DAZN could buy BT Sports

[The Daddy]

That's the talk in the sports media industry at the moment. Hopefully it results in another cashed up broadcaster looking for RL content 

https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/dazn-possibly-interested-bt-sport-chairman-says-2021-09-15/

[whatmichaelsays]

50 minutes ago, The Daddy said:

That's the talk in the sports media industry at the moment. Hopefully it results in another cashed up broadcaster looking for RL content 

https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/dazn-possibly-interested-bt-sport-chairman-says-2021-09-15/

"DAZN" and "cashed up" aren't terms you'd associate together - it loses money hand over fist. 

If they wanted to take on RL content, they could. 

[gingerjon]

9 minutes ago, whatmichaelsays said:

"DAZN" and "cashed up" aren't terms you'd associate together - it loses money hand over fist. 

If they wanted to take on RL content, they could. 

BT appear to have been trying to offload their sports set up for ages.

If DAZN could buy it outright now they would have done so already.

There will have to be all manner of financial contortions to get them ownership and it will then be 'interesting' to see what comes next.

[DavidM]

DAZN is hiking up my subs next month so we’ll see how that goes and if people stick with it 

[Eddie]

1 hour ago, The Daddy said:

That's the talk in the sports media industry at the moment. Hopefully it results in another cashed up broadcaster looking for RL content 

https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/dazn-possibly-interested-bt-sport-chairman-says-2021-09-15/

Never heard of them but as it says Streaming service does that mean you have to watch it on a tablet/phone/computer rather than through an app on your tv?  If so it’s a massive failing imho, I barely watch Our League because I have to watch it on a tablet. 

[Futtocks]

19 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Never heard of them but as it says Streaming service does that mean you have to watch it on a tablet/phone/computer rather than through an app on your tv?  If so it’s a massive failing imho, I barely watch Our League because I have to watch it on a tablet. 

Does your TV have an internet browser? That's how I access OurLeague, rather than the app. Slightly more faff, as you have to open the stream then go full-screen, but it works just fine.

[DavidM]

30 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Never heard of them but as it says Streaming service does that mean you have to watch it on a tablet/phone/computer rather than through an app on your tv?  If so it’s a massive failing imho, I barely watch Our League because I have to watch it on a tablet. 

Any way you like . There’s an app I downloaded and it’s fixed on my tv home page and I watch it that way most of the time . It’s stuff is really good and well produced 

[Eddie]

6 minutes ago, DavidM said:

Any way you like . There’s an app I downloaded and it’s fixed on my tv home page and I watch it that way most of the time . It’s stuff is really good and well produced 

 

16 minutes ago, Futtocks said:

Does your TV have an internet browser? That's how I access OurLeague, rather than the app. Slightly more faff, as you have to open the stream then go full-screen, but it works just fine.

Thanks chaps, I’ll look into this for Our League then, our tv isn’t the best but hopefully it’ll be doable

[Futtocks]

49 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Thanks chaps, I’ll look into this for Our League then, our tv isn’t the best but hopefully it’ll be doable

I should point out that, when using the Silk internet browser that comes with the Fire TV Stick, going full screen still leaves the top bar of the web page visible. However, that browser does remember my OurLeague login details, while the browser on my TV (which does full full-screen) does not. Swings and roundabouts...

[whatmichaelsays]

1 hour ago, Eddie said:

Never heard of them but as it says Streaming service does that mean you have to watch it on a tablet/phone/computer rather than through an app on your tv?  If so it’s a massive failing imho, I barely watch Our League because I have to watch it on a tablet. 

My LG has a DAZN app and I'm sure there will be one for Amazon Fire sticks. 

1 hour ago, DavidM said:

DAZN is hiking up my subs next month so we’ll see how that goes and if people stick with it 

The DAZN model really isn't proven yet in the UK and I know a fair few people who subscribed to the Josh Warrington fight for the £2 a month introduction deal, only to cancel as soon as the final bell rang. For all the fanfare of Matchroom taking their boxing content to DAZN, they've still kept the "headline" acts on Sky Box Office, which is probably a sign in itself. 

And there really is a big question mark over how many streaming services the average punter is willing to take on. The big selling point of streaming in the early stages was that you could "cut the cord" from your expensive satellite or cable providers and their 18-month contracts, but everyone is now jumping on that bandwagon. If all of a sudden you need to start getting various combinations of Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Discovery+, Britbox, DAZN and Sky/NowTV/Virgin to access the content you want, that selling point is gone. I suspect for most punters, the most they'll take on is 2-3 and, if their households are like mine, one of those is going to be a kid-focused service like Netflix or Disney+, not another dedicated sports channel.

For BT, sports rights made a bit of sense as they tied their TV product to their broadband packages and the idea that, when customers bundle packages together (eg, broadband and TV), they're less likely to leave. But if they can't make it work, I wouldn't bet rugby league's farm on DAZN. 

 

[Futtocks]

46 minutes ago, whatmichaelsays said:

My LG has a DAZN app and I'm sure there will be one for Amazon Fire sticks. 

I just checked on my Fire TV Stick, and there is a DAZN app available.

[DI Keith Fowler]

5 minutes ago, Futtocks said:

I just checked on my Fire TV Stick, and there is a DAZN app available.

