The British Basketball League (BBL) has reworked its partnership with DAZN Group in a deal with the group’s betting rights and data division, Perform Content.
The BBL signed a six-year deal with Perform Group in 2016, with the agreement running until the end of the 2021-22 season. This deal covered betting and media rights, with the media rights being delivered by Perform on the paywalled Live Basketball TV.
Perform Group has since rebranded as DAZN Group, and split its operations into two separate entities: DAZN and Perform Content.
Under the new agreement announced on Thursday, the BBL has taken back the media rights from DAZN Group, opening up the possibility for the league to be distributed on free-to-air channels.
The new deal will still run until the end of the 2021-22 season, with Perform Content to retain its position as the BBL’s exclusive betting rights partner for its Watch&Bet and RunningBall products.
BBL commercial director Bob Hope said: “The income generated by this partnership will underpin the financial security of the BBL. It will give us the stability we require to expand our presence in the UK sporting market and beyond even further, as well as enable us to forge new partnerships in a range of commercial sectors.”
Perform Content is to merge with US-based sports, data and technology company STATS in a deal which could help fund the global expansion of the DAZN OTT sports platform. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2019.