As Foxtel parent company DAZN charts a course toward profitability, it was reported that Billionaire Sir Leonard Blavatnik invested US$587 million (AUS$891) into the sports giant last year.
With Blavatnik’s investment made in the previous financial year, this is not money that will go towards investments like, for example, the upcoming NRL rights that Foxtel will be negotiating for. In April, DAZN took ownership of Foxtel for AUS$3.4 billion, with part of that payment including shares in DAZN.
Blavatnik’s investment is up from an injection of $240 million into DAZN in 2023. The investment was made through his firm Access Industries and there is no expectation that a further investment will be made this year.
Sir Leonard Blavatnik
Within the past ten years, Blavatnik has invested over US$7 billion (AUS$10.6 billion) into DAZN. Forbes currently has him placed as the 71st richest person on the planet with a net worth of $30.5 billion (AUS$45.54 billion). He made his early fortune with an investment in Russian oil company TNK-BP and today his investment firm Access Industries holds stakes in chemicals firm LyondellBasell, energy conglomerate Calpine, and house flipping website Opendoor.
DAZN’s finances are heading in the right direction. The company reduced its losses last year to $936mn from $1.4bn the year prior. Meanwhile revenue has lifted to $3.2 billion, with the company reporting an increase by $323 million to $3.2 billion last year.
In an interview with the Financial Times, DAZN chief executive Shay Segev said that DAZN is on course to achieve profitability for the first time next year and is considering an IPO in the coming years.
“We’re aiming for at least $5bn in revenues for this year,” Segev told the FT. “The margins are improving, our key markets are already profitable in 2025 and we are comfortable saying that in 2026 the group will be profitable as well.”
International expansion investment
While the continued investment by the high-profile Blavatnik has driven the lionshare of attention around money spent to support DAZN, a recent investment by Saudi sports investment company Surj offers greater expansion potential. It injected US$1 billion into the company, with filings stating that the money will be used for working capital and new investments.
“It’s a global platform, and to accelerate [growth] we probably need to have more capital,” Segev said.
The Surj investment into the company will aid international sporting rights deals like the aforementioned upcoming NRL rights deal in Australia.
In a report by Ampere Analytics in February, the analysts predicted that streaming service sports rights would this year reach US$12.5 billion (which is 20 per cent of the US$64 billion spent globally each year on sports rights).
Of that spend, DAZN was expected to account for one third, with its $1 billion deal for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. DAZN has increased investment over the past five years in major European markets like Germany, Italy, Spain, and France.