There is. I believe a lot of unscrupulous people sign up through a VPN in order to gain access to say the Canadian DAZN which has every premier league football game, I believe. 

[northamptoncougar]

1 hour ago, whatmichaelsays said:

My LG has a DAZN app and I'm sure there will be one for Amazon Fire sticks. 

The DAZN model really isn't proven yet in the UK and I know a fair few people who subscribed to the Josh Warrington fight for the £2 a month introduction deal, only to cancel as soon as the final bell rang. For all the fanfare of Matchroom taking their boxing content to DAZN, they've still kept the "headline" acts on Sky Box Office, which is probably a sign in itself. 

And there really is a big question mark over how many streaming services the average punter is willing to take on. The big selling point of streaming in the early stages was that you could "cut the cord" from your expensive satellite or cable providers and their 18-month contracts, but everyone is now jumping on that bandwagon. If all of a sudden you need to start getting various combinations of Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Discovery+, Britbox, DAZN and Sky/NowTV/Virgin to access the content you want, that selling point is gone. I suspect for most punters, the most they'll take on is 2-3 and, if their households are like mine, one of those is going to be a kid-focused service like Netflix or Disney+, not another dedicated sports channel.

For BT, sports rights made a bit of sense as they tied their TV product to their broadband packages and the idea that, when customers bundle packages together (eg, broadband and TV), they're less likely to leave. But if they can't make it work, I wouldn't bet rugby league's farm on DAZN. 

 

Joshua had a separate contract with Sky, the last fight is this weekend.

[Damien]

Is BT Sports even profitable without BT owning it? I have always got the impression that it isn't at all as a standalone entity and the real value for BT is all of the cross selling and bundles it offers with phone, broadband etc.

[ATLANTISMAN]

Sponsors hate BT Sport (Especially non UK) with SKY you get so much more BT Sport is a total turn off.

 

[DavidM]

I have bt sports and even as a sports lover I rarely put it on tbh . I know there’s talk of them getting The Ashes , if it happens … and with what side , so that may not be much of a seller 

[gingerjon]

1 hour ago, DavidM said:

I have bt sports and even as a sports lover I rarely put it on tbh . I know there’s talk of them getting The Ashes , if it happens … and with what side , so that may not be much of a seller 

They had the last Ashes down under. 

[HawkMan]

1 hour ago, DavidM said:

I have bt sports and even as a sports lover I rarely put it on tbh . I know there’s talk of them getting The Ashes , if it happens … and with what side , so that may not be much of a seller 

erm...BT have all UEFA Club football, with the Champions League as the big draw. If they lost that then subscriptions would drop off a cliff.

DAZN or anyone else wanting to move in would be after that prize,  no doubt. 

[DavidM]

26 minutes ago, HawkMan said:

erm...BT have all UEFA Club football, with the Champions League as the big draw. If they lost that then subscriptions would drop off a cliff.

DAZN or anyone else wanting to move in would be after that prize,  no doubt. 

Erm …i didnt say they hadnt

[DavidM]

38 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

They had the last Ashes down under. 

Yes , i think broadcasters are holding off at present perhaps not surprisingly 

[lanzer98]

Germany was the first market DAZN provided  its services back in 2016. At that time it was just great: It was cheap (10 Euro p.m.), it offered so many sports- major and minor sports, and it also offered on demand and highlight services.

They marketed themselves as „DAZN - Home of Rugby“ and had licences for NRL, 6N, English Premiership, Pro14, and 7s. They had Englisch and German commentators although all with RU background struggling with RL rules in the beginning . Anyhow, it was brilliant. 

Now 5 years later it is 15 Euro p.m. and Rugby became non existent. NRL had gone as they use their own streaming service and RU programme is down to two selected matches. Maybe Germans don‘t care about Rugby of either code and UK is in that term a different market but in Germany DAZN positioned itself as a soccer streaming plattform with additional major sports content like NFL, UFC, Boxing. That’s were the money comes from.

So I wouldn‘t be too confident that DAZN is a better option than BT or Sky in terms of RL.

[gingerjon]

8 hours ago, lanzer98 said:

Germany was the first market DAZN provided  its services back in 2016. At that time it was just great: It was cheap (10 Euro p.m.), it offered so many sports- major and minor sports, and it also offered on demand and highlight services.

They marketed themselves as „DAZN - Home of Rugby“ and had licences for NRL, 6N, English Premiership, Pro14, and 7s. They had Englisch and German commentators although all with RU background struggling with RL rules in the beginning . Anyhow, it was brilliant. 

Now 5 years later it is 15 Euro p.m. and Rugby became non existent. NRL had gone as they use their own streaming service and RU programme is down to two selected matches. Maybe Germans don‘t care about Rugby of either code and UK is in that term a different market but in Germany DAZN positioned itself as a soccer streaming plattform with additional major sports content like NFL, UFC, Boxing. That’s were the money comes from.

So I wouldn‘t be too confident that DAZN is a better option than BT or Sky in terms of RL.

Thanks for this, really interesting.

It looks like, from reading around, that the Premier League is literally the only piece of the BT Sport that DAZN want any level of guarantees on.

I've seen a comment, more in hope than expectation, that their model *might* see some splitting off of the subscription packages - i.e. the American content could be on a separate package - but, again, that's really based on the hope of the writer involved that there might be a rebirth of the old NASN/ESPN America channel(s).