DAZN, a London-based sports streaming platform, has recently been linked to a purchase of Main Street Sports Group, owner of the FanDuel Sports Networks. Those talks appear to be over, but DAZN looks to have another plan in mind to break into major sports broadcasting in the United States.
According to a report by Tom Friend in Sports Business Journal, DAZN has “unequivocal interest in obtaining the broadcast rights to the 13 NBA and seven NHL teams that are currently under the Main Street umbrella.” Any deals would be made independent of Main Street, which appears destined to shutter operations at the end of the current NBA and NHL seasons after issuing WARN notices to employees this week.
However, teams that want to go the DAZN route would likely need to take a substantial haircut on their media rights fees. Per Friend, DAZN is asking teams to take as much as a 40% cut to their current rates, which could push teams to explore other options.
Any deals would likely be short-term in nature as both the NBA and NHL are looking to centralize local broadcast rights in the next few years to sell to a streamer. DAZN sees striking these deals as one way to get an inside track on those negotiations, which will also likely include more established players like Prime Video and ESPN Unlimited.
DAZN, for its part, does have connections to the NBA and NHL already. Sports Business Journal notes that the streamer operated NHL TV globally, and broadcasts NBA games in Spain, Belgium, and Germany.
It should be noted, these negotiations are happening on a team-by-team basis. Rather than buying Main Street, thereby taking on an entire portfolio of teams, many of which are inked to unsustainable rights deals, DAZN can pick and choose which teams to court based on a number of factors.
Last week, Puck sports correspondent John Ourand reported that the 13 NBA teams currently inked to Main Street are looking to move forward with the NBA’s centralized broadcast plans as early as next season. Those teams include the Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Miami Heat, Oklahoma City Thunder, Cleveland Cavaliers, Indiana Pacers, Detroit Pistons, Minnesota Timberwolves, Orlando Magic, Milwaukee Bucks, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers, and Memphis Grizzlies.
If DAZN wants to poach some of those teams, it’ll need to make offers that are more compelling than what the league can offer.