DAZN hits 15m subs, aims to become “daily sports destination for fans”

After widespread reports about the scale of its financial losses yesterday, DAZN Group has attempted to present a more positive picture of the platform’s progress in its 2022 Annual Review, released on January 12. Among headlines, DAZN revealed that the sports platform “streamed 1.2 billion hours globally across 130 million connected devices in 2022, a rise from 1 billion hours and over 100 million devices in 2021”.

Shay Segev

Describing itself as “the highest grossing sports app of 2022”, DAZN said it now has 15 million premium paying subscribers. It is “live in 225 territories and the largest digital sports broadcaster in Europe, having added over 75 rights over the past 12 months.”

Emphasising its leadership position in in boxing and football, the company said it is now “moving beyond its position as the first truly global sports streaming platform to become the daily sports destination for fans everywhere. In the future, DAZN will provide fans with everything they want and need – from the largest library of live and on-demand content to news, analysis, merchandise, ticketing, gaming and betting. This will create value for rights holders, commercial partners, and the business.”

Among 2022 highlights, DAZN singled out the acquisition of ELEVEN Sports, the extension of its UEFA Champions League partnership in Germany until 2027, the launch of the DAZN Bet beta, the creation of PFL Europe and an expansion into live extreme sports through Red Bull TV, a linear channel available globally on DAZN.

DAZN CEO Shay Segev said: “The past twelve months have been highly significant for DAZN as we look to become the ultimate daily destination for sports fans. We have experienced healthy growth, 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. Our focus will be on making the product more accessible, removing further friction and improving customer engagement.”

Kevin Mayer, chairman of the board of directors, said: “DAZN Group has gone from strength to strength over the past year. Driven by a highly experienced new senior leadership team drawn from across technology, media, telecommunications, entertainment and sport, the business has proven the potential of an innovative direct-to-consumer sports offering. We are in a strong position as we enter 2023.”