DAZN announces launch of global sports OTT play in 200 countries by December 1

DAZN one of the world’s biggest sports streaming player has announced that they will be expanding their services to 200 countries and territories worldwide. DAZN has announced that the worldwide OTT players will be launched on 1st Dec. 

Launched in 2016 and backed by billionaire Len Blavatnik, DAZN has thus far reached the U.S., Brazil, Spain, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Canada, Italy and Japan with a monthly price between $10 and $20.  Boxing has been a calling card, and the global rollout is tied to two fights included in the regular subscription price: Ryan Garcia vs. Luke Campbell on December 5, and Anthony Joshua vs. Kubrat Pulev on December 12. 

To maximise the international audience across North America and Europe, the main events for both fight cards will start around 7pm EST. DAZN, which already has a presence on four continents, holds international rights to several top boxing promotions, including Matchroom Boxing USA, Golden Boy Promotions, and GGG Promotions.

Rights acquisitions for the new global platform will focus on combat sports, with deals to be judged on a case-by-case basis and made with key target territories, such as the UK and Australia, in mind.

“From the UK to Mexico to Australia, we’ve seen an encouraging level of interest in our key events since first launching in 2016,” said DAZN executive vice president Joseph Markowski.

DAZN rekindled its 2020 expansion plans for the global combat sports platform back in July after scrapping its original May launch when the coronavirus pandemic took hold in March.

During the Covid-19 shutdown, the UK-based company placed a number of staff on furlough but maintained back-end work on the platform.