The DAZN Group is reportedly close to agreeing a sale for its Perform Content division to Vista Equity Partners, which could help fund the global expansion of the company’s OTT sports platform.
Perform Content contains the B2B data and betting units of the DAZN business. It is unclear how much Vista would pay and it was still possible the deal would not close, according to a Bloomberg report.
DAZN Group would not confirm the reports when approached by SportBusiness Media. It said: “Discussions of this matter are ongoing and a further announcement will be made if and when appropriate.”
SportBusiness Media understands that industry insiders following developments in recent months, including some who have looked at bidding, value Perform Content at between $1bn-$1.5bn. A minority view was that it could be considerably more valuable, with the optimism based on potentially explosive growth in the US sports betting market.
Observers believe the sale of Perform Content will be critical to whether the DAZN OTT service is a success or a failure. The money raised from any sale could help cover DAZN’s heavy early losses from its ambitious sports rights acquistions.