When it is soon made official that DAZN has acquired BT Sport, it will be very exciting to see what happens in relation to Frank Warren? He has said in several interviews that he has an exclusive agreement with BT Sport, but if the channels are dissolved and the content is transferred to DAZN, what happens then? The coming days will be very exciting ...
I have been thinking the same. Think Frank will dig his heels in for a nice pay off. Franks would sue the pizza delivery guy for being 5mins late
I do not for a second doubt that DAZN is paying Frank Warren an amount in compensation. The exciting thing is where is Frank Warren going ? Sky Sports ?
I think the two options for DAZN are to drop any rights they don’t want and BT foot the bill from the deal. or as the actual rights fees are low hence the cards Frank puts out. They will honour the remainder of franks contract and play second fiddle to Matchroom the way golden boy does in the US.
That wouldn't surprise me one bit. Sky sports are already tied in with Top Rank and would love to get cosy with Fury
I also think the most likely scenario is that Frank Warren will return to Sky Sports. ITV could be an outsider. Think about what viewing numbers Tyson Fury, Daniel Dubois and Joe Joyce could draw to the Sky Platform / Sky Box Office with the right build up.
How long is left on their deal? He sure is grandstanding about it all but I am sure dazn aren't that worried. It's small fry in a multi billion quid deal.
What are the odds of a shell "BT Sport" channel remaining on Sky/Virgin showing non-premium content / seeing out contracts? If Frank digs his feet he ends up here, presumably with minimal promotion or budget. My working assumption was that all BT's premium rights would transfer to DAZN with the sale. The top DAZN content would then, at least in the short term, be available as linear channels on Sky/Virgin (e.g.DAZN 1 / 2 / 4K / Box Office) as well via the app.
If this does go through DAZN will be acquiring all contractual liabilities as part of the deal. They can’t just pick and choose what they want at point of purchase, thats not how contracts work. The idea that BT Sports is just going to disappear and all content transferred to an App is just ridiculous. You can’t just transfer champions league and Premier league football etc etc onto an app- what about the customers.. It will take several years if ever to change the infrastructure of a massive concern like BT Sports. If it goes through, expect a change of ownership with little change to business operations. Eventually they will rebrand and DAZN boxing will probably land on the Sky platform and also by app is my guess. As for Warren, it will be business as usual until he contract runs out and he either goes elsewhere or maybe DAZN give him a new deal, who knows. Most people believe it runs to Summer 23
Problem is with that is Warren is talking like he will use ligitation due to his exclusivity with BT Sport. Where I'm confused is does an exclusivity deal with BT Sport have any bearing on a different broadcaster? I can't see how it can and no judge would say Warren has exclusive rights with the new broadcaster.
Business as usual for Warren is him having exclusivity. That isn't going to be the case. What would be the point in DAZN buying BT Sport yet not using the content to drive subscriptions to DAZN? Buying BT Sport and then keeping BT Sport as it is does what for DAZN exactly? Remember these rights deals are not for life and will go back to tender in the next 2-3-4 years. DAZN have to use the BT sports content to drive subscriptions to DAZN ASAP. Not doing so would be bizarre and self sabotage.
Ask yourself this; Why are DAZN working towards PPV functionality if they are likely to have access shortly to BTs PPV operation? As I’ve said, you can’t make changes to infrastructure over night. Yes, they will no doubt rebrand and most likely incorporate e app onto the platform, but that all takes time. I’m a BT Sports customer- got the deal through my BT internet and I believe I have a year or so on my deal…all of these types of things have to be ironed out. It will be a long term project. Presumably come next summer if it does through, they will be advertising for the App during the football and showing content.