Team Whistle-produced show begins with episode on Aston Villa’s Samuel Iling Jr

Days Off Team Whistle DAZN

Team Whistle-produced series Days Off will join the DAZN Sport YouTube channel on 23 July, Broadcast Sport can reveal.

The series examines how top athletes spend their time when they step away from match days and their training regime, and the first episode on DAZN’s channel will feature Aston Villa footballer Samuel Iling Jr - although it was filmed before he moved to the Premier League club and was still playing for Serie A’s Juventus.

“We actually shot this “Days Off” episode whilst I was playing for Juventus. We discussed my role on the team and what helps me to decompress during my time off. Since then I’ve joined Aston Villa,” said Iling-Junior. “It was a real privilege to be asked by DAZN and Whistle to be in the first ever episode of ‘Days Off’ on the channel, which not only highlights for me the commitment to my sport, but commitment to self-care and mental health.”

The series has previously been available through the Whistle YouTube channel, and focused on US sport stars from the likes of the NFL, NBA, boxing and more, as well as non-sport celebrities speaking about sport.

The DAZN Sport YouTube channel launched earlier this year, and began with similarly named and Team Whistle-produced show No Days Off - which looks at how athletes train to be the best. It is also populated with DAZN owned documentaries and other content it has global rights to, as well as original shorts that span from hosted storytelling to viral reactions.

Team Whistle is a US-based social content studio, although it works across the UK and Europe as well. It became part of DAZN when the broadcaster acquired former parent company Eleven last year.

Joe Caporoso, president at Team Whistle, said: “The addition of Days Off further showcases DAZN’s investment in off-the-field storytelling to complement their live rights portfolio and desire to connect with audiences every day. Whistle continues to grow as DAZN’s in-house social content studio, as we work to build a multisport slate on DAZN Sport and other channels across DAZN’s portfolio. We are excited to keep telling authentic and uplifting stories that our audience and advertisers can get behind.”