Bellator MMA land 'game changing' multi-year nine-figure deal with DAZN

[FrankieNYC]

rumor is the deal includes Dazn getting stock or stock options so viacom probably already found their buyer in dazn.

Rumors from where?
I'd love to look into it
Good stuff

 

[FrankieNYC]

hey I said that earlier today.. lol me knows stuff. I think so to but then again I have been wrong before and will be wrong again. The biggest problem with that is there are not to many buyers who might be interested in them. UFC was always the primary buyer before but it was always for content libraries and fighters, does the UFC really want Bellator's aging fighters who are all UFC castoffs?

I don't think UFC is interested
If the price is right I can certainly see someone buying them.
Sports programming is a key these days.

The reason I don't think DAZN will be the whole buyer is Bellator needs some TV to grow & DAZN are the opposite.

 

[lukeuidswords]

Ow. That's bad. Bellator will shrink.

Whoever buys them, it will be smaller than Viacom.
And if they are broadcasted only on some small networks like this dime a dazn, that will turn this company into something smaller than WSOF used to be.

If they sell to somebody they can then shop Bellator to other networks.
They don't need to be owned by a network.

I have no idea if anybody is interested, but financial people think this is why Viacom made the move.
They are taking away their own content for guaranteed money.
That does seem like they are stabilizing Bellator to look better for purchase

 

[FrankieNYC]

The issue with that is ...
They are bombing on Paramount & CMT is not a great fit if they want to get away from the stigma of white trash fans.

That would make sense if Paramount was a fit for Bellator, but they are not

 

[Bubba32]

I don't think UFC is interested
If the price is right I can certainly see someone buying them.
Sports programming is a key these days.

The reason I don't think DAZN will be the whole buyer is Bellator needs some TV to grow & DAZN are the opposite.

awful announcing asked them about the rumor and the head of dazn wouldnt deny nor confirm it.:

"Trying to align with Viacom, Delgado wouldn’t disclose exactly how much the five-year deal was for, differing from disclosing the Matchroom deal. Delgado would also neither confirm nor deny if this deal included an equity stake for DAZN in Bellator."

http://awfulannouncing.com/mma/dazn...or-will-start-fight-subscription-package.html

it kinda of makes sense because why would viacom promote and build a different company's streaming service? streaming is killing viacoms cable business.

It looks like they are unloading bellator and found somebody to take it.

 

[ANIM4L]

If DAZN offers a bunch of other sports, it maybe the streaming service I've been waiting for. Doesnt seem too bad from what I'm hearing with Boxing MMA NFL etc

 

[Bubba32]

Dazn lost 214 million dollars last year:

"Last year, while DAZN showed tremendous growth, with revenues rocketing from £8.7m to £90.8m, the overall Perform Group, which also sells some digital sports rights to other media groups, saw its operating losses quadruple from £50.8m to £214m."

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2...vice-dazn-netflix-sport-us-boxing-eddie-hearn

These losses were before the boxing deals take affect which they are paying alot for.

I guess the question now is how long until Dazn goes out of business?

 

[AGEZ909]

and those exclusive events could be the regional European shows they're trying to do

It doesn’t appear that way, the way I’m reading. Remember Coker stated that they are looking to hold 6-8 European shows that won’t interfere with the 20+ they already hold. Reading this article, it states that they are looking to hold 7 exclusive for DAZN and 15 multicast events. I’m not sure how the new European shows will fit in, unless I’m reading something wrong.

 

[AGEZ909]

Dazn lost 214 million dollars last year:

"Last year, while DAZN showed tremendous growth, with revenues rocketing from £8.7m to £90.8m, the overall Perform Group, which also sells some digital sports rights to other media groups, saw its operating losses quadruple from £50.8m to £214m."

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2...vice-dazn-netflix-sport-us-boxing-eddie-hearn

These losses were before the boxing deals take affect which they are paying alot for.

I guess the question now is how long until Dazn goes out of business?

