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Tycoon’s ‘Netflix of Sport’ Beats Comcast to $3 Billion Deal
- DAZN dislodges Sky in battle for Italian soccer TV rights
- Blavatnik-backed broadcaster has been refocusing on Europe
DAZN offices in Tokyo.
Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
DAZN Group Ltd., the media disruptor known as the “Netflix of sport,” has bloodied the nose of one of the world’s top broadcasters in a watershed moment for fans of live soccer in Europe.
DAZN won a deal to become the main domestic broadcaster of Italy’s Serie A soccer league, home to players including Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, according to a statement Friday. It beat out Comcast Corp.’s Sky for the contract, which involves about 2.5 billion euros ($3 billion) of payments over its three-season lifespan, people with knowledge of the matter said.