FC Barcelona Lassa will be among the teams streamed in DAZN’s new deal with EuroLeague Basketball. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
DAZN, the live and on-demand streaming service that launched with a focus on combat sports in the U.S. earlier this year, has struck a multi-year deal for exclusive broadcasting rights in Spain for Europe’s premier men’s basketball league.
The streaming platform will hold the rights to stream Turkish Airlines EuroLeague competitions from the 2019-20 season through the 2022-23 season. DAZN will also broadcast live matches and highlights for the next four seasons of the annual EuroCup competition.
“DAZN’s revolutionary platform matches the innovation DNA of Euroleague Basketball, bringing the digital reach of our competitions to new heights and allowing us to grow our Spanish audience,” said Euroleague Basketball CEO Jordi Bertomeu, in a statement.
The announcement comes two weeks after DAZN revealed its plans to launch in Spain in 2019, starting with MotoGP and the English Premier League. As part of that deal, DAZN will stream all EPL matches from the 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2021-22 seasons, including more than 235 live games per season.
With the latest deal, fans in Spain can now access events across professional soccer, motorsports, and basketball.
DAZN Chief Commercial Officer Jacopo Tonoli said the platform has plans to further expand its presence across the EuroLeague.
“Euroleague Basketball has shown how serious it is about growing the sport’s fanbase since its launch in 2000,” he said. “We too have big ambitions and love to partner with rights holders that embrace the change in how fans want to watch sport, building their audiences through streaming. We’re expanding at an incredible pace and soon will be able to share the full details of our launch, with an unbeatable roster of rights in the market.”
SportTechie Takeaway
DAZN has been expanding at a rapid pace since exploding onto the scene two years ago. The platform now offers access to sports streaming in a number of large European, North American, and Asian markets, including the U.S., Canada, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Japan. DAZN initially carved out a market in the U.S. by focusing on combat sports such as MMA and boxing, but has recently added MLB rights. In international markets, the platform holds rights across a wide range of sports, including NFL games streamed in Canada. With this expansion in Spain, DAZN is further establishing a foothold in professional sports in Europe. The service, which costs $9.99 per month in the U.S., competes with other sports sites, such as ESPN+. The growth of both services signals the further expansion of OTT for live sports.
