Amsterdam’s "effort to rival London as a global media hub is gaining momentum," according to Joe Mayes of BLOOMBERG. The city’s "wide pool" of English-speaking skilled workers and int'l transport links have already convinced Netflix, Uber, Amazon and Viacom to "establish a presence there." Now, sport streaming service DAZN has picked Amsterdam for a new development center, "hiring 300 staff including software engineers and development managers as it tries to become a Netflix of sports with a foothold in 20 countries." Officials in the Dutch business capital are "pitching the city as a safe alternative" to the U.K. for media and technology companies whose businesses "could be disrupted" by Britain's exit from the European Union. London is also the main base for DAZN's 1,200-strong workforce. But the reasons DAZN "did advance for picking Amsterdam could make uncomfortable reading for a U.K. government." DAZN Chief Product Officer Ben Lavender said, "The ability to hire at a speed that can match the pace of our growth is essential to our business. We looked at several global locations, but nothing came close to Amsterdam for its infrastructure and the ability to attract the best global tech talent" (BLOOMBERG, 9/13).
