Global sports streamer DAZN has swung a deal with ESPN to sublicense rights to top-tier and basketball in the UK and key territories in Europe and the MENA region.
The multi-year agreement kicks off this year and will bring viewers up to 25 exclusive college football games per week during the regular season at no additional charge for subscribers. Matchups will feature teams from top-tier conferences like the SEC, ACC and Big 12. The College Football Playoff and national championship game are also part of the offering.
About 20 men’s and women’s basketball games a week will also stream, as well as 63 March Madness games across the men’s and women’s tournaments. including all of the Elite 8, Final 4 and national championships.
Markets included in the college rights deal include the UK, Ireland, Italy, DACH (football only), Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Poland, Portugal, Belgium, the MENA region, Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Bulgaria and the Philippines.
After having amassed a trove of college sports rights, including the recently expanded College Football Playoff, ESPN and parent Disney have opted to monetize the rights in select cases. The company last year sublicensed early-round CFP games to Warner Bros. Discovery, which is charting a new course with its sports operation after parting ways with the NBA.
As with the Disney-WBD deal, financial terms were not revealed for the DAZN transaction.
While its profile is lower Stateside than in other parts of the world, DAZN has assembled a collection of notable rights, including to major U.S. leagues like the NFL, and carries more than 110,000 live events a year.
“DAZN is committed to bringing the best possible entertainment experience and a comprehensive portfolio of thrilling U.S. college football and basketball content to fans in selected territories in Europe and MENA,” DAZN Group CEO Shay Segev said. “Working with ESPN, this agreement allows DAZN to expand its global offering of premium North American sports properties, extending beyond NFL Game Pass and NHL.TV. It also means DAZN can broaden access to exciting U.S. sports content and support top-tier leagues in growing their international fanbases.”
Diego Londono, SVP Networks & Sports EMEA at Disney, said the company is “excited to team up with DAZN to serve sports fans across Europe during the upcoming NCAA football and basketball seasons.”
Founded in 2016 with backing from billionaire Len Blavatnik, DAZN is a privately owned company with more than 3,000 employees and subscribers in 200-plus global markets.