This is big business. Large capital investments with the hopes of profits years down the line. Most companies see losses for years before they see any profits, if any.

 

[tithas]

Dazn lost 214 million dollars last year:

"Last year, while DAZN showed tremendous growth, with revenues rocketing from £8.7m to £90.8m, the overall Perform Group, which also sells some digital sports rights to other media groups, saw its operating losses quadruple from £50.8m to £214m."

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2...vice-dazn-netflix-sport-us-boxing-eddie-hearn

These losses were before the boxing deals take affect which they are paying alot for.

I guess the question now is how long until Dazn goes out of business?

To be fair almost every business takes losses for years until their models are sustainable. That is why it is so important to get seed money, venture funds and angel investors. If DAZN's revenues increased 82.1M that seems impressive unless their operating cost also increased 82.1M. The parent groups losses at 214M may be sustainable for awhile if DAZN continues to increase its revenues.

 

[KeeSmyth]

All the fights from their cards go on Bellator.com like the next day after they are broadcast for a while now. Maybe that will change going forward, but as of last time I checked you can watch prelims & main card bouts as individual fights on their web site from many recent cards going back quite a while.

Yeah except not available in Canada

 

[Bubba32]

To be fair almost every business takes losses for years until their models are sustainable. That is why it is so important to get seed money, venture funds and angel investors. If DAZN's revenues increased 82.1M that seems impressive unless their operating cost also increased 82.1M. The parent groups losses at 214M may be sustainable for awhile if DAZN continues to increase its revenues.

that's true. But losing 214m a year? yeah i doubt that's sustainable for very long.

 

[FrankieNYC]

that's true. But losing 214m a year? yeah i doubt that's sustainable for very long.

Here is the thing
If they show growth, they can get more loans or investors
If by the end of 2019 they don't show significant growth with the Boxing/MMA deals ... it can be very scary

 

[GueseGuy]

that's true. But losing 214m a year? yeah i doubt that's sustainable for very long.

I was reading somewhere that their owner is worth $21.2 billion. He’s a very wealthy man and sometimes you only get that way by taking big chances. He could eat that $214m for a few years if the company continues to make strides. Not everything is profitable in the initial time period you’d hope for, but once name value and customer loyalty has accrued, the company could eventually begin to make profits.

 

[FrankieNYC]

I was reading somewhere that their owner is worth $21.2 billion. He’s a very wealthy man and sometimes you only get that way by taking big chances. He could eat that $214m for a few years if the company continues to make strides. Not everything is profitable in the initial time period you’d hope for, but once name value and customer loyalty has accrued, the company could eventually begin to make profits.

They are owned by Perform Group
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perform_Group

 

[neandertal]

So will it stream on DAZN in Europe as well..

 

[WallyBear]

I have a DAZN subscription (German version) and it's pretty legit over here. You get tons of sports from European stuff like soccer, handball, rugby but also US Sports like NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL and a lot of niche sports. Costs €9.99 a month, but for me, it's totally worth it.
It's good to see they'll add Bellator, I don't think it was possible to watch it from Germany (without illegal streams). There MMA programming was pretty lackluster so far.

 

[cheesus]

Never heard of DAZN, looked it up and can't even access it in my country. Not a big deal though I still have access to paramount.

 

[Cousin Oliver]

I was reading somewhere that their owner is worth $21.2 billion. He’s a very wealthy man and sometimes you only get that way by taking big chances. He could eat that $214m for a few years if the company continues to make strides. Not everything is profitable in the initial time period you’d hope for, but once name value and customer loyalty has accrued, the company could eventually begin to make profits.

DAZN is owned by Len Blavatnik, a Russian oligarch based in the UK. He is worth around $20 billion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Blavatnik

His congolmerate is Access Industries, which owns DAZN:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Access_Industries

 

[Reign Supreme]

UFC Fight Pass...ESPN+...now this. It's a money grab...fuck this bullshit