Saudi Arabia enters the line of buying a share in broadcasting major European leagues

It will be the first streaming platform of its kind to attract potential investment from the Public Investment Fund, which has been pumping billions in recent years into other high-viewing sports, such as the Formula 1 World Championship and golf.

Last September, DAZN acquired the rights to a new exhibition tennis tournament featuring Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal in Riyadh, later this month.

The platform's website stated that it also broadcasts the Saudi Professional League in several regions, and a series of boxing matches in the Riyadh season.

DAZN's latest results showed its revenue jumped 41 percent to $2.1 billion in 2022, amid higher subscription prices and the acquisition of broadcast rights to the German and Italian top flight leagues on its platform.

But it also posted an operating loss of $1.06 billion due to rising rights costs.

Bloomberg reported that DAZN held talks with advisers in December 2023 to raise up to $1 billion to boost its broadcast rights portfolio.

(Reuters)