- DAZN Group today announces acquisition of ELEVEN Sports and Team Whistle
- Deal accelerates DAZN's global growth ambitions and diversification strategy
- Acquisition propels DAZN to largest holder of European sports rights
- Expands capabilities in live sports streaming sector, introducing DAZN to new 
markets

DAZN Group, a leading global sports platform, has today announced an agreement 
to acquire the ELEVEN Group's global sports media businesses. The deal expands 
DAZN's capabilities in the live sports streaming sector and establishes DAZN as 
a global leader in this rapidly evolving space. The benefits are threefold.

New and expanded territories. The transaction, when completed, will propel DAZN 
to become the broadcaster of top football leagues in Portugal and Belgium, two 
enthusiastic European footballing nations. ELEVEN Group's businesses will also 
complement DAZN's existing market-leading positions in Italy, DACH and Spain, 
where DAZN holds top tier domestic football rights. ELEVEN also has a presence 
in Taiwan and other Southeast Asian markets, giving DAZN a greater foothold in 
the region where it has a market leading business in Japan.

This geographical expansion gives DAZN access to new audiences as it builds out 
its global platform and becomes a one-stop shop for everything a sports fan 
wants – a place for them to access the largest library of live and on-demand 
content, analysis, highlights, merchandise, ticketing, gaming, and betting. It 
strengthens the business and drives economies of scale.

New revenue stream in social media. The acquisition of Team Whistle, the 
ELEVEN-owned media business, will enable DAZN to reach younger audiences, 
diversify and expand its fan engagement capabilities, and maximise the value of 
DAZN's rights portfolio. Team Whistle is ranked within the top ten US media 
sports properties on ComScore with over 700 million followers across its 
channels, and a growing distribution network that generates around five billion 
views per month across social platforms. Combining the complementary business 
of Team Whistle with DAZN's content rights creates a powerful proposition.

Expanded football rights. The acquisition cements DAZN as a global home of 
football through the integration of ELEVENsports.com and the 40,000 games it 
streams each year. Through a strategic relationship, ELEVEN plays a key role in 
FIFA's OTT service FIFA+, supporting the production, delivery, and distribution 
of live games from over 90 FIFA Member Associations. Of note, combined, the 
companies will create the world's biggest portfolio of women's football 
content. ELEVEN boasts women's content drawn from across six confederations, 
adding to DAZN's impressive roster of UEFA Women's Champions League, Liga F in 
Spain, the English FA Women's Super League and the Women's FA Cup, and Japanese 
WE League, among others.

The deal introduces a growing c.$300m a year to DAZN Group's revenues.
Shay Segev, CEO, DAZN Group said: "The acquisition adds scale to our business. 
It is a big step forward in our mission to be the leading global sports 
platform. I have a great deal of respect for what Andrea, Marc and the team 
have achieved and look forward to working with them as we further expand our 
ambitions. Together we form the strongest and most credible management team in 
the sector. DAZN has invested in building a revolutionary digital sports 
platform, where fans can enjoy the full range of interactive sport 
entertainment. We are looking forward to expanding these capabilities to new 
markets as well as leveraging ELEVEN's capabilities in DAZN." 

Marc Watson, CEO Eleven Group, said: "We see DAZN as the future of digital 
sports broadcasting and the ideal home for ELEVEN. Sport is global 
entertainment and joining with DAZN will be transformative, allowing us to 
access greater economies of scale and a global platform for our talented team. 
We couldn't be more excited about this deal, and I'm really looking forward to 
working with Shay and the team at DAZN."

Kevin Mayer, DAZN Chairman, said: "This deal marks an acceleration of our 
strategy to diversify our offerings and leverage our fantastic sports 
properties and our platform into new markets and business models. Team Whistle 
is a growing business that has a proven track record in monetising short form 
content. It will be hugely valuable to DAZN as we look to generate the maximum 
value from our enviable rights portfolio, creating new formats of content to 
reach new audiences and generate powerful incremental revenue streams. We look 
forward to welcoming all our new colleagues."

Andrea Radrizzani, ELEVEN Founder & Chairman and Owner of Leeds United said: 
"We have developed a successful sports media company in the last six years with 
ELEVEN, and we're delighted that this journey continues. The merger will 
provide greater opportunities as a group to continue to build a global 
destination for sports fans, which was our mission from day one."
Upon completion of the deal, Andrea Radrizzani, ELEVEN founder, will join 
DAZN's board as an executive director, and will support the DAZN Group's 
business development.

Established in 2015, ELEVEN is a sports media destination delivering 
world-class entertainment to fans around the world, broadcasting over 65,000 
hours of live content over the past year. From the world's biggest sporting 
events to the best local sport and award-winning original programming - fans 
enjoy a 24/7 offering of the best live and non-live content across the ELEVEN 
Group.

As a global, digital sports entertainment platform, DAZN is fast becoming the 
daily destination for sports fans across the world. DAZN's ambitions go beyond 
broadcasting. DAZN's platform is becoming a one-stop-shop for everything a 
sports fan wants. Soon, DAZN customers will be able to not only watch live and 
on-demand sport, but listen to and read about sport, play games and bet, buy 
sporting NFTs, tickets, and merchandise. 

The deal is subject to anti-trust review; as such, the completion date remains 
unknown.

Guggenheim Securities acted as financial advisor to ELEVEN Group on this 
transaction.

Source: DAZN