DAZN Group is selling a majority stake in Goal.com to Integrated Media Company, a venture supported by private equity firm TPG Capital. Goal, which recently landed the exclusive interview in which Lionel Messi said he’d stay another season at FC Barcelona, is the world’s largest digital soccer site.
SportBusiness reported that the sale—which also includes German and Dutch soccer sites Spox and VoetbalZone, respectively—is for a valuation over $100 million. The New York Times first wrote about a possible sale in June.
The three sites received 150 million unique visitors in August. Goal provides content in 19 languages. DAZN, before it was spun off from the Perform Group, originally acquired Goal for $22.7 million back in 2011. TPG has a long history of media investments, which also include stakes in CAA, Vice, Univision and Spotify.
The pandemic’s disruption of the sports world hit DAZN particularly hard, as the streaming service had spent huge sums to acquire broadcast rights in several international markets during a period of rapid expansion. Bloomberg reported last month that the company is considering an IPO with hopes of raising $1 billion.
