OTT Streaming giant DAZN is set to follow the corporate roadmap it has already taken in the UK, Italy and Germany and launch online sports betting in France in the coming months.
The group will operate its DAZN Bet dot fr website on the BetConstruct sportsbook platform. BetConstruct is certified to provide its solution in France and over the years has worked with Groupe Barrière, Partouche and operated its own Vbet brand.
The move comes despite struggles to drive subscriptions for its Ligue 1 offering, as covered in recent analysis by Gaming&Co and as DAZN’s latest accounts show pre-tax losses increasing 16% to $1.4bn in 2023, despite a jump in revenue of nearly 32% to $2.9bn.
The company’s accounts also revealed that billionaire backer Len Blavatnik injected an additional $827m into the company to mitigate the losses in 2023, bringing his total investment to over $6.7bn since DAZN’s inception in 2016.
Despite these losses, CEO Shay Segev told the Financial Times that the group’s top 10 markets are profitable and that the company revenues will exceed $6bn this year.
DAZN acquired Australia’s Foxtel in December for A$3.4bn (£1.7bn), its largest-ever transaction. Foxtel is now its second-largest shareholder at 9% and sources told the FT that DAZN is valued “at close to $10bn” and planned to bring in institutional investors “before pursuing a medium-term plan of listing the group on a stock market”.
Rights costs rose by above 30% to $3.1bn in 2023 and its accounts showed that future rights commitments amounted to $9.3bn, highlighting the level of investment DAZN is putting into acquiring media rights.
Dingnews.com 31/01/2025