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DAZN Set To Bid For Premier League TV Rights From 2022

DAZN Set To Bid For Premier League TV Rights From 2022

Premier League tv rights could be moved from Sky Sports as early as next year, as DAZN look to move into the UK market in a big way.

Ryan Sidle

Ryan Sidle

Sports streaming service DAZN, described as the 'Netflix of Sport,' could bid for the Premier League rights when they go up for sale later this year.

The American owned company are best known in the UK for their boxing rights, with the likes of Canelo Alvarez and Anthony Joshua appearing on the service in the U.S.

They currently own the tv rights for both the Champions League and the Premier League in Canada and they could soon make similar moves in the UK, as they look to expand over here.

DAZN's billionaire owner Len Blavatnik can certainly afford to buy the rights, when the 2022-2025 rights go up for sale later this year.

"To have staying power, you need to deliver the sports that matter to consumers no matter where they are. And those are the local sports," new DAZN chairman in Kevin Mayer told CNBC.

"So in the UK, the English Premier League and maybe some cricket and maybe some rugby.

"In Germany, it's Bundesliga, which is their equivalent of the EPL. In Japan, it's baseball.

"So you have to get those local rights in those countries. And that's how you can make a real service take hold."

Canelo has fought on DAZN and his next fight with Billy Joe Saunders is also on the platform. Image: PA Images
Canelo has fought on DAZN and his next fight with Billy Joe Saunders is also on the platform. Image: PA Images

Sky, BT and Amazon, who currently hold the rights for the games, though BBC have shown some live games during the pandemic, will be bidding once again for the next three year cycle.

Asked if he believes DAZN can take any games away from the current providers, Mayer added, "Yeah, I think we are positioned to do it. We have the capital to do it, and Len Blavatnik is committed to it. And it's going to work.

"It's a flywheel that happens. Once it starts spinning, you can create momentum.

"You get the rights, you get the subscribers, you put yourself in the position that you should reasonably be the person that can pay more than the second highest bidder the next time around.

"What ESPN did in wholesale, that's what we're going to do in retail. ESPN did this to the pay-TV guys. ESPN bought rights, they charged more, they bought more rights.

"You can recreate that with local rights in local markets. And I think that's what we're going to do."

Could DAZN beat Sky Sports to the Premier League rights? Image: PA Images
Could DAZN beat Sky Sports to the Premier League rights? Image: PA Images

As well as the football, fans in the UK could soon be turning to DAZN for a lot of their local boxing as well, with reports that Eddie Hearn is set to take his Matchroom Boxing stable over to the streaming service.

Matchroom already work with the company in America and the exclusive rights with Sky, that they've had since 2012, is due to expire this year.

According to the Athletic, a deal to move exclusively to DAZN has already been reached.

That won't affect either Anthony Joshua or Dillian Whyte but their future fights could eventually move over to the service too.

Featured Image Credit: Premier League/PA

Topics: Football, Premier League, Sky Sports, Eddie Hearn