DAZN hires ex-Twitch Ads boss Walker Jacobs as global chief revenue

Walker Jacobs (Source: DAZN)

Sports media giant DAZN Group has recruited ex-Twitch chief Walker Jacobs to become the company’s first global chief revenue officer and president of DAZN US.

Jacobs joins from Amazon where he served at the company chief revenue officer of video live streaming service Twitch and managing director of sports at Amazon Ads since 2018.  He led Twitch Ads globally, and launched and led Amazon Sports at Amazon Advertising during his five-year stint.

He was behind the launch Twitch’s Brand Partnership Studio, new ad products and formats, and the Twitch Properties business unit. He also oversaw sales and marketing for Amazon Prime Video’s sports, including the launch of the streamer’s NFL Thursday Night Football offering.

Jacobs will lead DAZN’s US-based social media content creation and distribution company Team Whistle, that was acquired in 2023. Team Whistle features over 50 sports shows and a creator network that generates five billion views per month across social media channels, according to the company.

He will also oversee business development in the US and look for new commercial opportunities for DAZN to expand its US presence.

Shay Segev, DAZN Group CEO, said: “Walker’s impeccable track record of using data and technology to deliver results for brand partners will enable DAZN to maximise the value of our audience within our premium live sports content environment. DAZN has built the global digital home for sports fans and we have the technological foundations to enable brands to reach this high-value audience in a hyper-targeted and sophisticated way. This is a very attractive proposition for brands and, currently, an under-leveraged part of our business. With Walker’s experience, we can anticipate a healthy appetite for innovation, commercial integrations and new advertising products and, ultimately, strong revenue growth in this area.”

Jacobs added: “DAZN has built an impressive roster of rights around the world, and we have an enormous opportunity to enhance how we partner with brands and advertisers to further drive growth. I am excited to partner with Shay and the team to unlock our full potential, especially as we lean into our free tier of sports programming.”