DAZN Sells Minority Stake to Saudi Arabia’s Surj Sports Investment in Landmark $1 Billion Deal
variety.comNick Vivarelli International Correspondent Surj Sports Investment, the sports investment unit of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund (PIF), has acquired a minority stake in billionaire Len Blavatnik’s DAZN sports streaming service in an agreement that could radically change the sports content ecosystem in the Middle East.
The long-gestating deal — widely believed to involve PIF paying $1 billion in exchange for 10 per cent of DAZN — gives Saudi Arabia a piece of DAZN, which in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region rivals powerhouse beIN Sports, from neighboring Qatar.
Qatar, incidentally, hosted the FIFA soccer World Cup in 2022, while Saudi Arabia will be hosting the 2034 edition of that event.
Founded in 2007, London-based DAZN, which has been dubbed the “Netflix of sports,” is now operating in more than 200 markets, having gone on a systematic sports rights’ buying spree that caused the streamer to report a £1.2 billion ($1.51 billion) loss for 2023.
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