Sport and Media

Dazn, bet on Australia and News Corp and Telstra enter the capital

Dazn has acquired Australia's Foxtel from its majority shareholder News Corp and minority shareholder Telstra, for an enterprise value of $2.2 billion

23 December 2024

2' min read

An operation that for Dazn is equivalent to landing in a relevant market for sport such as Australia. At the same time, however, the deal is also the key to opening up to new partners, with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp entering at 6 per cent and Australian telecoms incumbent Telstra taking a 3 per cent stake in the sports streaming platform.

Dazn yesterday announced an agreement to acquire Foxtel Group from its majority shareholder News Corp (65%) and minority shareholder Telstra for an enterprise value of $2.2 billion (including debt), subject to regulatory approval.

It is the biggest deal in the history of a Dazn that has a large portfolio of sports rights in Europe: Serie A in Italy, the Bundesliga in Germany and Ligue 1 in France, just to stay with football. Last month it was announced that it had signed a $1 billion deal with Fifa to broadcast the new Club World Cup next year.

For CEO Shay Segev, the Foxtel acquisition will further enhance the company's ambition to become 'the global home of sport': 'Australians watch more sport than any other country in the world, which makes this deal an incredibly exciting opportunity for Dazn.

For their part, News Corp and Telstra are not only selling their stake in Foxtel, but also acquiring a strategic position within the platform owned by Len Blavatnik's Access Industries, which has an investment portfolio valued at more than USD 35 billion and within which there is also a majority stake in Warner Music Group.

In this context, it should first be noted that by bringing Foxtel with its bundle of rights - including the Australian Football League, Cricket Australia and NRL - under the Dazn banner, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp will be able to afford to focus even more on its core business. Robert Thomson, News Corp's CEO, said the sale will allow the media conglomerate to focus on its fastest-growing businesses, including Dow Jones, the publisher of the Wall Street Journal, online real estate listings, and book publishing.

On the other hand, it is equally true that Rupert Murdoch ends up securing a direct role - moreover with a seat on the board of directors reserved for News Corp - in Dazn. And after all, the prominent position in the sports media sector in this way has not entirely disappeared, despite the sale of the stake in Australia's Foxtel.

As for Dazn, reported numbers indicate around 20 million paying subscribers and nearly 60 million users with 90,000 live events each year available to 300 million viewers. The addition of Foxtel to Dazn brings the Group's pro-forma revenues to $6bn, which ended 2023 with $3.2bn in revenues. "In 2024 Dazn will reach profitability," said CEO Segev last July when speaking in Milan at the presentation of the next sports season. In 2022 the loss had been over EUR 1 billion.

Andrea BiondiVicecaposervizio
Luogo: Milano
Lingue parlate: Italiano, Inglese, Francese
Argomenti: Finanza, Media, Telecomunicazioni, Economia dell'entertainment, Innovazione
Scheda autore
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