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DAZN Group can now focus on streaming thanks to a deal that will see STATS LLC’s owner Vista Equity Partners acquire Perform.
The deal, first reported by Bloomberg earlier this month, was confirmed yesterday and is expected to give DAZN Group more capital to invest in media rights.
What do you need to know?
1. The deal will merge Perform and STATS into a yet-to-be-named new company.
2. DAZN Group will receive a combination of cash and a significant minority stake in a newly formed company.
3. As part of the deal, Vista and STATS will get access to Opta, RunningBall and Watch&Bet, all companies and services currently under the Perform umbrella.
4. The future of The Sporting News and Goal.com, DAZN Group’s online content offerings, is unclear following the deal.
What does Vista and STATS gain?
A trove of data thanks to Opta’s official data partnerships with the Premier League, the English Football League, and Spain’s La Liga.
The goal? Mix the data of Perform’s offerings with the AI tech of STATS.
“Bringing Perform into the fold will create the most advanced artificial intelligence company in sports, providing deeper, more robust data and insights, which is essential to our global partners,” – Carl Mergele, STATS CEO, on the deal and what it means for the company.
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What does DAZN Group gain?
Much-needed capital that can be used on acquiring rights fees. And they need it based on reports from earlier this year.
According to former MP & Silva chief executive Jochen Lösch, DAZN is planning to spend around $2.5 billion on global media rights in 2019.
According to a Bloomberg article published in January, “DAZN is ready to bid on anything and everything that becomes available in the U.S., including the NFL,” according to John Skipper, the former ESPN president who is now the executive chairman at DAZN.
In the end, it’s all about the content…
“While we will continue as an active minority shareholder in the new business, this deal also allows the group to focus on DAZN, into which we will invest all net proceeds from the deal.” – Simon Denyer, DAZN Group chief executive, on where the funds from the sale will go.
