Why Dazn is making news

London-based DAZN has confirmed it wants to house the NBA’s local broadcast streaming hub —whether the league launches it next season or beyond — in what could eventually become a billion-dollar bidding war between multiple digital outlets: DAZN, Amazon and YouTube. Dazn has emerged this Saturday as one of the stories drawing attention in Philippines.

Key facts

• London-based DAZN has confirmed it wants to house the NBA’s local broadcast streaming hub —whether the league launches it next season or beyond — in what could eventually become a billion-dollar bidding war between multiple digital outlets: DAZN, Amazon and YouTube.
• DAZN has been mentioned for months as an option for local sports rights, and one of its top executives is now on the record about its plans.
• DAZN is making its latest attempt to break into the U.S. local sports market by acquiring a platform that already powers several regional sports networks.
• The streaming service announced an agreement to merge the streaming platform ViewLift into DAZN.
• This comes as DAZN is continuing to pitch its platform to the 20 teams that just left FanDuel Sports Network.

What we know

Going deeper, DAZN has been mentioned for months as an option for local sports rights, and one of its top executives is now on the record about its plans.

On the substance, DAZN is making its latest attempt to break into the U.S. local sports market by acquiring a platform that already powers several regional sports networks.

Beyond the headlines, the streaming service announced an agreement to merge the streaming platform ViewLift into DAZN.

More precisely, this comes as DAZN is continuing to pitch its platform to the 20 teams that just left FanDuel Sports Network.

It is worth noting that Another option would involve DAZN holding the exclusive local rights to teams, with teams being paid between $8M and $15M in annual rights fees.

By the numbers

At this stage, that deal ended early in 2020, with reporting at the time suggesting that DAZN was unhappy with viewership.

On a related note, In July 2019, DAZN tried to reach an agreement with Pat McAfee to simulcast The Pat McAfee Show.

Going deeper, DAZN has taken a slightly different approach in the U.S. market since 2025, seeking to align itself with more established players.

On the substance, DAZN acquired the exclusive global rights to the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup and reached sublicense agreements with TNT Sports and Univision Deportes in the United States to get matches and its brand in front of more viewers.

What they're saying

“Obviously [the NBA] will make their decision ultimately about who their partner is, and that’s their process and we’re very respectful of that,” Oliver said of the NBA’s eventual aggregated streaming platform for local broadcasts. “But let’s be clear, we want to be in that space.

“The missing piece for us is America,” Oliver said. “And we actually have quite a big business in Canada.

“Capital unlocks even more opportunities, but as we’re looking at the teams that we currently have, we’re committed to growing with them,” Gruninger said. “And then as additional capital comes on, we’re going to go after more properties.”

The wider context

On a related note, the DAZN local model -- at least what’s being pitched to the former Main Street teams -- is to pay rights fees between $8M and $15M, place a team’s local games on DAZN’s subscription streaming service and simulcast 10 to 15 of them on local linear OTA channels.

Going deeper, that means migrating to OTA local channels owned by entities such as Gray Media, Sinclair, Scripps or Nexstar with rights fees likely at or below $8M — all while launching accompanying DTC apps through Kiswe, Deltatre or the new DAZN/ViewLift model.

On the substance, Main Street set to begin winding down FanDuel Sports Network RSNs.

Beyond the headlines, ViewLift operates direct-to-consumer streaming services for several different U.S. regional sports networks, including Altitude Sports, Monumental….

More precisely, the deal will not result in any changes for teams with existing relationships with ViewLift, but the deal allows DAZN and ViewLift to offer more optionality for teams looking for new media rights agreements.

The bottom line

• The streaming service announced an agreement to merge the streaming platform ViewLift into DAZN.
• This comes as DAZN is continuing to pitch its platform to the 20 teams that just left FanDuel Sports Network.
• That deal ended early in 2020, with reporting at the time suggesting that DAZN was unhappy with viewership.