DAZN

DAZN (; "DAZN") is an international over-the-top sports streaming service owned by DAZN Group, which is majority owned by Access Industries. DAZN Group began operations in 2016 under the ownership of Perform Group, anchored by its purchase of global media rights to Japan's J.League football. It launched in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland on August 10, 2016, followed by Japan on August 23, 2016. The service expanded to Canada in 2017 (with a focus on streaming rights to the National Football League). After hiring former ESPN president John Skipper, DAZN expanded into the United States in 2018 with a focus on boxing, including major broadcast agreements with promoter Eddie Hearn and Mexican boxer Canelo Álvarez. In 2018, DAZN and Perform Group's content business was spun off as DAZN Group, with its sports data business later sold to Vista Equity Partners, who merged it with STATS LLC to form Stats Perform. In 2020, DAZN announced plans to expand worldwide, with a focus on its portfolio of global broadcast rights, such as boxing, and original content. History In July 2016, prior to DAZN's launch, Perform Group announced its acquisition of exclusive worldwide media rights to Japanese J.League football under a 10-year, ¥210 billion (US$2 billion) contract, succeeding the league's ¥5 billion deal with SKY Perfect. Under the new contract, all matches from the three J.League divisions (J1, J2, and J3) would be broadcast by DAZN beginning in 2017. The league described the contract as the largest broadcast rights deal in the history of Japanese sport.