Remember when people were worried DAZN were leaking money and they are a put to spend £600m in one market alone. Just to buy into it.
2 months ago I wrote in this forum that I believed that the deal between DAZN and BT Sport would fall into place. Also wrote that it would probably be announced in early 2022
This sounds like exactly the same report with the months changed from October 2021 to January 2022 and it is a red top paper as well. Frankie Warden will start twitching again.
Will be interesting to see where this puts Frank Warren. Would be great as a DAZN subscriber to have Hearn and Frank's shows on there....I reckon Frank would top himself before that happens though. Sky wouldn't be an option for Frank and he could try to tempt ITV, Channel 5 or Dave but their pockets won't be deep enough for Frank, so maybe he shallows his pride...what would be interesting is that with DAZN getting football this would legitimise their service, I think this is why Boxxer have been beating Matchroom when it comes to signing talent recently, this changes that...maybe not instantly but it will change.
Original source is Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/exclusive-dazn-nears-deal-buy-bt-sport-an-estimated-800-mln-sources-2022-01-12 The Star have just reprinted the story. See paragraph 3 quoting Reuters. Regardless: nothing is official until BT make an announcement to the London Stock Exchange. Take everything with a pinch of salt until then.
Sky's boxing deal is exclusive to Boxxer, any Wasserman shows and TV budgets have to be agreed by Boxxer, it would mean there's no room at the Inn for Frank.
Yes all reports from anonymous sources which states it is about to be finalised and confirmed yet it could still fall apart. Premature speculation and only repeating the early reports last year.
No mate, this won't be a simple repeat of the October story using the same source material. An agency like Reuters simply doesn't work like that. My guess is they've had a genuine tip from one of the two parties, or a third party directly involved in the deal (investment banker / legal team). This story will be based on a genuine Jan 2022 source - but until it's signed and reported to the LSE, things aren't final and things can and do change.
If the deal is not fully concluded by the end of this month as reported, then this news report is toilet paper. One way or another, I hope final confirmation is received this month so BT Subscribers and Frankie finally know what is going on.
To be honest this isnt grrat news for non ppv boxing on DAZN. Its just going to end up like it was on sky.
I don't see how Warren doesn't end up on DAZN if this goes through. He may not like it but where else can he go? Now it could be the case that DAZN have negotiated a deal where they didn't need to take everything and may have decided to not take boxing but they might as well. Where I can see Warren having a problem with going to DAZN is if they tell him his budget isn't the same amount as Hearns. Warren won't have that and would probably rather find somewhere else for less money.
Once it goes through that’s when the hard work will start for DAZN. We’ve seen in recent years Setanta, ESPN and now BT Sport try and muscle in on the UK market and all fail so it will be interesting to see how DAZN cope.
