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British-American billionaire Len Blavatnik has promised to keep funding DAZN for at least another year, after the loss-making sports streaming service he controls lost $979.7 million in 2025 and drew hundreds of millions of dollars more from him this year.
Access Industries, Blavatnik's New York-based investment firm, has given DAZN a letter saying it intends to provide financial support for 12 months from Sept. 25, when the directors approved the accounts of DAZN Sports Media Ltd. The company filed the accounts, its first set of consolidated group results, at Companies House in London on Oct. 7.
The directors said the letter is "not legally enforceable or a binding commitment." Support linked to some sports broadcasting rights acquired in or after 2025 is legally binding, they said. The directors and auditor BDO concluded there was no material uncertainty over DAZN's ability to keep operating, a finding that rests largely on the backing of its owner.
Losses widen as revenue climbs
Revenue rose 22% to $3.8 billion last year. Operating costs reached $4.74 billion, and the operating loss widened to $939.8 million from $772.9 million in 2024. Net liabilities almost doubled to $2.41 billion, driven mainly by money owed to other companies in the DAZN group. The 2024 figures used for comparison were not audited.
Access put $610 million into DAZN as a loan in 2025, after $587 million in preference shares in 2024. It has lent a further $360 million (A$516 million) so far this year, in tranches of $60 million in January, $50 million in March, $200 million in April and $50 million in May. The directors said Access has provided more than $7 billion to the group in total. Blavatnik, who first backed the business in 2015, is its ultimate controlling party.
Chief Executive Officer Shay Segev said last year that DAZN would turn a profit in 2026 and that the company could consider a stock market listing in the coming years. DAZN is setting up a new parent company, DAZN Group Holdings Ltd., in the Cayman Islands.
Foxtel and Saudi money
DAZN completed its purchase of Australian pay-television operator Foxtel from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. and Telstra Group on April 2, 2025, in a deal worth A$3.4 billion ($2.4 billion). The sellers took part of the payment in DAZN shares, leaving News Corp. with about 6% of the streamer and Telstra with about 3%.
In February 2025, Surj Sports Investment, owned by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, agreed to invest $1 billion in DAZN for working capital and new projects. DAZN did not disclose the size of the stake.
The London-based service streams boxing, football and other sports in more than 200 markets. Its spending on rights includes a deal worth about $1 billion to show the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup worldwide for free, and rights to Italy's Serie A, Spain's LaLiga and the NFL's international Game Pass.
Blavatnik, 69, was born in Odesa in what was then the Soviet Union and moved to the US in 1978. He built his fortune through Access, which he founded in 1986, starting with investments in Russian aluminium and oil, including the TNK-BP venture. Access also controls Warner Music Group and owns stakes in chemicals maker LyondellBasell Industries. Blavatnik holds US and UK citizenship and was knighted in 2017 for services to philanthropy.
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