It also acquires digital content creator Team Whistle as part of the deal

Andrea Radrizzani and Shay Segev DAZN Eleven

DAZN has agreed the acquisition of Eleven Group’s sport media businesses. 

The deal sees Eleven founder Andrea Radrizzani join DAZN’s board as an executive director, and he will support the the DAZN Group’s business development.

The agreement adds a host of rights to DAZN’s portfolio, including the top football leagues in Portugal and Belgium. It also complements DAZN’s offering in Italy, DACH and Spain, and adds Taiwan and other Southeast Asian markets to its Japan presence in Asia.

In addition to Eleven Sports’ broadcasting capabilities, which include assisting FIFA with the streaming technology for FIFA+, DAZN has also acquired digital content house Team Whistle. It merged with NEO Studios earlier this year to create a global studio business that creates content for broadcast and digital platforms.

Overall, the deal is predicted to add $300m (£278m) in revenue to DAZN Group. Guggenheim Securities acted as financial advisor to Eleven on the deal, which is still subject to anti-trust review and as such, the completion date remains unknown.

Shay Segev, CEO of DAZN Group, said: “The acquisition adds scale to our business. It is a big step forward in our mission to be the leading global sports platform. I have a great deal of respect for what Andrea, Marc and the team have achieved and look forward to working with them as we further expand our ambitions. Together we form the strongest and most credible management team in the sector. DAZN has invested in building a revolutionary digital sports platform, where fans can enjoy the full range of interactive sport entertainment. We are looking forward to expanding these capabilities to new markets as well as leveraging Eleven’s capabilities in DAZN.” 

Marc Watson, CEO of Eleven Group, said: “We see DAZN as the future of digital sports broadcasting and the ideal home for Eleven. Sport is global entertainment and joining with DAZN will be transformative, allowing us to access greater economies of scale and a global platform for our talented team. We couldn’t be more excited about this deal, and I’m really looking forward to working with Shay and the team at DAZN.”

Kevin Mayer, DAZN chairman, said: “This deal marks an acceleration of our strategy to diversify our offerings and leverage our fantastic sports properties and our platform into new markets and business models. Team Whistle is a growing business that has a proven track record in monetising short form content. It will be hugely valuable to DAZN as we look to generate the maximum value from our enviable rights portfolio, creating new formats of content to reach new audiences and generate powerful incremental revenue streams. We look forward to welcoming all our new colleagues.”

Andrea Radrizzani, Eleven founder & chairman and owner of Leeds United, said: “We have developed a successful sports media company in the last six years with Eleven, and we’re delighted that this journey continues. The merger will provide greater opportunities as a group to continue to build a global destination for sports fans, which was our mission from day one.”