DAZN US exec: “More than just boxing in 2020”
February 21, 2020
Joe Markowski, Executive VP of DAZN North America, offered his thoughts on the OTT media company’s approach in the region at the SportsPro OTT Summit USA in Atlanta.
One of DAZN’s bolder moves was to acquire the rights to the KSI v Logan Paul boxing rematch. The YouTube stars’ huge reach created a unique opportunity for the platform to bring in new subscribers for a small outlay.
“There is a unique ability for select influencers to move young consumers from free content to behind paywall,” Markowski said. “We saw that with Logan Paul vs KSI and the industry needs to push that way. The cost-effective engagement is beyond anything we’ve seen before.”
Boxing has been the key sport for DAZN for increasing its brand awareness in North America, but Markowski said he expected the company to soften that focus this year as it seeks in-roads into other sports.
“We’re delighted with the numbers we’ve seen so far, the growth of the business is right on expectation and we have an appetite [in boxing] to invest more in 2020, but as we get through 2020 the conversations with the more established leagues will start to happen […], so I think this may be the last year where we’re entirely focused on boxing in the US.”