PR98037

LONDON, Sept. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/

- 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