American sports fans are about to start hearing a lot more about DAZN—whether they want to or not.
The UK streaming service that someoutletshavecalled the “Netflix of sports” quietly launched in the U.S. in September after already gaining a foothold in markets like Canada, Germany, and Japan. Now the company has begun its full marketing blitz with TV ads running during NFL games.
The ads feature boxing announcer Michael Buffer and Mexican boxer Canelo Alvarez. Buffer has signed an exclusive deal to announce fights on DAZN; Alvarez has signed a massive $365 million deal to stream his next 11 fights exclusively on DAZN.
In one of the new ads, Buffer delivers his trademark “Let’s get ready to rumble” call, and the “rumble” lasts for 26 seconds of the 30-second ad.
It is a long, loud 26 seconds.
Michael Buffer in a new television ad for DAZN
On Twitter over Thanksgiving weekend, not every NFL fan loved the ad.
On the other hand, the ad succeeded in making NFL fans aware of DAZN. (It’s pronounced “Da Zone,” and in one promotional video, Buffer himself can’t pronounce it correctly.) The service targets cord-cutter sports fans by charging $9.99 for all-you-can-eat sports content. At launch, the content is all combat sports: MMA fights from Bellator and boxing fights from Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions (those are the Canelo fights) and from Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing, and from World Boxing Series.
The thrust of DAZN’s marketing angle is: Pay-Per-View is broken. In one of DAZN’s ads, Buffer says outright, “Pay-Per-View is screwed,” and Alvarez responds in Spanish, “Si.” It is a battle cry everyone associated with DAZN has adopted. “We don’t think the Pay-Per-View ecosystem is working,” DAZN CEO James Rushton told Yahoo Finance in June.
Skipper thinks DAZN can take on ESPN because of its singular focus: online-only streaming. ESPN, in contract, has a lot more moving parts to worry about. “It is really fun to be in a position where you are not trying to navigate a transition, where you can jump right into the future,” Skipper told Yahoo Finance last month. “I don’t have to worry about buying fights and then which one goes on cable and which one goes on my subscription service. We are a pure play.”
Still, the average American sports fan has never heard of DAZN. Once they start to hear about it, will they be eager to sign up for yet another $10-a-month service? Many are already paying for Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime, HBO Go, and more. As Skipper acknowledges, “People are not going to subscribe to 40 different streaming services.”
Then again, those services don’t have live sports. For boxing fans, DAZN, right at launch, has a ton to offer. If it doesn’t turn people off with an onslaught of advertising.
—
Daniel Roberts is the sports business writer at Yahoo Finance and hosts the Sportsbook podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @readDanwrite.
