DAZN Group announced a $4.3 billion capital injection by billionaire investor Len Blavatnik’s firm. The British sports media company aims to expand into recreational betting, gaming and non-fungible tokens.
The investment comes after Spain’s LaLiga sold its domestic broadcasting rights to Movistar and DAZN for $5.62 billion over five years.
The media company also said its biggest shareholder Access Industries, founded and chaired by Blavatnik, subscribed for another $250 million of its new shares. The company, which also hosts coverage of the Bundesliga in Germany and is home to more than 700 live and on-demand sports rights around the globe, said the recapitalization by Access has left the group without any borrowings at the end of 2021.
DAZN held talks to take over BT Sports, which would have given it access to the English Premier League and UEFA Champions League broadcasting rights. According to Reuters, the move did not materialize after DAZN walked away from the deal.
DAZN claims to be “the world’s leading sports destination”. The platform has streamed for over 956 million hours in 2021, totaling more than 27k sports events. Sir Leonard Blavatnik topped the latest Sunday Times Rich List and was named the wealthiest person in the UK. He is worth an estimated $31.3 billion.