyond Europe, and towards Southeast Asian markets and Taiwan. DAZN is hoping to also double down on its position in Japan.

Geographical expansion is clearly uppermost on the company’s mind as DAZN will then be able to leverage other benefits as well, including but not limited to the rollout of merchandise and ancillary operations. DAZN hopes that through this acquisition it can also position itself with younger audiences who may be looking to experience sports in a new way. One of ELEVEN’s greatest assets is Team Whistle, which DAZN hopes will dovetail nicely with its own operations and asset portfolio.

ELEVENsports.com has an annual streaming turnaround of 40,000 games, notes DAZN, and this platform will now be part of its own proposition. ELEVEN is intertwined with FIFA’s OTT service, FIFA+, and it helps with product, distribution, and delivery of content and live games from the 90 FIFA Member Associations, DAZN notes in a press release.

But it’s not all that it does. ELEVEN also focuses on female football, which includes Japanese WE League, Liga F in Spain, and many others. Shay Segev, DAZN Group’s chief executive with a distinct record in the gaming industry, noted that this acquisition will add true scale to the business and help it grown considerably.

"DAZN has invested in building a revolutionary digital sports platform, where fans can enjoy the full range of interactive sport entertainment," the executive noted. Meanwhile, ELEVEN Group CEO Marc Watson welcomed the news on a similarly good note and said that the deal with DAZN will be transformative, praising the significant progress that DAZN has been able to achieve in providing an advanced entertainment platform where sports fans can come and enjoy their favorite games, teams, and players. The journey continues, remarked ELEVEN Founder and Chairman Andrea Radrizzani.

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